For a Texas governor — especially for one embarking on a reelection bid — that headline perfectly describes a successful special session. Voters didn't get hurt, weren't aroused, and have no real reason to give it another thought.

This special session will be a success if, in a couple of years, most of the people involved have to be reminded of what it was about. If they can't immediately recall it, that's a sign that everything went okay. It has all the signs of a winner.

The "got-to-do" issues moved quickly, with both chambers unanimously approving sales of $2 billion in highway bonds already approved by voters and extending the lives of five agencies that, without legislative action, would go out of business in September 2010.

Lawmakers stalled on a third issue, partly because none of them could detect enough local fever over public-private highway projects to approve new ones. They decided to let it hold and ended the session about 31 hours after it started.

And they did it with very little television coverage and with voters getting ready for a holiday weekend. Many people didn't even know they were in town.

The safety net caught the state's transportation, insurance, racing and two other agencies that would otherwise have gone out of business in a year and two months. They'll be up for review again when the Lege meets in January 2011 — a session that'll also feature redistricting and what could be a big fiscal mess (that budget won't have the $12 billion in stimulus money used to balance the current spending plan).

Lawmakers were more cautious when it came to transportation issues. The governor wanted the Legislature to extend the state's authority to start new Comprehensive Development Agreements, or CDAs. But lawmakers don't want to do that and aren't convinced any new projects will go unbuilt if they don't act.

With no sense of urgency around it, they decided they're not going to act on that last request.

And they changed their approach on the bond sales, striking a provision that would have set up a revolving fund, financed by those bonds, that supporters said would allow more roads to get built. As with the CDAs, lawmakers said they can make any changes they want in the regular session in 2011 without any real detriment to the state's transportation planning and construction.

"Since it's not going to make any difference in the number of lane miles that are built between now and the 2011 session, we can address this during that session," Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst told reporters.

CDA are the public-private partnerships used to build toll roads and other projects with private and public sector financing, operations and ownership. Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, wanted to give local officials first right of refusal on new CDA projects, letting them decide whether they wanted to participate or leave the jobs to others. That's called primacy. He would also set up a process for working out the deals, settling disputes, and so on.

The Texas Department of Highways and the governor's office wanted legislators to reauthorize CDAs for a non-controversial list of projects and leave the blanket authorization for later. They pushed for that while Nichols talked to senators and others about his approach. The list had the advantage of ducking controversy and getting lawmakers out of town fast. The blanket had the advantage of putting a leash on public-private deals at a state agency held in low political regard in the Pink Building.

Lawmakers were reluctant to take on the CDA issue in a short session. It's fraught with political risk, with some voters unhappy about toll roads, partnerships that let foreign companies collect tolls and operate roads, and plans to add toll lanes to free roads in the state. Some lawmakers were willing to give the Texas Department of Transportation the right to go ahead with those deals, if some safeguards were put in place. Others wanted to approve only the new CDAs on a list. And others wanted to kill the idea altogether.

The differences and the speed of the session worked against a solution. Senators, in fact, started the session telling Dewhurst there wasn't much support for CDAs. After wrestling with that for a day, he came to the same conclusion.

The one thing they finally agreed on: No projects will go unbuilt if they put off the issue until the next regular session. Transportation officials dispute that, but couldn't convince lawmakers, who decided they knew enough to put the thing to rest for now.

The revolving fund that went with the bonds appeared to be alright in the Senate, but some members of the House had misgivings. Since it won't affect any projects before the regular session, it was easier to set that fight aside.

"It's a new concept," said Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan. "The House was a little uncomfortable with that, as I understand it..." he said. "In the interest of the short time that we have, I think that they were more comfortable with the familiar than with the risk that you take with something new."

Rep. Joe Pickett, the El Paso Democrat who carried the transportation bill in the House, doesn't think CDAs had the same level of urgency as the other special session topics.

"I think that the two main issues were still the language for Proposition 12 bonds and the sunset dates for those agencies that were hanging out there," he said. "And I don't think many people at the beginning thought we would be doing comprehensive development plans."

Swept Aside

Gov. Rick Perry ignored pleas and requests to put a number of other issues on the special session agenda — entreaties that continued after the start of the session, and past Perry's statements that no additions are likely.

Family members and advocates for the late Timothy Cole — exonerated of rape charges after he died in a state prison — came to Austin seeking a gubernatorial pardon and asking Perry to put the issue in front of lawmakers if he thinks a new law is required to allow posthumous pardons.

Several lawmakers and trade groups wanted the governor to add eminent domain legislation to the call, saying the measure passed during the regular session helps but isn't enough because it doesn't compensate landowners for all of what they lose when the government forces them to sell land.

Several lawmakers and outside groups, led by Sen. Eliot Shapleigh of El Paso and Rep. Garnet Coleman of Houston, asked Perry to add an expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program to the agenda.

Two hours after the House and Senate brought the special session to a close, the Harris County GOP was sending Houston Republicans messages urging them to ask Gov. Rick Perry to call another special session with Voter ID as the topic.

Lawmakers actually filed 36 bills, including the two that passed, the CDA bills that died, a CHIP expansion, and bills protecting concealed handgun owners from employer restrictions on storing their guns in their vehicles, extending mental health benefits to include eating disorders, indexing the minimum wage to the cost of living, extending eminent domain protections, changing benefits for employees of junior colleges, allowing revenue bonds for school construction, and tightening revolving door restrictions for Harris County employees.

Running Shoes

The upcoming Republican battle for governor is starting to appeal to some Democrats.

Fort Worth businessman/lawyer Tom Schieffer's in the race. Medina County entertainer/writer Kinky Friedman is, too. And other buzzards are circling around the idea that a bloody GOP primary could produce a wounded Republican candidate in the November general election — someone who might be vulnerable to a challenge from a Democrat.

It's early, but there's recruitment talk going on. The caveat, as always, is that we can't tell from our seats whether those recruitments are genuine or engineered. But if you log in to Facebook, you'll find groups trying to draft state Sen. Kirk Watson and former Travis County Ronnie Earle, both from Austin. Watson was urged into the race by fellow Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, who looked but won't run and says Watson ought to. Earle, according to the Austin American-Statesman, has filed papers that allow him to raise money for an as-yet unspecified state race. Mark Thompson, who ran for Railroad Commission last year, might also be in the race.

It's a red state — the best performance by a statewide Democrat last year was 45.8 (Sam Houston in a race for Texas Supreme Court). But Democrats are encouraged by strength at the local level in places like Dallas and Houston, and by gains in their statehouse delegation over the last few years. The Democratic share of the Texas House was 62 of 150 seats in 2003; now it's 74 seats, or two short of a majority.

