Gov. Rick Perry named Nathan Hecht, who’s been on the Texas Supreme Court since January 1, 1989, to be the next chief justice there. Hecht says he’ll run for a full term in the post next year. He replaces Wallace Jefferson, who is resigning at the end of the month. Perry has yet to name a ninth judge to that court.
The governor appointed Robert De Hoyos of Austin to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission. De Hoyos is an exec with Tenaris North America.
Katrina Pierson, best known for her involvement in the Dallas Tea Party, will challenge U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Dallas, in CD-32. She starts that adventure with an endorsement from FreedomWorks, a Washington, D.C.-based group that supports Libertarian-leaning Republican candidates.
Ryan Sitton, who lost a House race last year to state Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-Friendswood, will run for Railroad Commission in 2014. He joins a crowded pack that became even more crowded this week with the entry of former state Rep. Wayne Christian, R-Center. The first trick in that race will be bringing enough (or finding enough) money to the fight to get in front of voters — and ahead of the other Republicans.
State Sen. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, fired off a list of 100 Tea Party activists from around the state he said have endorsed his campaign for attorney general. One of his opponents, state Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, countered with endorsements from “ten top legal advisors to Ted Cruz.”
State Sen. Glenn Hegar, R-Katy, who is running for comptroller, picked up the endorsement of Tim Lambert, a former national committeeman for the RNC and the head of the Texas Home School Coalition.
Democrat Celia Israel won the endorsement of the Texas Association of Realtors’ political arm in the HD-50 special election in Austin. Israel is one of four candidates in the race to replace state Rep. Mark Strama, who quit earlier this year. There’s a bidness tie here: Israel is a Realtor. The other candidates: Democrats Rico Reyes and Jade Chang Sheppard, and Republican Mike VanDeWalle. That election is on November 5, and the seat will be on the ballot again in a year.
State Rep. Rob Orr, R-Burleson, won’t seek a sixth term in HD-58 next year.
Clayton Stewart is taking over the Texas Medical Association’s political action committee this month, replacing David Reynolds, who left to hand out a consulting shingle. Stewart was most recently with the Texas Society of Anesthesiologists.
Guy Deidrich, who had been the Texas A&M System’s lead on state and federal relations, will be acting vice chancellor of strategic initiatives, replacing Brett Giroir in that job. Giroir is taking over the Texas A&M Health Science Center. Jenny Jones, who is already in the legislative operation, will take over as acting director of it.