House Speaker Joe Straus is the headliner at a fundraiser next week for Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs. That wouldn't be unusual except that Straus is a Republican speaker, and Rose has a Republican challenger in November. Straus has said he won't campaign against incumbents from either party, and he's backed other Democrats who didn't have Republican opposition. This is apparently the first he's backed over his own party's challenger.

Gov. Rick Perry's top fundraisers, Leslie Sullivan and Krystle Alvarado, left the campaign, apparently over a disagreement about how much they should be paid. Sullivan's husband, Ray, is the governor's chief of staff.

There's still no permanent head at the Texas Legislative Council, but Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Speaker Straus have posted the job, an indication they're ready to work it out. The agency drafts bills for lawmakers in both houses and is the home of redistricting. Frontrunners: Frank Battle, who works for Dewhurst now, and Jeff Archer, who's at TLC now.

Trey Powers is leaving Comptroller Susan Combs — he worked for her at the department of agriculture before following her to her current spot — to start a lobby business. He was in legislative affairs at both agencies.

Straus appointed Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, to the executive committee of the Energy Council.

First Assistant Chief David Brown was selected to be the new Chief of Police for the Dallas Police Department, starting next week. Brown has worked for the Dallas Police Department for 26 years. Assistant Chief Charles Cato, who has been with the department since 1998, will become First Assistant Chief.

Nancy Pearson, a licensed social worker living in Burton, has been appointed to the Texas State Board of Social Worker Examiners by the governor. She is a branch support manager for Hospice Brazos Valley and a former service coordinator and case manager for Texana Mental Health and Mental Retardation Services Center.

Perry has reappointed Beau Egert, a special assistant to the chairman at Mosbacher Energy Company, and Joanie Haley, an executive director of the Robert and Janice McNair Foundation, to the OneStar Foundation, which connects nonprofits with expertise and resources.

Debra Lehrmann may have violated campaign finance laws during her bid to become the Republican nominee for the Texas Supreme Court, according to a complaint filed with the Texas Ethics Commission.

Texans for Public Justice says $20,100 the Fort Worth district court judge received from her mother-in-law, Norma J. Talley, appears to flout the Judicial Campaign Fairness Act's $5,000 cap on individual campaign contributions and "may have shaped the outcome of the race for the Place 3 open seat." The law excludes immediate family members — defined as children, parents, siblings, grandchildren and grandparents — as well as bank loans from the limits imposed by the act.

When she advanced to the Republican runoff with former state Rep. Rick Green, R-Dripping Springs, Lehrmann raised nearly $280,000 to defeat him. She is competing in the general election with Democrat Jim Sharp, who sits on Houston's 1st Court of Appeals.

Lehrmann said she had just gotten word of the complaint. "Of course, we certainly did not intend to violate any ethical rules," she said, "And if something inadvertently happened, we will correct it immediately." If the ethics commission finds her in violation, Lehrmann could face a fine of up to three times the amount the contribution exceeds the $5,000 cap — or up to $45,300.

This a little awkward. Mabrie Jackson, who pulled out of the race for state Rep. Brian McCall's unexpired term, beat Van Taylor in Saturday's special election, winning 56 percent of the vote to his 44 percent, according to Collin County's election results. Taylor won the primary election runoff last month and is on his way to serving a two-year term in the House. But McCall, who is now the chancellor of the Texas State University System, quit his House post early to take the academic job. The special was designed to fill out the rest of his term. Jackson, who lost the other election, withdrew her name and Taylor was sworn in. All three of them are Republicans from Plano. But absent any more campaigning, she won the special election.