It's not a great environment, but it has improved enough, apparently, to attract some interest.

• On the Republican side, add one and drop one. Gov. Rick Perry has a press conference scheduled this weekend with Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler. Berman was talking about a bid for governor but has lately been talking to Perry and telling reporters that he'd join the governor's reelection efforts if Perry satisfied Berman's standards on immigration issues. There's another Republican challenger in the wings, though: Debra Medina, who chairs the Wharton County GOP, plans to be on the GOP primary ballot for governor in 2010. She's also pushing a set of initiatives she'd like to see on the GOP ballot in March.

• Perry announced his top supporters, as U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison did earlier in the year. Perry's list is here. We sorted it by city here. And we mashed it up with Hutchison's list, sorted by city, here.

Combs: Money in the Till

All the counting is done, and Comptroller Susan Combs says lawmakers left $359.1 million unspent during the regular session that ended on the first day of this month.

In a letter to state leaders and lawmakers, Combs says the Legislature left $359.1 million in general revenue money unspent. She revised some numbers after looking through the Legislature's work, too. The amount available for general revenue spending in the two-year budget that starts in September is $78.1 billion. That's up $1 billion from earlier estimates, but it's not because tax collections have risen — it's because of the way lawmakers wrote the next budget and revised the one we're in. She's making no changes to her revenue estimates — just accounting for what the Legislature did during the session.

Bottom line: It all balances, with money left over for general spending. (This has nothing to do with the $9 billion-plus that's expected to accumulate in the state's Rainy Day Fund by the end of the next biennium; that's a different pot of money.)

Flotsam & Jetsam

U.S. Senate candidate Roger Williams says he raised more than $400,000 — or about $1,000 per guest — at a fundraiser last weekend.

Candidates don't have to make their reports public until mid-July. Williams, a former Texas Secretary of State, is in the hunt for Kay Bailey Hutchison's seat, if she decides to resign early to concentrate on her run for governor.

• Rep. Beverly Woolley, R-Houston, announced she'll seek reelection to her HD-136 seat. A victory would mean a ninth term for Woolley, who was first elected in 1994.

• Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, did some research and found the shortest special session in state history: One hour, in 1919.

• Put Kim Limberg on the list of candidates in HD-105, where Rep. Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving, is the incumbent. Limberg is a Democrat and a state highway department engineer. Harper-Brown won a very close election last year and Limberg is the second Democrat in the race; Loretta Haldenwang, a former aide to Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, is planning to get in. If the incumbent doesn't run for reelection, Irving City Councilwoman Beth Van Duyne will run as a Republican.

• Jeff Weems, a Democratic activist and an oil & gas attorney in Houston, is pulling together a challenge to Texas Railroad Commissioner Victor Carrillo, a Republican who'll be on next year's ballot.

• This isn't exactly the 2012 Republican presidential primary, but it's not exactly not: Govs. Rick Perry of Texas, Haley Barbour of Mississippi, and Sarah Palin of Alaska could all be on the dais at the Texas Public Policy Foundation's 20th anniversary shindig on September 11. That'll be in Austin.

Political People and Their Moves

Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, says he won't run for mayor of Houston and wants to focus on other projects and on his duties as a state lawmaker. "Although I believe the race is eminently winnable, a late entry into the campaign would have required that I drop every other project in which I am involved... " he said. This would have been Turner's third attempt at the top city post.

Valerie Corte was sworn in as a Temporary Acting Representative for HD-122, subbing for her spouse, Rep. Frank Corte, R-San Antonio, who's on active military duty in Okinawa. He's due to return in mid-July.

Juan Garcia, a Farm Service Agency staffer who's originally from Willacy County, is the new Texas state director for that program, which is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Obama Administration tapped another Texan, Francisco Valentin Jr., as Texas state director for rural development at the USDA. He's been with the federal government since 1979.

Gov. Rick Perry appointed Wayne Roberts of Austin and Scott Smith of Cedar Park and reappointed Paul Braden of Dallas to the State Pension Review Board. Roberts now works at the UT Health Science Center in Houston and used to be on Perry's policy staff. Smith is vice president of investments for Wells Fargo Advisors. Braden is a partner at Fulbright and Jaworski.

Hitched: Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Tricia Hamilton Bivins in a private ceremony in Houston. It's the second marriage for each of them; she is the ex-wife of former state Sen. Teel Bivins, R-Amarillo.

Quotes of the Week

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, to Amadeo Saenz, head of the Texas Department of Transportation, on extending public-private highway projects: "We're being asked to pass legislation more on faith than on fact. So far, faith has been very disappointing."

Gov. Rick Perry, telling reporters his intentions, before the session: "Get 'em in, get 'em out and get the work done. Bada-bing, bada-boom."

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, in the Austin American-Statesman: "If the [U.S.] Senate job came open, I would probably give it a hard look. I think that seat needs to stay in Republican hands."

Texas A&M Regent Gene Stallings, quoted in the Bryan Eagle after the faculty overwhelmingly cast a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Mike McKinney: "He may have mishandled a quote or two, as we all do from time to time, but his mind's in the right place and his heart's in the right place."

Merrill Metzger, formerly with Minutemen American Defense — a citizen border patrol group — in The New York Times: "I had to take an oath, and part of the oath was that I couldn't eat Mexican food. That's when red flags went up all over for me. That seemed like prejudice."

Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University, talking about the next presidential race with the Washington Examiner: "It's way too early to talk sensibly about the 2012 field, but that's no reason not to do it."

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Texas Weekly: Volume 26, Issue 26, 6 July 2009. Ross Ramsey, Editor. Copyright 2009 by Printing Production Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher is prohibited. One-year online subscription: $250. For information about your subscription, call (512) 302-5703 or email biz@texasweekly.com. For news, email ramsey@texasweekly.com, or call (512) 288-6598.

Bloggers squeezed out a week's worth of writing from the two-day special session of the Texas Legislature. Some of them are urging a former Democratic prosecutor to run for governor, talking about other potential candidates, taking TEA and doing things outside their own web pages. At the end, a courtroom shooting and other items.

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Special Verdict

KUT's Notes from the Lege has aural wrap-ups of Days One and Two of the two-day rendezvous. Here's the retrospective from newsdesk, the Austin Chronicle's blog. And A Capitol Blog shot video footage of the gavel clap signaling Sine Die.

