State Rep. Dan Gattis, R-Georgetown, reannounced that he's in the race for Texas Senate in SD-5, now that Republican Steve Ogden opted out of a reelection bid.Gattis said earlier this year that he'd run if Ogden stepped down. And now the contest to succeed Gattis in HD-20 — all of it conditioned on Ogden retiring and Gattis attempting to move up — can proceed. Milton Rister has expressed interest, and so has Stephen Thomas, here. Gattis has a website up and running. He's actually the second candidate to declare — Republican Ben Bius of Huntsville jumped in on Friday. And another — Dr. Sam Harrison of Bryan — is looking at it. The Senate district includes 14 counties, with most of the population in Williamson (38 percent) and Brazos (23 percent) counties. That's population — voting is different. In Ogden's last run in 2006, 17 percent of the vote came from Brazos County — his home turf. Williamson County contributed 47 percent of the total that year. Gattis is running from a Williamson County base and has a legal cheat on name recognition: The county judge is his father, Dan Gattis Sr.

Brandi Grissom, The Texas Tribune Gov. Rick Perry and former New York Mayor and GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani are traveling the state this week, touting anti-gang legislation and state border security efforts.The big-name tour starts in Austin and San Antonio, moves through Houston and will cap off Wednesday evening with a dinner fundraiser reception in Dallas for Perry, said campaign spokesman Mark Miner. The governor supported Giuliani during his bid for the White House last year. But could their continuing lovefest create some tension back at the office for Giuliani? Pat Oxford, chairman of Houston law firm Bracewell and Giuliani, is a major supporter of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. He in the past has been her finance chairman, and this year has given the senator about $5,000 for her bid to unseat Perry in 2010. Oxford said this afternoon, though, that Giuliani is just returning the favor. Giuliani, he said, is a loyal guy. "I understand fully why he is helping Rick, just like Governor Perry helped him," Oxford said. bgrissom@texastribune.org

Blaine Brunson will be the new chief of staff to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, and Julia Rathgeber will be deputy chief of staff.Dewhurst announced the promotions, filling in the spot left when Rob Johnson left to work on Gov. Rick Perry's campaign earlier this summer. Both of the newly titled have been on the Lite Guv's staff: Brunson as budget director, Rathgeber as policy director.

Rep. Ismael "Kino" Flores, D-Palmview, won't run for reelection, he said Tuesday.Flores, who faces criminal indictments on several ethics charges in Travis County, has been in the Legislature since 1997. He succeeded his wife's cousin — Sergio Muñoz — and one of the contenders for his job, if he leaves, is Sergio Muñoz Jr. Another is Sandra Rodriguez, who unsuccessfully challenged Flores in last year's Democratic primary. The Rio Grande Guardian, an online paper, quoted sources who said Flores wouldn't seek reelection. He later issued a press release confirming that.

Rep. David Farabee, D-Wichita Falls, told his hometown paper that he won't seek reelection.Farabee is in one of the most Republican districts represented by a Democrat, and holding onto the seat will be tough for his party. It's got a Texas Weekly Index of 32.6 — the average margin by which statewide Republican candidates beat statewide Democratic candidates over the last two election cycles in that district. Wichita Falls Mayor Lanham Lyne is telling local supporters he will run — as a Republican — for that HD-69 seat. Pols in both parties question whether any Democrat who's not named Farabee can hold the seat. Democrats hoping to take over the the Legislature's lower chamber will now have to win his seat and two more to overtake Republicans in the narrowly divided Texas House. After the governor's race and a possible special election for U.S. Senate, the House is the main battleground on the 2010 ballot.

Put Dr. Charles Schwertner, a Williamson County Republican, on the list of folks looking at Dan Gattis' spot in the Texas House.

Gattis is running for the state Senate now that Steve Ogden has announced he won't seek reelection (so, probably, is Ben Bius of Walker County). And the race to replace Gattis is now on. Schwertner is an orthopedist who's been involved in the county medical society there, and he's from an old family, as you'll note if you look at a map of the area and find the tiny town called Schwertner. Other possible candidates in HD-20 include Milton Rister, a former GOP political consultant and former head of the Texas Legislative Council, and Steven Thomas, who's on the Cedar Park City Council.

• And insert David Andrews into the HD-85 race against Rep. Joe Heflin, D-Crosbyton. Andrews, an accountant, is chairman of the Jones County GOP.

The U.S. Senate confirmed former Texas legislator Juan Garcia as assistant Secretary of the Navy for manpower and reserve affairs. The Corpus Christi Democrat lost a reelection bid in 2008 but won a presidential appointment this year.

Max Westbrook moves to the state comptroller's office, where he'll be the new chief of the criminal investigation division (mostly tax cases), from the Austin Police Department, where he was a lieutenant and where he worked on organized crime cases for five years.

ERCOT President and CEO Bob Kahn will leave that job in November after two years with that energy agency. The board there is still deciding whether to put an interim in place and how to handle the search for a replacement.

Public Citizen's Tom "Smitty" Smith won an award from the Heinz Foundation for being "one of the most effective energy advocates in Texas." That comes with a $100,000 prize.

Coming up: Karl Rove is the headliner at a Texas Association of Health Plans even next month in Bastrop, talking about "the politics of health care reform."

Former lawmaker Kyle Janek, R-Houston, says he and the Texas Society of Anesthesiologists (he's one of them) will do CPR and defibrillator courses at the Capitol next spring. They were prompted, in part, by a close call last session when Rep. Edmund Kuempel, R-Seguin, had a heart attack in an elevator and was revived by Rep. John Zerwas, R-Houston, who's a doctor.

Gov. Rick Perry appointed:

• Raymond "Ray" Wheless to the 266th District Court. Wheless is currently the judge of Collin County Court at Law No. 4.

• Leslie "Les" Hatch of Lubbock to the 237th District Court. He's an attorney with Mayfield, Crutcher and Sharpee.

Mark Updegrove is the new head of the LBJ Presidential Library at the University of Texas. The author and presidential scholar will succeed Betty Sue Flowers, who resigned in May.