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You could be forgiven for thinking Steve Stockman was the only story coming out of the final day to file in the party primaries. He’s not the only featured act, though, in this circus.

To start with, Stockman’s decision to abandon the CD-36 race on Monday's filing deadline triggered an extension under the Election Code, giving interested Republicans until Dec. 16 to file for the now open party primary.

The extension of the filing deadline wasn’t publicly announced until late the next day, which made it next to impossible for current officeholders who might have wanted to run for CD-36 to withdraw from their primary contests in time to enter the congressional tilt.

Caught in that trap were state Rep. James White, R-Hillister, and SBOE member David Bradley, R-Beaumont. They were both seriously considering making a run but are now on the outside looking in. One name, though, has emerged: Houston businessman Ben Streusand. He would join a field of contenders for the Republican nomination that is already a half-dozen strong.

Other action on filing deadline day (full brackets available here) ensured a repeat of a couple of high-profile electoral contests. Francisco "Quico" Canseco, who rode the Tea Party wave of 2010 to a Republican victory in the West Texas-based CD-23, will attempt to take his seat back from Pete Gallego, the Alpine Democrat who beat him last year.

Canseco, though, will have to win his party’s primary contest first. He is facing off there against Robert Lowry and Will Hurd, who has already released a web video focusing on his trusty SUV “Shirley Marie.”

Also, Matt Beebe, who mounted a Tea Party challenge to House Speaker Joe Straus last year, will try again to make the case that Straus “does not hold the conservative values of District 121,” per Beebe's campaign announcement. Straus prevailed handily in the first contest.

Former state Rep. Robert Talton was acknowledged as a master of the dark art of using parliamentary procedure to kill legislation on the floor of the House. It’s unsure how much of that know-how transfers to a statewide judiciary race. But it’s a good bet that more than a few political junkies would love to see his uphill campaign against Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht break through and get some exposure.

On the Democratic side, much was made of the decision by Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Larry Meyers to run for a spot on the Supreme Court as a Democrat. Republicans were quick to discount his chances to win next fall but his action does ensure that Democrats now have their first statewide official since 1998.

El Paso attorney Maxey Scherr, meanwhile, brought attention to her Democratic candidacy for U.S. Senate by not attacking John Cornyn (whom she’s challenging) but Ted Cruz.

Another Democratic hopeful emerged in SD-10 where party leaders would really like to see someone run who can hold the swing district. Soon after attorney George Boll entered the race, though, it was reported that he’s voted in Republican primaries and runoffs 11 times. In defending the votes, he said crossing over to vote in the other party’s primary is often necessary in Fort Worth.

He noted that Wendy Davis — who he’s hoping to succeed in SD-10 — also has a GOP primary voting history.

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Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst ends the 83rd regular session an announces a special session to begin at 6:00PM on May 27, 2013.

One of the really interesting things about this election cycle is watching the big boys under the Dome — the trade associations — pick whom to back in the crowded fields of GOP contenders for statewide office.

Take, for example, the Texas Farm Bureau. The group’s endorsement is highly coveted because of its influence in rural parts of the state. Also, many Texans purchase insurance from the group.

The group raised eyebrows when it chose to honor the friendly incumbent rule by endorsing Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst for re-election. But by doing so, it passed over the current agriculture commissioner, Todd Staples, who is one of three high-profile GOP officeholders looking to wrest the nomination from Dewhurst.

A TFB spokesman explained the decision by saying, "[Dewhurst] has been a real champion for our issues, and certainly there was no reason to not endorse him in a job that he's done well."

Staples didn’t take too kindly to the snub. "This is an example of a lobby organization opting for the status quo,” said Staples’ campaign manager, Cody McGregor. “Thankfully, Republican primary voters are not status quo voters which was made clear in the race for the U.S. Senate when Ted Cruz defeated David Dewhurst."

That wasn’t the only attention-grabbing endorsement from the TFB. The group also chose Uvalde Mayor J Allen Carnes for agriculture commissioner, picking him over former state representatives Sid Miller and Tommy Merritt as well as rancher and former Republican Party of Texas Executive Director Eric Opiela.

That wasn’t the only big endorsement for Dewhurst. Eager to bolster his tough-on-crime bona fides, the lite guv announced the backing of five public safety groups. That included the largest law enforcement organization in the state, the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas.

Other Republicans announced endorsements shoring up their right flanks heading into primary contests where it seems you can’t go far enough to the right. John Cornyn — who must now reckon with a Tea Party challenge from U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman — announced the endorsement of George Strake, a key early backer of Cruz. Cornyn also got Gov. Rick Perry to reaffirm his support for the incumbent senator.

Dallas Republican Sen. John Carona rolled out a couple of big endorsements. One — from Carol Everett, founder of The Heidi Group, an anti-abortion organization — was designed to burnish Carona’s anti-abortion credentials. The other was from former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach, whose connection to the Landry-era glory days of Cowboys football is always a prized “get” in Dallas.