Gov. Rick Perry's inclusion of Comprehensive Development Agreements, aka CDAs, aka public-private toll roads, in the special session gave U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison a prime political opportunity that she didn't take advantage of. BurkaBlog wonders, why not? The Houston Chronicle's Texas Politics blog has a debriefing on the private toll road bill that didn't make it. "It's time to hit the road," bill opponent Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, told the Dallas Morning News' Trail Blazers with a straight face, presumably.

House members took time to honor former Rep./U.S. Rep./Attorney General Jim Mattox, who died last November, according to Trail Blazers.

It cost about $66,000 for the two extra days of lawmaking, says PoliTex, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's blog. Before legislators met, Letters from Texas released a primer on special session behavior: "approximately 112 of you will be bored out of your minds, with absolutely nothing to do until a final floor vote. This is dangerous. Very. Very. Dangerous. In fact, it's so dangerous that this seems like the perfect time to remind everybody of the hapless Drew Nixon," he says.

And Grits for Breakfast gets around to compiling a list of criminal justice-related bills he likes that were passed by legislators during the Regular Session.

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His Name is Earle

Capitol Annex is on the forefront of an effort to draft former Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle for a run at the governor's office. Check out the announcement on the Annex blog, or visit DraftRonnie.com or a Facebook group devoted to the movement. Annex told himself he'd never try to draft another candidate again after the unsuccessful Rick Noriega for U.S. Senate campaign last year, but his reticence was overcome by just how swell he thinks Earle is.

Not only would Earle lose to any formidable opponent in the Democratic primary, he would have zero chance in the general election, says BurkaBlog. "He won't get a single Republican crossover vote," he says. McBlogger disagrees with Burka and revisits Earle's indictment of former state treasurer Hutchison and her subsequent acquittal. "So get on board or get the [bleep][bleep] out of the [bleeping] way," McBlogger says.

The Austin American-Statesman's Postcards looks at how the movements to draft Earle and Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, for governor are shaping up on Facebook.

Off the Kuff says he'll be happy so long as Democrats field reputable candidates in all the statewide races. On that note, Kuff has a rundown of Democrats who've been mentioned as possible contenders for the big offices.

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Other Goobers

Lone Star Times has a list of questions for GOP gubernatorial long shot Debra Medina. The Houston Chronicle's Texas on the Potomac has photos of Hutchison visiting troops in Iraq. And here's a one-minute primer on social media starring a bobble-head-type animation of Perry, from Texans for Rick Perry.

A quick online poll by the Texas Association of Businesses has Perry edging Hutchison 56 to 41 percent (with Democrats Tom Schieffer and Kinky Friedman each at one percent and some change). Memoirs from a young conservative thinks that's "AWESOME."

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TEA-ed Off

UrbanGrounds attended a TEA party in Austin and took photos and video. (We were there, too.) He says the event was ruined by the appearance of mainstream politicians like U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, Gov. Perry, U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert and Rep. Wayne Christian. The Austin crowd booed Cornyn, reports Postcards, saying attendees of an earlier Austin party were much nicer to "Joe the Plumber."

A Lone Star Times reader sent in snapshots of the Houston gathering, which attracted a strong showing from politically opinionated dogs and nine-year-olds, among others, according to RightWingSparkle's photos.

Here's video of Perry speaking in Sulphur Springs, via his Texans for Rick Perry blog. And WalkerReport has photos from a party in Boerne that attracted more than 500 attendees.

* * * * *

Blog Ogling

The blogger behind JohnCarterWatch is the newest member of the Eye on Williamson team. Former The Red State blogger has created an iPhone application that provides information on Texas legislators, like phone numbers, biographical details and things of this nature, according to Kuff. And Steinberg for Congress is calling it quits again, for good this time, the blogger promises.

Meanwhile, nonprofit news orgs across the nation, including Texas Watchdog and Texas Observer, have joined forces to make "The Pocantico Declaration: Creating a Nonprofit Investigative News Network," according to Watchdog.

* * * * *

Mug Shot

A mock hostile takeover of a Collin County courtroom got a little too real for a judge who took a blank round to the eye, Tex Parte reports. Meanwhile, Grits looks at studies from the Urban Institute on released prisoners returning to Houston. A couple of highlights: drugs bad, families good. And Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, got his day in front of the Public Utilities Commission to argue for a moratorium on electricity disconnections. The PUC let him speak, but that was after commissioners had announced their decision against his petition, according to Burka.

Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, has a new communications director, according to NewspaperTree.com Blog. Meanwhile, Democratic gubernatorial explorer Mark Thompson's head of PR is his Twitter.com account, says Burnt Orange Report (shaking their virtual head in disbelief).

The Department of Public Safety needs to do something about the exorbitant burdens of its Driver Responsibility program, says Grits, adding that the Legislature has given DPS the authority to make the needed reforms.

Lone Star Times wants to give das boot to Harris County GOP chair Jared Woodfill. "Catering to a bunch of old white folk angry that life is passing them by and yelling about illegals and Hussein Obama isn't going to work," the blogger says.

Postcards looks over corrected ethics reports from Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, noting that she used campaign money to dine at Tex-Mex restaurants and pay sorority fees. And PoliTex remembers the time they interviewed new Minnesota U.S. Sen. Al Franken back in 2005, when he visited Austin to promote his Air America radio show.

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This edition of Out There was compiled and written by Patrick Brendel, who hails from Victoria but is semi-settled in Austin. 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.

Gov. Rick Perry raised $4.2 million for his reelection during the last nine days of June, and has $9.4 million on hand as that campaign gets underway. [UPDATED]Campaign finance reports are due next week (July 15), reflecting fundraising efforts during the six months ended June 30. Perry and other state officeholders are barred from raising money during a legislative session, for the 30 days leading up to it, and for the three weeks after a session during which a governor still yields a veto pen. But he shared a peek at his report, saying it'll show 1,076 people gave him $4.2 million — including $454,094 online — from June 21 to June 30. No dollar numbers yet from anyone else in the race for governor. And Perry released only the totals, saving the details of spending and of who gave how much for next week. Kay Bailey Hutchison's campaign issued a brief statement: "Kay Bailey Hutchison is proud of her strong statewide support, which is both broad and deep." By mid-week, Hutchison was Twittering (sending messages to followers on Twitter) about her fundraising: "98% of KBH’s money raised is from Texas. Texans TRULY appreciate and value results, not politics." ... "Nearly 80% of contributions to KBH were $500 or less! A TRUE outpouring of support for Kay’s vision for Texas!" This is a personal best for Perry during the truncated fundraising periods in legislative years. In 2007, he raised $881,488; in 2005, $2.3 million; in 2003, $272,771; and in 2001, $2.2 million. Both 2001 and 2005, like this year, were leading into election seasons. Why release it early? Let us speculate for a minute: Hutchison probably raised more money and if Perry let his number loose at the same time she did, he'd lose that day's headline contest. Also, Perry's release came a day before a scheduled conference call for Hutchison's finance team: That's gotta be discouraging.

