Bloggers are buzzing about the outing of (and legal action against) a formerly anonymous blogger. They're also posting on House runoffs, conventions and personal stories. And there are ten more posts at the end.

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The Man Behind the Curtain

Political consultant Kelly Fero was thrust into the spotlight due to this posting he made on his blog Austin Political Report. The subject of the post, House parliamentarian Terry Keel, filed a criminal complaint against Fero, who was working as a political consultant to Travis County District Attorney candidate Rosemary Lehmberg.

Burnt Orange Report says the to-do is political in nature, not criminal, and has a sit-down with Lehmberg. The Mindy Montford campaign has excelled in dictating the narrative of the race, says KVUE's Political Junkie, who also takes a look at TV ads and money reports for the campaigns. Texas Observer Blog has an analysis of where the money's coming from.

Capitol Annex says, "nothing will close the potential floodgate of complaints against bloggers except legislative action," and Pink Dome has a bit of advice for anonymous bloggers: "Don't bother. Someone will always find out. Then they will blab it to everybody. There are NO EXCEPTIONS to this rule."

The no-longer-anonymous Fero forged ahead with his APR blog, posting on the contested state House race in New Braunfels, the railroad commissioner contest and Gov. Rick Perry's book-pitching.

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Two-Minute Warning

Texas Politics, the Houston Chronicle's blog, has a podcast (with transcription included) on diverse state House runoffs. In summary: the HD-112 race in Dallas is getting nasty; Harris County's HD-144 contest includes allegations of identity theft and tax avoidance; Odessa's HD-81 candidates are sparring about health; Williamson County's HD-52 race is a battle over gun rights; and, HD-55 candidates are squabbling about tax evasion and lavish spending of tax dollars.

Regarding the HD-55 contest between Ralph Sheffield and Martha Tyroch, BurkaBlog comments on a critique of Tyroch's spending by Texans for Fiscal Responsibility. Meanwhile, BlogHouston says state Rep. Hubert Vo, D-Houston, (who's under fire for owning dilapidated buildings in Houston) is selling his $4.5 million home for a profit of $200,000.

Burnt Orange contrasts the reaction of Nathan Macias to losing his House race recount to that of Carter Casteel two years earlier. And Half-Empty received a robo-call on behalf of CD-22 candidate Shelley Sekula Gibbs by one John O'Neill, of Swiftboat Veterans for Truth fame. Meanwhile, Texas Safety Forum looks at early voting totals, concluding that the results thus far bode better for Sekula Gibbs than for Pete Olson.

Musings pleads readers to vote for Dale Henry in the runoff for railroad commissioner, while Burka previews what House members will be arguing about during the 2009 session, that is, "the speaker's claim to absolute power to deny recognition to a member."

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The Agony and the Ecstasy

Hillary Clinton supporter U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, was booed by her own constituents (who prefer Barack Obama). Greg's Opinion is that the constituents lack class.

There's duh-raaama out in El Paso, according to Burnt Orange, alleging the Democratic Party county chair stacked convention delegates with Clinton supporters, which could result in an invalidation of the county's representation.

Burnt Orange has a guide to becoming a delegate to the national Democrats' party in Denver, and a how-to on fixing the state's caucus process.

Here's the current estimated presidential delegate count, by Burnt Orange, and here are lists of resolutions passed in the county and state senate district conventions.

PoliTex, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's blog,has video from Tarrant County. Chronic, the Austin Chronicle's blog, has photos of Travis County conventions. And Texas Kaos has an insider's account from Austin.

Eye on Williamson has a list of grievances against the Williamson County convention and the Democratic prima-caucus system in general. Musings has a laundry list of complaints against Fort Bend County's SD-17 convention that takes up two posts, here and here. And Panhandle Truth Squad has nicer things to say about the convention in Randall County. PoliTex says the Collin County meeting was long.

South Texas Chisme relays a rumor that Obama supporters were responsible for the fire marshal being called in to Hillary-leaning conventions in Nueces County and Harris County. Clinton supporters are mulling over a challenge to Tarrant County conventions, says PoliTex. And Texas Democratic Party chair Boyd Richie is naming an Obama backer and a Clinton supporter to lead the state convention, reports PoliTex.

GOP political consultant Bryan Eppstein predicts that Obama and Clinton will both be on the November ticket, says PoliTex. The Clinton campaign is admitting that she's losing Texas…but says it ain't over yet, according to PoliTex.

ABC13's Political Blog has Obama's anti-Big Oil ad that's running in Pennsylvania, but not Texas. And Trail Blazers, the Dallas Morning News's blog, has Clinton's reworked 3 a.m. advertisement.

Ron Paul r3VOLutionaries took over an Austin GOP convention, says Chronic. And Postcards from the Lege, the Austin American-Statesman's blog, reports that convention leader Robert McDonald had to lay the smack down upon a fellow Paulista in order to maintain order. Meanwhile, Trail Blazers says that the Texas Republican Party isn't willing to nix its anti-homosexuality stance just yet.