State Sen. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, doesn’t need to further burnish his conservative credentials but he announced another influential endorsement all the same, touting his choice by the Concerned Women for America in his bid for attorney general.

Back in the world of the trade associations, the Texas chapter of the Associated General Contractors endorsed Glenn Hegar for comptroller, and the Texas Association of Builders endorsed Dan Branch for attorney general.

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This week in the Texas Weekly Newsreel: A hiring debate flares at Texas A&M, Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg gets to keep her job, and U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman jumps in to challenge U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.

You can view the video at: https://trib.it/1gty7dK

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With candidates in all but one race hitting the filing deadline for the March primaries, we asked the insiders about the year ahead and to tell us what surprised them in the filings.

First things first: Two thirds of the insiders said the year ahead will go to the establishment wing of the GOP and not to the insurgents. And in line with that, 77 percent said that U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Friendswood, poses no serious threat to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in March (Stockman’s last-minute switch from a reelection race to the Senate race is the reason the filings are still open on the Republican side in CD-36).

The rest is text and not numbers: We asked, based on the filings, which Texas officeholders are most likely to lose their jobs next year and which filings were most surprising. Spoiler alert on that second question: Stockman!e

We collected verbatim comments along the way and those are attached. Here is a sampling:

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Will this be a year for the insurgents or the establishment in the Republican primaries?

• "Too uncertain to predict, but the process will be interesting. It remains to be seen how much the moderates will gain support as part of the effort to not let the opportunities the Democrats have handed them go to waste in fighting over who is the most conservative."

• "I'm the quintessential 'I don't know' answer… I do, however, firmly believe this is the watershed election that will answer the question as to who owns the primary voters in the Texas GOP."

• "The 'Insurgents' are about to be dealt a blow to their cause. They have overplayed their hand since last election cycle."

• "Normal people are getting tired of guerilla politics"

• "If the insurgents win one more time, they WILL be the establishment."

• "They are more angry now than they were two years ago."

• "The goal is to win elections. Republicans know that. They will back winners -- who are mostly establishment. Of course, there are a few flagrant, anti-Tea Party moderates who should worry."

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Does Steve Stockman pose a serious threat to John Cornyn in the 2014 primary for U.S. Senate?

• "This time two years ago, most of us would not have thought that Ted Cruz was a contender."

• "Does Santa wear a red hat?"

• "Cornyn ultimately wins but it's scary."

• "Is this a serious question?"

• "Many a far righter thought 'If the crassly (and brilliantly) opportunistic Ted Cruz can do it...' Only one far righter had the guts to take a crack of his own. Gotta respect his spine, even if the policy and words send shivers down my spine."

• "Anybody but Cornyn."

• "Steve Stockman poses a serious threat to people who take politics seriously. That guy is going to entertain us for a couple months."

Which incumbents (for any offices in Texas) are most likely to lose their seats in 2014?

• "Stickland"

• "Lon Burnam"

• "Dewhurst"

• "Cornyn"

• "Dewhurst."

• "Phil Johnson, Texas Supreme Court"

• "John Carona"

• "Stickland; Schaefer; Dewhurst"

• "Congressman Pete Gallegos and State Representative Phil Cortez"

• "Possibly Schaefer, JD Sheffield and Stickland in the House. Harper Brown is on the edge. There could be some changes in El Paso especially Naomi Gonzalez. Donna Campbell could have a run for her money with Bexar County's Novak."

• "Linda Harper Brown"

• "Carter"

• "Reynolds, S. Carter. Moody, Keffer, J.D. Sheffield, Vo, Stephenson"

• "Linda Harper Brown; David Dewhurst; Donna Campbell"

• "J.D. Sheffield; Linda Harper-Brown; Donna Campbell; Ralph Hall; Lon Burnam; Naomi Gonzalez; Kel Seliger; David Dewhurst"

What did you think was the biggest surprise in this year’s candidate filings?

• "Steve Stockman v Cornyn; opponent to Seliger"

• "Stockman is an obvious answer, but certainly others were ready to immediately take advantage of the opportunity."

• "Stockman; Talton"

• "That Charlie Geren did NOT get an opponent… what was MQS thinking? Tarrant County? They should have flooded him with opponents."

• "The biggest surprise/disappointment is that someone like Van Taylor will be a new state senator barring a Libertarian miracle."

• "The biggest surprise was who didn't get an opponent...a lot of freshman get a free pass. Not good."

• "Larry Meyers for Supreme Court"

• "Stockman and no Pauken"

• "Harvey Hilderbran did NOT switch to agriculture commissioner"

• "The lack of depth of the Democratic candidates past Senators Davis and Van de Putte. If the young Democratic guns of the House don't believe, why should the rest of us?"