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is popping out a series of online videos in a new effort to use social media to promote her run for governor.

(You can click on each link or view the embedded videos at the bottom of this page.)

One: She's got 6,500 financial supporters (she didn't say what they've contributed, or what period that number of people covers).

Two: Donors by region of the state. The slogan appears for the first time: "Results. Not Politics."

Three: A towel-snap aimed at Gov. Rick Perry's derriere. Hutchison's video says Perry was against stimulus money publicly — in fundraising letters and speeches — while pleading for more of it in meetings with federal officials. And it closes with a tag you'll probably see later on TV: "Rick Perry: All you get is politics. Texas can do better. Kay Bailey Hutchison for Governor. Results. Not politics."

Mark Miner, a spokesman for Perry, said Hutchison's attack is hypocritical, since she voted against the funds she now says the state should accept. Plus, he said, it would be irresponsible to leave the education stimulus money on the table: "These are Texas taxpayer dollars and they would otherwise go to other states."

Perry convinced legislators to decline $556 million in unemployment insurance stimulus money, freeing that money for other states and increasing the size of an expected payroll tax increase next year. Miner says that was different, because the UI money came with federal strings attached. The education money, he said, does not.

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Rick Perry would beat Kay Bailey Hutchison handily in a Republican primary held right now, according to a poll done by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas Politics project.

Registered voters in this poll who said they are likely to vote in the GOP primary favored the incumbent over the challenger 38 percent to 27 percent. (The margin of error on this part of the poll is 5.24 percent, since it's a subset of the full set of those surveyed). A quarter of GOP voters haven't made up their minds, and another 7 percent would favor another unnamed candidate.

Likely Democratic primary voters don't have a strong favorite but know one name better than the others. Kinky Friedman got 13 percent to 7 percent for Leticia Van de Putte (who has now said she won't run), and 3 percent for Tom Schieffer and 2 percent for Mark Thompson. Another 14 percent said they have another unnamed candidate in mind and 62 percent were undecided. (The Democratic section of the poll has a margin of error of +/- 6.05 percent.)

If Hutchison quits to run for governor, Democrat John Sharp and Republican David Dewhurst lead a pack that's chasing a huge — 62 percent — undecided vote. Sharp got 10 percent, Dewhurst got 9 percent, followed by Bill White, at 7 percent, Greg Abbott, at 6 percent, Florence Shapiro, 3 percent, and Elizabeth Ames Jones, Michael Williams, and Roger Williams, each at 1 percent.

The poll of 924 adults was conducted June 11-22 and (with the exception of the subsets for the primaries) has a margin of error of +/- 3.22 percent. You can see the full results, along with some charts, at the Texas Politics Project.

Asked a series of questions about words describing President Barack Obama, 70 percent said "intelligent" describes him well; 54 percent said "leadership" is a good description; and 45 percent said "honest" fits him. On that last one, 42 percent said "honest" does not describe him well. A third didn't like the "leadership" description for him. In this poll, 46 percent of Texans disapprove of the way Obama is doing his job as against 43 percent who approve. His handling of the economy gets worse marks: 51 percent disapprove, while 38 percent approve. Congress gets similarly bad marks: 20 percent approve of the job federal legislators are doing, and 58 percent disapprove. The poll included a presidential horse race question: In Texas right now, Obama would lose a reelection race to Republican Mitt Romney 39-34.

Two in five Texans said they approve "somewhat" or "strongly" of the job Perry has been doing as governor; 32 percent don't approve, and 28 percent don't lean one way or the other. The Legislature's approval ratings were 29 percent positive, 35 negative, and mainly neutral.

The respondents narrowly agree with the state's decision not to accept federal stimulus money for unemployment insurance. The Guv and the Lege turned down $555 million in federal money for that program; 43 percent agree with them, 36 percent disagree, and 21 percent didn't have a preference.

Public Policy

The biggest problem facing the country? The economy, with 29 percent, followed by federal spending/national debt, with 15 percent, and unemployment/jobs and political corruption/leadership, tied at 12 percent. A few issues — health care, immigration, national security, and moral decline — were in the 4 percent to 6 percent range. Others — gas prices, education, gay marriage, Afghanistan/Pakistan, Iraq, voting system, environment, crime — barely registered.

The most important problems in Texas were similar but immigration lead the list, at 18 percent, followed by the economy, 16 percent, and unemployment/jobs and border security, both at 13 percent.

Most — 69 percent — said the country is worse off economically than it was a year ago, but only 43 percent said that also applies to their personal and family financial standing. And 82 percent said poverty is a "big problem" or "somewhat of a problem."

• More Texans oppose (41 percent) than support (33 percent) the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court.

• They support reinstating legislative control over tuition rates at state colleges and universities (54 percent to 23 percent).

• They strongly support deputizing local police and sheriff's deputies to enforce federal immigration laws (61 percent to 27 percent).

• Requiring Photo IDs from voters is a winner with 70 percent; only 17 percent oppose it.

• Most Texans would allow expanded gambling in some form (full casinos, 40 percent; expansion in existing locations only, 13 percent; expansion on Indian reservations only, 7 percent), while only 18 percent would leave the law as is and only 10 percent would ban gaming altogether.

• A third of Texans don't think gays and lesbians should have the right to marry or join in civil unions, but 29 percent favor the right to marriage and another 32 percent favor the right to civil unions.

• Texans favor a ban on smoking in most places by a two-to-one margin (63 percent to 31 percent).

State education officials want to spend federal stimulus money on across-the-board teacher pay raises, but local school officials say federal rules bar the state from making that decision for them.

And their diverse plans have a common problem, spending one-time federal money on educator pay, an ongoing expense. Either state or local school taxpayers will have to finance those larger payrolls once the federal money is gone.

Last week, Gov. Rick Perry applied for the first part of $4 billion in federal stimulus money available for Texas education. Aides say he's been assured the state is getting the money, and soon. But some local officials are balking at the state's attempts to tell them how the federal dollars should be spent. Officials with the Texas Association of School Boards say the districts aren't against raises, but want local flexibility the state doesn't want to extend.

State officials want that money to fund $800 pay raises for teachers — salary boosts that were approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor. But the regulations around that stimulus money give the spending discretion to local school officials.