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Political People

Tex Parte Blog has a story about Texas Supreme Court justice Don Willett getting a call from his intellectual hero George Will. And Dallas County D.A. Craig Watkins made a personal appeal to Dallas County commissioners to help him continue clearing inmates of wrongful convictions.

Texas Blue gets to know CD-32 Democrat Eric Roberson. Democratic candidates are speed-dating constituents in Colleyville, says PoliTex. And Texas Kaos waxes energetically about how super exciting this year's elections are.

Walker Report has photos (here and here) of former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich's visit to San Antonio, and also of a meeting of conservative bloggers in Austin.

U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Ennis, is not happy about having his health records stolen, says Trail Blazers. Bet the agency responsible isn't happy about it either, because Barton's a bigwig on the House committee responsible for its oversight.

Trail Blazers relays an article about "Another Side of John Hagee," the controversial San Antonio pastor. And Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison hasn't said she's running Texas' top executive spot, but she likes being called "Governor reports Trail Blazers.

Legislative staffer Darshoel "D" Willis died March 29, says Capitol Crowd.

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Countdown

10. Priceless Harris County D.A. e-mails, by Tex Parte Blog;

9. Texas healthcare not good, by Annex;

8. Comprehensive coverage of Texas Senate prison oversight hearing, by Grits for Breakfast;

7. Time to evaluate prison telemedicine? by Grits;

6. HIV drugs make up 48% of TDCJ pharmacy budget, by Grits;

5. Greater leniency for immigrant inmates, by Grits;

4. Testimony before Public School Accountability committee, by Mike Falick's Blog;

3. Michael Chertoff's waiver, by Observer;

2. Bexar County Young Democrats Newsletter, by Walker;

And 1. Robert Duvall is Karl Rove, says Trail Blazers.

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This edition of Out There was compiled and written by Patrick Brendel, who hails from Victoria but is spending the spring in the mid-Atlantic region. We cherry-pick the state's political blogs each week, looking for news, info, gossip, and new jokes. The opinions here belong (mostly) to the bloggers, and we're including their links so you can hunt them down if you wish. Our blogroll — the list of Texas blogs we watch — is on our links page, and if you know of a Texas political blog that ought to be on it, just shoot us a note. Please send comments, suggestions, gripes or retorts to Texas Weekly editor Ross Ramsey.

None of the incumbents in statewide offices or in the Texas congressional delegation have fallen, nor have any state senators (put asterisks here for Sen. Kyle Janek, R-Houston, who will resign later this spring and will be replaced in a special election, probably in November).

But retirements and defeats thus far will mean at least 17 new faces in the Texas House — plus another, if you count the resignation of Rep. Anna Mowery, R-Fort Worth, last summer.

Nine House incumbents lost their primaries. The list of the defeated includes Democratic Reps. Kevin Bailey, Houston; Juan Escobar, Kingsville; Borris Miles, Houston; and Paul Moreno, El Paso. The defeated Republicans include Reps. Pat Haggerty, El Paso; Thomas Latham, Mesquite; Nathan Macias, Bulverde; Corbin Van Arsdale, Tomball; and Buddy West, Odessa.

The retirement list includes Democrats Robby Cook, Eagle Lake;

Rick Noriega, Houston; and Robert Puente, San Antonio. The Republicans: Dianne White Delisi, Temple; Fred Hill, Richardson; Mike Krusee, Round Rock; Mike O'Day, Pearland; and Robert Talton, Pasadena. Mowery, who left last summer, was replaced in a special election by Democrat Dan Barrett of Fort Worth. He has to defend that seat before ever sitting for legislative session, in a rematch with Republican Mark Shelton in November.

The election season is already over for one Texas congressman, three state senators, and 33 state representatives. There are 24 Democrats and nine Republicans in this group.

The Republican list: U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, Tyler; state Sens. Craig Estes, Wichita Falls, and Tommy Williams, The Woodlands; and Reps. Warren Chisum, Pampa; Byron Cook, Corsicana; Charlie Howard, Sugar Land; Bryan Hughes, Mineola; Carl Isett, Lubbock; Lois Kolkhorst, Brenham; Jodie Laubenberg, Parker; Geanie Morrison, Victoria; and Wayne Smith, Baytown.

And the Democrats: Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., Brownsville; and Reps. Alma Allen, Houston; Roberto Alonzo, Dallas; Barbara Mallory Caraway, Dallas; Joaquin Castro, San Antonio; Norma Chavez, El Paso; Harold Dutton Jr., Houston; Al Edwards, Houston; Kino Flores, Palmview; Ryan Guillen, Rio Grande City; Yvonne Gonzalez Toureilles, Alice; Roland Gutierrez, San Antonio; Tracy King, Batesville; Eddie Lucio III, Brownsville; Armando "Mando" Martinez, Weslaco; Jose Menendez, San Antonio; Ruth Jones McClendon, San Antonio; Rene Oliveira, Brownsville; Aaron Peña, Edinburg; Joe Pickett, El Paso; Allan Ritter, Nederland; Sylvester Turner, Houston; Mike Villarreal, San Antonio; and Armando Lucio Walle, Houston.