Our thanks to this week's participants: Gene Acuna, Cathie Adams, Brandon Aghamalian, Jenny Aghamalian, Victor Alcorta, Brandon Alderete, Clyde Alexander, George Allen, Charles Bailey, Tom Banning, Dave Beckwith, Amy Beneski, Andrew Biar, Allen Blakemore, Tom Blanton, Chris Britton, David Cabrales, Raif Calvert, Lydia Camarillo, Kerry Cammack, Thure Cannon, Corbin Casteel, William Chapman, Elna Christopher, Harold Cook, Kevin Cooper, Chad Crow, Beth Cubriel, Randy Cubriel, Denise Davis, Nora Del Bosque, Glenn Deshields, Holly DeShields, Tom Duffy, David Dunn, Richard Dyer, Jeff Eller, Jon Fisher, Norman Garza, Dominic Giarratani, Bruce Gibson, Stephanie Gibson, Eric Glenn, Kinnan Golemon, Daniel Gonzalez, Jim Grace, John Greytok, Clint Hackney, Anthony Haley, Wayne Hamilton, Bill Hammond, Richard Hardy, John Heasley, Ken Hodges, Kathy Hutto, Deborah Ingersoll, Richie Jackson, Jason Johnson, Mark Jones, Robert Jones, Lisa Kaufman, Tom Kleinworth, Dale Laine, Nick Lampson, Bill Lauderback, James LeBas, Luke Legate, Leslie Lemon, Ruben Longoria, Vilma Luna, Matt Mackowiak, Luke Marchant, Matt Matthews, Bryan Mayes, Dan McClung, Debra Medina, Robert Miller, Steve Minick, Bee Moorhead, Mike Moses, Steve Murdock, Keir Murray, Nelson Nease, Keats Norfleet, Pat Nugent, Todd Olsen, Nef Partida, Gardner Pate, Jerod Patterson, Robert Peeler, Tom Phillips, Wayne Pierce, Allen Place, Gary Polland, Jay Pritchard, Bill Ratliff, Tim Reeves, David Reynolds, Carl Richie, Kim Ross, Grant Ruckel, Jason Sabo, Luis Saenz, Andy Sansom, Jim Sartwelle, Barbara Schlief, Stan Schlueter, Bruce Scott, Robert Scott, Dan Shelley, Nancy Sims, Ed Small, Todd Smith, Leonard Spearman, Dennis Speight, Tom Spilman, Jason Stanford, Bill Stevens, Bob Strauser, Colin Strother, Michael Quinn Sullivan, Sherry Sylvester, Gerard Torres, Trey Trainor, Ware Wendell, David White, Darren Whitehurst, Seth Winick, Angelo Zottarelli.

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Saturday, Dec. 14

• 2013 Congressional Veteran Commendation Ceremony and Board; Collin College Spring Creek Campus, Plano (3-4 p.m.)
  

Monday, Dec. 16

• Fundraising reception for Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst; Austin Club (4:30-6 p.m.)

Wednesday, Dec. 18

• Fundraising reception for state Rep. Joe Moody; Austin Club (4:30-6:30 p.m.)

The Monday filing deadline for the GOP party primary election ended up dominated by the last-minute filing by U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman in the Senate primary against incumbent John Cornyn. Filing in the now open CD-36 was extended until Dec. 16, as required by law.

Meanwhile, Texas Democrats earlier in the day touted their own surprise — the announcement that Court of Criminal Appeals Larry Meyers will run for the Texas Supreme Court as a Democrat. That gives the party its first statewide official since 1998.

The three-day removal trial for Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg wrapped up Wednesday. Visiting Judge David Peeples denied the request to remove Lehmberg whose DUI arrest in April had led to multiple attempts to make her leave office.

Texas GOP gubernatorial hopeful Greg Abbott held back from taking a position on private school vouchers or state education funding during a Wednesday appearance at a San Antonio charter school. Education has begun to take center stage in the contest for governor between Abbott and Democrat Wendy Davis.

A sworn ethics complaint against state Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, has been thrown out, his lawyer said. The complaint alleged Carona failed to disclose various companies to the Texas Ethics Commission. Carona called the complaint a "stunt" by his opponent.

Brandon Hurley of Grapevine was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission. His term runs until Sept. 1, 2019.

Doug Shaw has been named Texas Water Development Board's (TWDB) first Agriculture and Rural Texas Ombudsman. He has worked in the agency's water planning division since 2006.

Monica Martinez was named Associate Commissioner for Standards and Programs at the Texas Education Agency with oversight over division areas related to Curriculum; Instructional Materials and Educational Technology; and Federal and State Education Policy.

Manny Garcia, the Mexican American Legisltive Caucus' policy director, will move to the Texas Democratic Party where he will be its new communications director. Garcia's position at MALC will be filled by Lyndsey Rodriguez, the group's current deputy communications director.

The Texas Trial Lawyers Association has installed Michael Guajardo of Dallas as its president and Bryan Blevins of Beaumont as its president-elect for 2014.

Former Texas Insurance Commissioner Eleanor Kitzman has been hired as vice president of Starr Insurance Holdings, Inc.