Kerri Briggs, who formerly served as assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education in the U.S. Department of Education and most recently as state superintendent of education for Washington, D.C., began work as the new program director of education reform for the George W. Bush Institute.
Deaths: Gene Fondren, the former state House member and master lobbyist who served for more than 30 years as president of Texas Auto Dealers Association. He was 83.
A week after the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee invested in airtime in his district, U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, D-San Antonio, has more help in his race from the national party. Former president Bill Clinton stumped for the San Antonio Democrat on Thursday. His Republican challenger, Francisco "Quico" Canseco, cast the event as a "desperate campaign move" and evidence that the national party thinks the incumbent is in trouble.
In CD-17, U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards aired a new TV ad spotlighting a Dallas Morning News article that revealed his Republican opponent, Bill Flores, failed to repay $7.5 million he received from the federal government to rescue his company from a bankruptcy.
The ad wars also heated up in the state house this week: Rep. Diana Maldonado, D-Round Rock, released a spot playing up her leadership on business and education issues. She faces Republican Larry Gonzales.
Republican challenger Patrick McGuiness jabbed Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin, across the airwaves, linking the incumbent to President Barack Obama. Strama aired an ad of his own, calling for a focus on renewable energy.
Back to Basics PAC and the Democratic Governors Association both flexed their muscles in gubernatorial race broadcasts. The association released its second ad attacking Gov. Rick Perry for his support of an HPV vaccine mandate. Back to Basics, the PAC funded by Houston trial lawyer Steve Mostyn, released its latest spot, which accuses Perry of diverting recovery funds intended for victims of Hurricane Ike to repair the Governor's Mansion.
There seems to be some confusion in Corpus Christi. Democratic Rep. Solomon Ortiz Jr. says his opponent, Republican Raul Torres, is touting endorsements he hasn't received.
Ortiz has cast doubt on Torres' proclaimed endorsements from the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, the National Rifle Association, the Texas State Rifle Association and local Republican Sheriff Jim Kaelin. Ortiz says his opponent listed the endorsements on his website and in campaign literature but that he's actually received none of them.
"As an elected official and candidate, I know that the public's trust is something you can never take for granted," Ortiz wrote in a letter to supporters highlighting the issue.
In fact, both pro-gun associations have actually endorsed Ortiz, though Torres was given an "A" rating based on his responses to survey questions. Torres' consultant, Christian Anderson, says the campaign has corrected errors in the way it listed the association's ratings.
The Ortiz campaign also produced a letter from Kaelin saying he had received a copy of Torres' campaign literature featuring his image and falsely attributed quotes of support. Kaelin writes, "I told [Torres] in no uncertain words, 'I could not give him my endorsement.'" Anderson says the campaign literature in question dates back to the primary and was the work of a previous consultant who has since been fired.
Torres still promotes the Caller-Times endorsement on his Facebook page, though he actually received the endorsement in his primary race. The paper has yet to endorse in the general election. "Our opponent seems to be making much ado about nothing," says Anderson, who says the campaign never asserted that the endorsement had come after the primary.
When not squabbling over who does or doesn't like whom, the campaigns are busy highlighting alleged ethics violations by their opponents. Torres filed a complaint alleging that Ortiz pocketed $4,050 in campaign cash, and an ethics complaint was filed alleging that Torres did not correctly report assets and liabilities on his personal financial statement. Ortiz says he was reimbursing himself for cell phone bills, which, he says, the Texas Ethics Commission has ruled is permissible. The Torres campaign says errors on his records will be corrected and that his tax records made publicly available.