Special Citation for Cakewalking: Roland Gutierrez will become a Texas House member without an election. The former San Antonio city councilman was the only candidate to sign up for the special election to replace Rep. Robert Puente, who retired. Gutierrez is also on the November ballot for a full term, but has no opposition.

James Ho, one of a group of lawyers who successfully challenged the constitutionality of laws preventing non-legislators from participating in races for Speaker of the Texas House and co-author of a legal treatise on the status of terrorists and war, will be the state's new solicitor general.

Ho is a former clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and also worked for U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. Ho is also the co-author of a paper on the legal status of terrorists and what they're entitled to — and not entitled to — when they're in custody. (His co-author, John Yoo, wrote a confidential memo for the Bush Adminstration that's been making news; Ho was not involved in that and has spoken out against it). In their paper on terrorists and war, the two concluded that members of al-Qaeda and the Taliban are "unlawful combatants not entitled to the legal status of prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention." Ho's new job doesn't require Senate confirmation.

Ted Cruz, the current chief litigator at the Attorney General's office, is leaving for private practice later this year. He's been the Solicitor General for over five years and argued a string of cases before the U.S. Supreme Court during that time. The most recent: A successful challenge to federal officials who tried to overturn a death penalty case against a Mexican national because it violated a ruling of the World Court. The state argued that it wasn't bound by that court's rulings.

State and local governments will cover about $7 million of the costs of holding the NCAA Men's Final Four in San Antonio with a fund designed to make Texas attractive for big events like that.

Comptroller Susan Combs wants to expand the program in time for the 2011 Super Bowl in Arlington, allowing promoters to cover the expenses of more events that will, in turn, bring in more tax money.

The state has four funds set up to lure sporting and other events that could — without a competitive edge — go to other states. For big sporting events like the Final Four or the Super Bowl, the state figures up the economic impact and what it means in terms of taxes on sales, hotel rooms, motor vehicles and drinks. They agree to reimburse approved expenses based on that, and on local government tax breaks, and figure they'll make up the expenses and then some from indirect and induced spending that results from the event.

In the case of the Final Four, the state agreed to pay up to $6.1 million if the expenses were approved and if the local governments would put up $973,000. And they figured the state would bring in about twice that amount in taxes on spending associated with the event — money that wouldn't be spent, they figure, if the Final Four had gone to another state.

Texas already won the 2011 Super Bowl. But there's a move to expand the tax breaks to include event-related spending over a longer period of time and/or to include benefits from non-direct spending. Say the economists broaden their economic impact study to cover more than a two-week window, or to include indirect and induced spending in their numbers. Either would make more money available to the locals for reimbursement. Combs says they might be able to add to their event planning as a result, and bring more money into state coffers as a result.

"It's an incentive — not a subsidy," she says. "It's a net money-maker."

You'd have predicted this if you sat down and thought about it, but the fundraising pitch for House Democrats in Texas is the same one Tom Craddick and the Republicans used in the 1990s, when they were in the minority.

The Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee says Democrats need "only five seats to a majority." They tout the distance they've covered, from a low point of 88 Republicans and 62 Democrats to the current 79-71. The leader of that group, Waco Rep. Jim Dunnam, is borrowing a page from the current Speaker, who ran campaigns called "76 in '96" and "8 in 98" on his way to winning a majority, after redistricting, in 2002. That election year flipped the Republicans from a 72-78 minority to an 88-62 majority.

• The tax courts are out of the comptroller's control now (they were moved last year to the State Office of Administrative Hearings), and the people who practice before them are welcome at Susan Combs' fundraisers again. Brint Ryan — head of Dallas-based Ryan & Co. — was among the contributors at a Combs funder at the home of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones this week. "I've got a firewall now between us and the [tax judges]," Combs says.

• Martin Cuellar — brother of U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, R-Laredo — edged out the incumbent sheriff of Webb County in this week's runoffs. Cuellar, with 50.09 percent, defeated Sheriff Rick Flores. The margin? 48 votes, of 26,779 cast.

• Put Austin Furse on your list of potential Republican candidates in SD-17. That's the spot currently held by Sen. Kyle Janek, R-Houston, who has announced he'll resign at the end of May. That probably sets up a special election on November 4 to fill the last two years of Janek's four-year term.

• Democrat Kristi Thibaut got her second endorsement from Annie's List, a PAC set up to elect Democratic women to the Legislature. She had the group's endorsement two years ago, against the same Republican, Rep. Jim Murphy of Houston. Thibaut got 41.7 percent the first time, but her supporters are betting the presidential contest will change the math in HD-133.