The difference, really, is that state lawmakers voted for across the board raises of at least $800 (estimates are that average educators would get raises of $900 to $1,000, depending on what districts they're in). Local officials would probably give raises, too, but would prefer, in some cases, to vary the size of the pay hikes to encourage, say, teachers in tougher schools to stay put, or to attract and retain employees. Also, the state version of the raises would only apply to "each classroom teacher, full-time speech pathologist, full-time librarian, full-time counselor, and full-time school nurse." Some districts might want to give raises to office staff, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, part-timers, and others not directly involved in educating kids.

"It's a false issue to say districts are not going to spend money on teachers," says J. David Thompson, a Houston attorney who represents school districts around the state. "... but the state is trying to jump in and add a mandate."

Officials at the Texas Education Agency say the Legislature directed school districts to spend the money on the one-size-fits-all pay raises. And they say the only decision left is whether they can do that with the federal money or have to use local funds for the raises and the federal funds for other spending. That's not exactly what the Legislature said, though. In HB 3646, lawmakers said Education Commissioner Robert Scott has to decide the federal funds can be used for pay increases before the districts can increase salaries.

Either way, TEA and the local districts are waiting to see whether federal officials will allow the stimulus money to be used for pay hikes. And the districts want to see whether the feds allow the state to tell the locals what to do. And in two years, both will be trying to figure out whether the resulting payrolls are funded by state or local taxpayers, or some combination.

Texas Republicans are starting a critical election cycle with a gaggle of competing political action committees, a muddle that could hamper efforts to hang onto the slimmest possible majority in the Texas House.

House Speaker Joe Straus III wants a second term and the Republicans want to keep control of the chamber next year. In 2011, lawmakers will draw new political districts for the state's congressional, Senate, House, and State Board of Education candidates. If Republicans lose the House, they'll lose a critical piece of redistricting machinery. If they hold their majority, they'll have a chance to draw maps that help them keep control of state government well into the century's second decade.

Straus has said he won't work against sitting members of the Legislature, from either party. He's a Republican, and he wants more Republicans in the House, but he's not going to oppose any Democrats who are already there.

His political action committee, which will spring into being this summer, will help Republicans running in open seats and Republicans defending their current seats.

GOPAC Texas ­— the state branch of a venerable federal effort that predated Ronald Reagan's rise to power — will focus on seats now held by Democrats that Republicans think they can flip to their column. On paper, that doesn't look so hard — 22 of the House's 74 Democrats represent districts that voted for Republicans in statewide contests during the last two election cycles.

Another PAC, forming with guidance from congressional and statehouse Republicans, would target all of those races — challenge seats, open seats, and defense seats.

So, apparently, would a political action committee started by the Republican Party of Texas. That has the advantage of lower mail rates that are available to the political parties but not to outside PACs and candidates. It has a disadvantage, too: Many officeholders in the GOP hold the state party in remarkably low esteem.

And they've got several ways to do their politicking without the party's help. Straus is the speaker; that's a no-brainer for Republican members. GOPAC Texas is headed by Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, and fellow members of the House's Conservative Caucus. Some in the Straus camp grumble that the GOPAC group is full of supporters of former House Speaker Tom Craddick — the guy Straus knocked off — they're still House members. The congressional/statehouse effort has a number of state representatives in the boardroom, including Dan Gattis of Georgetown, Kelly Hancock of North Richland Hills, Harvey Hilderbran of Kerrville, Lois Kolkhorst of Brenham, and Larry Phillips of Sherman.

Those are all, if you'll forgive the pun, in-house efforts that members feel they can control. One advantage to outside efforts like GOPAC is that members who don't contribute and don't help in the operations can maintain their good relationships with Democratic colleagues. It's hard to smack someone in the head in November and then get their help on legislation in the session that follows. Possible, but uncomfortable. Consultant-driven PACs protect members from that sort of thing, to some extent, but often come apart when good capitalism and good politics collide. It might be politically stupid to cut another commercial or drop another round of mail, but it's profitable. It's a balancing act.

That's an opening for the Associated Republicans of Texas, a PAC that's been around since John Tower was the only Republican in statewide office. Pat Sweeney Robbins, who runs that operation, says they'll do what they always do: Try to put more Republicans in the statehouse. She's happy to have help, but worries about so many PACs crowding into an election season that will end with fewer than a dozen seats seriously contested. "Each group has their own issues. It confuses the heck out of contributors," she says.

ART has also focused in the past on Senate seats, but most watchers don't think any of those will be seriously competitive this year. In fact, Sen. Dan Patrick of Houston is spending his time working with GOPAC to try to win some House seats for the Republicans.

The new committees are just getting started. Don't expect to see big war-chests when campaign finance reports are filed next week. In January — when reports for the second half of the year are due — it'll be apparent who successfully appealed to the Republican money folks, and who whiffed.

Ted Cruz has his campaign management in place. If he runs.Possible AG candidate Ted Cruz hired John Drogin to run his campaign (which will launch if and when current AG Greg Abbott says he wants to do something else). Drogin has been doing some legislative consulting but most of his background is in politics, with U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and on the 2004 Bush reelection campaign. Jason Johnson is Cruz's general consultant; Susan Lilly is his fundraiser.

Plano Republican Florence Shapiro got three more of her colleagues in the Texas Senate to support her bid for the U.S. Senate (she's running for Kay Bailey Hutchison's seat if Hutchison quits early). Fellow Republicans Kip Averitt of Waco, Joan Huffman of Houston, and Mike Jackson of La Porte join a list that includes 17 current and former pols who serve or served with Shapiro in the Senate. Four of her current Republican colleagues haven't signed on. Another way to look at it. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is undeclared but signaling that he might be in the hunt to replace Hutchison in the U.S. Senate. All but four of the 19 Republicans in the Senate — over which he presides — will be with Shapiro.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples wants four more years in that post.

A win would start his second term there and he doesn't have any announced opposition at this point. Staples, an East Texas Republican, starts the 2010 race with endorsements from the political arms of the Texas Farm Bureau and the Texas Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association.

While they were at it, the Farm Bureau's AGFUND also endorsed Comptroller Susan Combs, who announced her reelection bid a couple of weeks ago. Like Staples, she doesn't have any announced opposition.