The latest gubernatorial debate featured everything but the incumbent, who willingly sparred with Republicans during the primary but has avoided appearances with Democrat Bill White, Libertarian Kathie Glass and the Green Party's Deb Shafto. The other three showed up to answer questions about immigration, the budget, education and even their favorite philosophers.The debate, broadcast from the studios of KLRU-TV in Austin and sponsored by a half-dozen media organizations, offered voters a chance to see and hear from the minor party candidates who are usually overshadowed by White and Gov. Rick Perry. Glass said Texas should "secure our borders and stop all taxpayer supported services to non-U.S. citizens." She said she'd cut the state's budget in half and cautioned against Republicans who she said have been running up the cost of government. "They're going to use this budget problem to institute taxes that they've wanted all along." Glass got off a number of good lines. Asked about state-sponsored gambling, she suggested the players might be on to something: "If you've looked at your 401k statement lately, you might think that they've made the better choice." Asked if there was something nice to be said about the incumbent, she offered, "I hear he's a pretty good shot." She said she supports the death penalty but would slow down the process if elected governor, carefully going over the court transcripts before executing anyone. "I feel that we have put some innocent people to death, and that's something that should weigh on a governor and on us as a society." Glass doesn't think the Republican Legislature would vote to legalize medical marijuana but said as governor she would sign the bill if it reached her desk. And she had a distinctly contrarian turn to a question about dropouts, suggesting students of a certain age ought to be allowed to quit school. "Maybe they know something about what's best for their lives. If a 16-year-old wants to drop out … you're talking about a product that's so bad, you can't give it away," she said. That might improve school for those left behind: "More than likely, that student is a disruptive force. Let him go. He made a mistake. Ignorance can be cured." At the end of the debate, the candidates got a couple of minutes to make final remarks. "If by now you're thinking I'd be the best governor but you're not sure that I can win, this closing is for you," Glass said. "… We're in a battle for America and Texas is the battleground … with Kathie Glass, it will be a vote for change." Shafto, a retired teacher, said the state should continue educating children of undocumented immigrants. "They're anxious. They're education-oriented. Let's let them have it." Her recommendation for the economy? "I would take state funds and start massive public works projects to get people back to work." Asked whether gambling offers a way to help the state balance its budget, Shafto turned up her nose. "I think it's sleazy to say the least when you are taking people who don't know what the odds are and using them to finance the state." She favors an income tax and said the state under-taxes the wealthy and overtaxes the poor. "The top 20 percent pay roughly 3 percent of their income in taxes. The bottom 20 pay 12 percent." Shafto's not impressed with Perry: "I don't want to appear too negative, but I can't think of anything offhand… all in all, I can't think of a single thing. I'm sorry." She said she's against the death penalty: "I think it's much too drastic." Shafto had no hesitation about using state and federal money for children's health and said those programs shouldn't be cut to balance the budget. " I would love to have lower cost insurance but not at the expense of one child, whether they are citizens or not citizens," she said. "That's our money," she said of federal funds for CHIP. "Why would we not want to spend it on our children?" In her close, Shafto said she, too, would be an agent of change. "I want to construct a different kind of world … a world where we care for each other … a world where we care for our environment. … We need to vote for the candidate who best expresses our hopes and desires."
Travis County prosecutors who reviewed allegations of irregularities at the Teacher Retirement System of Texas decided months ago not to pursue the case. Bill White, the Democratic nominee for governor, on Wednesday called for an investigation "by appropriate authorities" into allegations raised in a 2009 memo from Michael Green, then-director of private markets in the investments division at TRS. Green raised questions about managers and board members overriding staff recommendations and rewarding contracts to friends and allies. White extended that to mean political allies and supporters of his opponent, Gov. Rick Perry. At the time, TRS brought in an outside consultant to review the allegations and sent his findings on to the state auditor. Green, meanwhile, waited four months and then sent copies of his memo to the attorney general and to the Travis County district attorney for investigation. The AG, seeing that the memo was in the hands of local prosecutors, passed. After looking into it and interviewing Green in September 2009, so did the district attorney. "We met with Mr. Green on September 3 and we weren't able to identify any criminal violations and we closed this matter on June 22, 2010," says John Neal, first assistant to Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg. He said the issue could be raised again, but only if new information or evidence comes to light.