Republicans Ted Cruz and Dan Branch each have pulled together more than $1 million to run for attorney general. Neither Cruz, the state's former solicitor general, nor Branch, a state representative from Dallas, plans to seek that job unless the current occupant, Greg Abbott, decides to quit or run for another office.Branch, limited by a state law that prevents officeholders from raising money during a legislative session, had only seven days during the first half of the year during which he could raise money. He raised $600,000 from more than 200 people, he said, bringing his cash on hand total to more than $1 million. Cruz wasn't restricted, and raised more than $1 million during the five months since he announced his interest in the job. Branch said the money will be used for his reelection bid if Abbott decides to seek reelection. Cruz said that, "in that very unlikely case," he'll leave the issue to donors, refunding the money or stashing it for a future run for office. Abbott has been considering a run for lieutenant governor next year. Current Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst plans to run for reelection, but is also considering a bid for U.S. Senate if Kay Bailey Hutchison resigns early to run for governor. Neither Branch nor Cruz released exact numbers — their reports are due next week — but Cruz released a list of financial supporters, with the names he's given each group: George Strake, Jr., Treasurer Sam Houston Circle ($10k and over) John Paul DeJoria, Austin Susanna & Michael Dokupil, Houston Windi & David Grimes, Houston Rebecca & Bryan Hardeman, Austin Jeff Hinck, Minneapolis, MN Stephanie & Gary Loveless, Houston Charline & Red McCombs, San Antonio Deborah & Patrick J. Moran, Houston Mica & Hon. Robert Mosbacher, Houston R Club PAC Tara & Adam Ross, Dallas Debi & Jim Schneider, Austin John B. Scott, Dallas Paul Singer, New York, NY David A. Spencer, San Antonio Dian Graves Stai, Abilene Peter Thiel, San Francisco, CA John Toussaint, Houston Lisa & Kenny Troutt, Dallas Julie & Michael Waldorf, New York, NY Ashley & Rad Weaver, San Antonio Modesta & Clayton Williams, Midland Stephen F. Austin Founders ($5k to $10k) Mary Katherine & Pedro Alonso, Austin Ashley & Steven Birdwell, Houston Bryan R. Bradford, Austin Gina & Tucker Bridwell, Abilene Debbie & Chuck Cooper, Washington, DC Laura & Scott Deskins, Austin Charles W. Duncan, III, Houston Anne & Brady Edwards, Houston Emily & Joe Gifford, Midland Heather Hunt Graham, Dallas David Hernandez, Boca Raton, FL Wendi & Brian Kushner, Austin Julia Jones Matthews, Abilene Robert C. McNair, Houston Christine & Shea Morenz, Houston Diane & John O’Neill, Houston Chris & Bill Peirson, Dallas Corbin J. Robertson, Jr., Houston Farouk Shami, Houston Rick Sharp, Richmond, VA Julie & Chad Sweet, New York, NY Stephen L. Tatum, Fort Worth Anne & Van Taylor, Dallas Ralph B. Thomas, Houston Kim & Dan Tutcher, Houston Graham Weston, San Antonio William Barret Travis Commanders ($2k to $5k) J. Fred Bucy, Dallas Erin & Brett Busby, Houston Don E. Childress, Houston Eugene H. Dawson, San Antonio Alan W. Dreeben, San Antonio Ralph Duggins, Fort Worth Tim Dunn, Midland Hon. Don L. Evans, Midland Heather & Elliot Goldman, Fort Worth Allyson N. Ho, Dallas Hon. Kenneth Juster, San Francisco, CA Kristy & Brad Knippa, Austin Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell, LLP PAC Beth & Greg Looser, Houston Hon. Alan M. Sager, Austin Laura & Jeff Sandefer, Austin Merrie Spaeth, Dallas David M. Underwood, Houston Hon. Tim D. Von Dohlen, Austin Bulbul Gupta & Aman Verjee, Palo Alto, CA Davy Crockett Frontiersmen ($1k to $2k) Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld PAC Randy Altschuler, Lake Grove, NY Charles E. Amato, San Antonio Penny & Hon. Ernest Angelo, Midland Jeff Boyd, Austin Helen Cullen Austin & Jeff Austin, III, Tyler Baker & Hostetler PAC Ramona Bass, Fort Worth Judy & David Beck, Houston Elisabeth & Timothy D. Belton, Bellaire Trey Blocker, Austin Michele & John Boettiger, Houston Dr. Daniel A. Bonevac, Austin Dr. Steve Brown, Aledo President George H.W. & Mrs. Barbara Bush, Houston Marline & Jack Byrd, Midland Jeffrey R. Chapman, Dallas Janet & Ernest H. Cockrell, Houston Vincent Colatriano, McLean, VA Greg L. Coleman, Austin Cristina & Stephen Cox, Washington, DC Robin & Chris Dance, Dallas John T. Delacourt, Dunn Loring, VA Hon. Grant Dorfman, Houston Vicky & Lucas T. Elliot, Houston Monica & Charles R. Eskridge, Houston Hon. José Cuevas, Midland Austen H. Furse, Houston David B. Garcia, Austin Michele & Jim Grace, Houston Frances & Evetts Haley, Jr., Midland Daniel K. Hedges, Houston Richard Jackson, Austin Shawn Stephens & Jim Jordan, Houston Hugh Rice Kelly, Houston Roger A. Key, Lubbock Thompson & Knight PAC Amelia Bullock & Bill Krumpack, Austin Jeffrey C. Kubin, Houston Amy & James H. Lee, Houston Los Elefantes del Condado de Cameron Partido Republicano, Harlingen Jimmy Mansour, Austin Richard W. Moncrief, Fort Worth S. Reed Morian, Houston Jay Nordlinger, New York, NY Becky & Malcolm Morris, Houston Porter & Hedges PAC Dr. Ion Ratiu, Austin Nina Rosenwald, NY Kay & Jay Rutherford, Fort Worth Pat R. Rutherford, Houston Manuel A. Sanchez, Houston Carson & Arthur Seeligson, Houston Joseph Smith, Denver, CO Katie & Patrick Starley, Austin Jay Stewart, Austin Venus & Bill Strawn, Austin Pamela & Hugh Tanner, Houston David Thompson, Vienna, VA Carlos Treistman, Houston Thomas O. Turner, Austin Juan Seguin Patriots ($500 to $1k) Kenneth E. Aboussie, Austin Hon. Cathie & Homer Adams, Dallas Lisa Helfman & John Adler, Houston Amir Alavi, Houston Shirley & A. K. Barton, Houston Jessica & Jimmy Blacklock, Houston Michael Bloom, Philadelphia, PA Mary Ellen & Roger B. Borgelt, Austin Kathy & George Britton, Houston Hon. Penny & John R. Butler, Houston Betsy & David Buttross, Austin Dougal Cameron, Houston Charles E. Cheever, San Antonio Sean K. Coleman, Brooklyn, NY Jordan W. Cowman, Dallas Erin & Trey Cox, Dallas Rhett Dawson, Austin Scott Delacourt, Arlington, VA David Dominy, Houston Karey & Phillip Dye, Houston Dr. Jerry Ellig, Falls Church, VA Lesha & Tom Elsenbrook, Houston Brian F. Feld, San Antonio George Fibbe, Houston Michael Fleischer, New Canaan, CT Theodore Frank, Arlington, VA Noel Fransisco, Washington, DC Heather & Todd Furniss, Dallas Darcy & Joseph Gagnon, Houston Sharin & Scott Gaille, Houston Sam & Barnett Gershen, Houston Daniel Geyser, Austin Nicole Goldstein, Chevy Chase, MD Melinda Grace, Austin James W. Gustafson, Houston Joy Hardeman, Austin Erica & Charles Harris, Houston Timothy L. Hildenbrand, Castroville Jon Jackson, Austin Murray L. Johnston, San Antonio Sam Kasparek, San Antonio Angie King, Dallas Hon. Becky Klein, Austin Dr. Robert Koons, Austin Michael Lynd, San Antonio Steven P. Mach, Houston Stephen Manz, Plano Rosario & Hon. Rafael Marquez, Round Rock Wallis Marsh, Houston Karen & James Martin, Houston Katie & Jack McConn, Houston Connelly T. McGreevy, Houston Bonnie & William F. Miller, Houston Linda & Leandro Morales, Cypress Melissa & Matthew Morris, Houston Hon. Timothy Muris, Oakton, TX Clark Neily, Arlington, VA Ryan Newman, Arlington, VA Jeff Oldham, Houston James B. O’Neill, New York, NY Matthew Osterhaus, Houston Lee Otis, Falls Church, VA Joe Owen, Dallas Jeanne & Rusty Parker, Austin Royce Poinsett, Austin Stephanie & Daniel Prescott, Dallas Dr. George M. Rapier, San Antonio Christina & Mark Rodriguez, Houston Deborah Rosenfeld, Dallas Sean Royall, Dallas Reed Runnels, Dallas Becca & Scott Schwinger, Houston Mark Silver, Chicago, IL Mary Jane Smith, Houston Thomas S. Smith, Houston Jeff Smithers, San Antonio Gwyn & Don L. Sparks, Midland Brantley Starr, Austin Katie & Aaron Streett, Houston Louis H. Stumberg, San Antonio Elizabeth Tait, Austin Mrs. Nicholas C. Taylor, Midland Tad Tellepsen, Houston Warren W. Tichenor, San Antonio Joel Thollander, Austin Gordon Todd, Alexandria, VA Bette & Jack Vexler, San Antonio Meg & Dathan Voelter, Austin Michael Watson, Dallas Stephen Wiesenfeld, Midland Margaret Wilson, Austin Jim. Windham, Houston Jim P. Wise, Humble Eva & Marvin Womack, Austin Michael Youtt, Houston Jim Bowie Brigade ($250 to $500) Frank Atkinson, Ashland, VA Mary Beth & George Barton, Midland Thomas Beck, Falls Church, VA Jennifer Bonar-Gray, Arlington, VA Chad Boudreaux, Washington, DC Shelby & Malachi Boyuls, Dallas Michelle K. Brock, Midland Dale A. Brown, Midland Hon. Sam J. Chase, Abilene Hon. Geoffrey S. Connor, Austin Erin & Trey Cox, Dallas Rafael B. Cruz, Carrollton Stephen Dartt, Austin Uttam Dhillon, Plano Frank Eaton, Odessa Ken Emanuelson, Dallas Jacob Erlich, Nahant, MA Ruben E. Esquivel, Desoto Donald Fitzgibbons, Albany Gwen & Dr. Davis Ford, Austin Rinaldo J. Gonzalez, San Antonio Kay & Lino A. Graglia, Austin Martha & Mike Grimes, Houston Michael Grodhaus, Dublin, OH Alan Gura, Alexandria, VA John Greytok, Austin Linda Halpern, Austin Erik Hawes, Houston Tammy Herrin, Dallas Meredith & Marshall Iler, Cypress Ed Ingle, Vienna, VA Eric Jaso, Morristown, NJ Adam Johnson, Dallas Bob Juba, Amarillo Jane & Randy R. Jurgensmeyer, Dallas Orin Kerr, Arlington, VA Kelly McBeth Kerr, Austin Hon. Jerry Kilgore, Glen Allen, VA Manuel Klausner, Los Angeles, CA Christopher Kratovil, Dallas Robert Kruckemeyer, Houston Steven Kupka, Washington, DC Don Langston, Lufkin Curt Levey, Washington, DC Susan Lubin, Austin Steven P. Mach, Houston John Maclay, Houston Sylivia & John Manley, Houston Stephen A. Massad, Houston Michael C. Massengale, Houston R. Bruce McLain, Fort Worth Mace Meeks, Houston Lori Singer Meyer, McLean, VA Barbara B. Moeller, Austin Susan Moore, Austin Lawrence Neuhoff, Dallas Tobin Olson, San Antonio Sandra Phillips, Houston Maggie F. Radford, Dallas Nicholas Rosenkranz, Washington, DC Ilya Shapiro, Washington, DC Hon. E. Ashley Smith, Houston Dallas L. Smith, Midland Luke Sobota, Washington, DC Durk Suringa, McLean, VA Shanna & Joel Tarver, Houston Drew B. Tipton, Humble Eugene Volokh, Pacific Palisades, CA Michael Walton, Houston Ann L. Witt, Houston Ronald W. Woliver, Houston Michael L. Woodward, Dripping Springs Mirabeau Lamar Legends (Less than $250) Cynthia & John Adkins, Houston Robert Aguirre, San Antonio Farha Ahmed, Houston David Anderson, Dallas George Antuna, Jr., San Antonio Sandra & Hon. Nelson Balido, San Antonio Suzanne Bellsnyder, Austin Joanie & Ben Bentzin, Austin Hague & Eric Bing Amanda & George P. Bush, Austin Hon. David Cabrales, Dallas Quico Canseco, San Antonio Joe Ed Cannon, Abilene Hon. Al Cardenas, Miami, FL Brian Carney, Midland Winn Carter, Jr., Houston Hon. Jacquie Chaumette, Sugarland Jo Anne Christian, Austin Greg Cizik, Houston
Hon. Doug Cole, Columbus, OH Jessica Colón, Houston Dan Corbett, San Antonio Bob Craig, Lubbock Jennifer & Patrick Davidson, San Antonio Jeremy S. Davis, Houston Lynn & Steve Davis, Austin Paul Dickerson, Houston Jeannine & Robin Donnelly, Midland Allison & Beau Egert, Houston Hon. Wade Emmert, Cedar Hill Hon. Cynthia Figueroa, Dallas Rob Finney, San Antonio Charles Flournoy, Houston Marjorie Winn Ford, Dallas Charles Foster, Houston Claudia Wilson Frost, Houston Joe Fulwiler, Austin Noe Garcia, Houston Rich Garchar, Plano Stephen Garrison, Dallas Kaye & Gary Goolsby, Katy Nancy Patterson & J. Bradley Green, Houston Darren Grubb, New York, NY Frank Guerra, San Antonio Abel Guerra, Miami, FL Clayton Hagerman, Houston Stevan Hammond, Dallas Will Hardeman, Austin Bobby Holt, Midland T. Scott Holstead, Houston Karen & Gary Jones, Austin Charles Kaplan, Dallas Gena & Harrison Keller, Austin Blair Labatt, San Antonio Kathleen & Byron LeFlore, San Antonio Dr. Jim Leininger, San Antonio Cadell Liedtke, Midland Leo Linbeck, Jr., Houston Bibi & Marino Loyola, Lewisville Joseph Manero, Houston Vidal Martinez, Houston Hon. José Montemayor, Austin Jacob Monty, Houston Walker Moody, Midland Hon. Jerry Morales, Midland Selden Morales, Washington, DC Henry Musselman, Midland Brian Newby, Fort Worth Scott O’Grady, Dallas Jan & Joe O’Neill, Midland Matt Orwig, Dallas Rolando Pablos, San Antonio Candace & Michael Partridge, Austin J.D. Pauerstein, San Antonio Larry Peterson, El Paso Margaret & James Purvis, Midland Jaime Ramón, Dallas Hon. Jack Rains, Houston Jackie & Robert Rendall, Midland Brian Roberts, Austin Dr. Dale Robinowitz, Dallas Tom Rodman, Midland Hon. Richard Roman, El Paso Raul Romero, Washington, DC Harriet Romo, San Antonio Dr. Craig Rosenfeld, Dallas Jill & Rick Salwen, Austin Monica & Marc Samuels, Austin Hon. Orlando Sanchez, Houston David Schenck, Dallas Pablo Schneider, Dallas John Schweitzer, Austin Hon. Joey Seeber, Tyler Dr. Daron Shaw, Austin Pete Slover, Dripping Springs Tom Smith, Frisco Mary Smith, Denver, CO Bertrand Sosa, Austin Beth Sturgeon, Canadian Glen Summers, Denver, CO Rice M. Tilley, Jr., Fort Worth Travis Thomas, Austin Virginia & Walter Tomlinson, Houston Hon. Michael Toner, Washington, DC Linda Traylor, Austin Tim Tuggey, San Antonio Richard Vaughan, Houston AnaPaula & Mark Watson, III, San Antonio Ellen Witt, Austin Justin Yancy, Austin Al Zapanta, Dallas Lee Zeiben, Houston

Alberto Gonzales will teach political science at Texas Tech University next fall. The former U.S. attorney general, Texas Supreme Court Justice and Texas Secretary of State will also help the school — and Angelo State University —recruit minority students.

• Rich Oppel Sr., former editor of the Austin American-Statesman, signed on with Public Strategies as a "senior advisor." He's not yet sure what all that entails, but it's a public affairs firm and he's got 46 years of newspapering behind him and they'll figure out something. His new office is right across the Colorado River from his old one.

• John Pitts Jr. changed jobs, moving to Simple Solar as VP of development from his more general lobbying for clients including renewable energy firms. He'll stay involved in the Texas Renewable Energy Association, but will spend his time building solar projects in the U.S., Canada, and in Mexico.

• Eric Johnson, who's challenging fellow Democrat Rep. Terri Hodge in Dallas' HD-100, says his campaign finance report will show contributions of $65,000.

Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving, says she will seek reelection to a fifth term in the Texas House.Harper-Brown, first elected to the House in 2002, had the closest race of any winner last year, beating her Democratic opponent by two dozen votes after a recount and a bunch of lawyering that preceded the legislative session. Her announcement included testimonials from Tina Benkiser, chairwoman of the Republican Party of Texas; Irving City Councilman Rick Stopfer; and Michael Quinn Sullivan of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility. HD-105 is at the top of both party's lists. The Republicans want to hang on in a district that's more amenable to Democrats than any other GOP-held district in the Texas House. The Democrats, after almost winning in 2008, hope to pick it off. Democrat Loretta Haldenwang, an exec with the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce — has said she's interested. And at least one Republican — Irving City Council member Beth Van Duyne — has also kicked the tires. The stakes there and elsewhere are high. The GOP advantage in the House is skinny: 76 to 74.

Gail Lowe, co-publisher of the Lampasas Dispatch Record, is Gov. Rick Perry's choice to head the State Board of Education. Perry's first pick for the chairman's job, Don McLeroy of College Station, didn't get past confirmation by the Texas Senate. And outside groups like the Texas Freedom Network were stirred up earlier this week at the idea that Cynthia Dunbar of Richmond might be the governor's choice. "Gail has shown exemplary leadership and commitment to the education of young Texans through her work on the State Board of Education for the past seven years, as a classroom volunteer assisting elementary school students with math and reading, and as a member of the Lampasas School District," Perry said in the press release announcing his choice. "I am confident that through her leadership, we will continue to ensure that Texans receive the educational foundation necessary to be successful in college, the workplace and beyond." Lowe, a Republican, was first elected to the SBOE in 2002 in a district that stretches from the Red River to Central Texas. She's been less of a lightning rod than McLeroy or Dunbar, but generally votes with those two and the rest of the most conservative members of the board. The TFN folks criticized Perry's choice. "It's disappointing that instead of choosing a mainstream conservative who could heal the divisions on the board, the governor once again appointed someone who repeatedly has put political agendas ahead of the education of Texas schoolchildren," said Kathy Miller, TFN's president. "Ms. Lowe has marched in lockstep with a faction of board members who believe that their personal beliefs are more important than the experience and expertise of teachers and academics who have dedicated their careers to educating our children and helping them succeed. We can only hope that she will rise above her history on the board and as chair keep fellow members from continuing to hold the education of our children hostage to divisive 'culture war' battles." Others, like the Free Market Foundation, voiced support. "Our state and our schoolchildren will benefit greatly from Mrs. Lowe's service, care, and commitment as the new State Board of Education Chair," said Jonathan Saenz, that group's legislative director. "We hope that the usual critics will rise above their religious discrimination of the past and allow Mrs. Lowe to focus on the important education issues of our state."