The Dallas Morning News interviewed a man who claims to have been knowingly hired by state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, as an undocumented worker for a sports bar that Patrick had owned. Patrick is considered a top candidate for the lieutenant governor’s race.
“State Sen. Dan Patrick, who says Texas leaders must ‘stop the invasion’ from Mexico, went along with a decision to hire at least four unauthorized immigrants as cooks and dishwashers at his sports bar in the mid-1980s, according to a Houston-area man who says he was one of them.”

Gov. Rick Perry is pushing to have Texas Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek take the open spot of University of Texas System Chancellor, anonymous sources have told the Texas Tribune.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, on his campaign trail to become governor of Texas, said on the day he appeared with Ted Nugent that he didn’t...

By Matthew Waller

AUSTIN — A trip out of the area might not have to mean an uncast ballot.

Early voting in the primaries is underway, and the deadline to get in the application for a ballot by mail is Friday.

County offices must have received the applications by Friday rather than have them postmarked by Friday.

To vote by mail, a person must be 65 or older, be disabled, be out of the county on Election Day and during the early voting period, or be in jail but still eligible to vote.

People may apply for a ballot by mail using a form found at the Texas Secretary of State’s website at sos.state.tx.us, and the application must be submitted to the county’s local early voting clerk.

The mailed application must have a sender’s address — that is, an address outside the county if the person expects to be absent from the county.

The application can go by mail or fax.

For military and...

Early voting starts today, and which candidates win could serve as a litmus test for tea party strength. My story here. The candidates that most will look at include state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, as he runs for lieutenant governor and state Sen. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, who is running for attorney general.

Christy Hoppe at The Dallas Morning News writes here about the blowback that Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is facing in his gubernatorial campaign as he tours on the campaign trail with rocker and politically charged Ted Nugent. Nugent has made comments about having affairs with underage girls and hurled insults at other politicians. Abbott’s campaign said they may not agree with everything Nugent has said, but they like his defense of the Constitution, particularly Second Amendment rights.

The Texas Tribune has posted the personal financial statements for candidates along...

AUSTIN — Felicia Hyde did not want to return to the life of human trafficking when her husband died in 2002. She had two sons, one 6 months old and the other 1½. She had married in the first place to escape the culture of prostitution and strip clubs in which she had become enmeshed as a teenager, starting with abuse from her own father.

“He died,” Hyde said of her late husband, “and I knew I wanted a different life.”

Her road had been hard. She once worked at a strip club in Mexico City, where the owners took her driver’s license and plane ticket and locked them away until she had worked there for two months.

“I was very insecure, very vulnerable to any type of predators,” Hyde said of her early years. “That’s the type that most pimps and traffickers look for.”

She escaped that life with the help of a local church and an organization in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Hyde, who has...

AUSTIN — Last week wasn’t the first time Fort Worth state Sen. Wendy Davis called on Attorney General Greg Abbott to settle the school finance trial.

Her reiteration came after both parties had finished presenting their arguments to State District Judge John Dietz. Dietz now has the case and may come to a decision in the spring. But the case could be appealed further.

About 600 school districts are involved in the case. They contend that the state’s funding of public schools is neither adequate nor equitable.

Davis, the leading Democratic candidate for governor, has fashioned herself as an education candidate first and foremost. Last week she unveiled the third of four education planks in her platform. The third plank seeks more access to pre-K and emphasis on early-age reading among Texas schoolchildren.

Although the filibuster that made her famous regarded abortion, Davis has been...

AUSTIN — The primaries start Tuesday with early voting, and the heavily contested races statewide could serve as a litmus test as to the strength of the tea party in Texas.

Multiple statewide races on the Republican side are heavily contested in Texas: attorney general, comptroller, agriculture commissioner and lieutenant governor — the head of the state senate.

The candidates have frequently labeled themselves as more conservative as they appeal to conservative voters, and in the heavily Republican Texas, the primaries are the biggest challenge.

“This is a Republican state, so in this case there are not many Democrats running,” Angelo State University Political Science Professor Jack Barbour said. “Whoever wins the primary is probably going to win the election. The tea party tends to belong to a more conservative block. … Everyone in the Republican Party seems to be trying to be more...

The Dallas Morning News’ Christy Hoppe has a story about Republican gubernatorial candidate Attorney General Greg Abbott’s interesting position in fighting against people who have sued the state for disability access.
Abbott himself is in a wheelchair from when a tree fell on him while he was jogging 30 years ago, and he said he is in favor of the Americans with Disabilities Act, but doesn’t believe states should be forced to comply, according to the story.

Human trafficking has arisen in the governor’s race, with both top governor candidates, Abbott and state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, saying they hope to combat the form of modern day slavery in Texas. Recent reports show that Texas is a top state for human trafficking. Here is my report.

Trish Choate with Scripps Howard has the story about Texas federal lawmakers balking at the idea that marijuana might become legal nationwide...

Wayne Slater with the Dallas Morning News reports on the amount of campaign help that had been allied to President Barack Obama and now is going toward the gubernatorial campaign of state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth.
“The Davis campaign for governor and Battleground Texas, a group of former Obama political organizers assisting her, have spent more than $1.5 million on operatives and vendors who were part of Obama’s national re-election effort, campaign finance reports filed with the state show,” Slater writes.

Davis also pressed hot-button issues in a visit to the San Antonio Express-News editorial board, the Express-News’ Peggy Fikac reports. She voiced support for same-sex marriage, finding new transportation funding sources and possibly spending more from the state’s Rainy Day Fund.

Ross Ramsey at the Texas Tribune analyzes “The Case of the Missing Democratic Voters.” He argues...

Here is the release from Staples’ campaign:

Todd Staples Bashes Texas Judge For Performing Valentine’s Day Commitment Ceremonies For Same-Sex Couples

AUSTIN, TX - Today, Todd Staples, Agriculture Commissioner and conservative candidate for Lieutenant Governor, responded to the report Travis County Judge John Lipscombe and his wife, retired Judge Jan Breland, will provide Commitment Ceremonies for same-sex couples on Valentine’s Day.
“As the sponsor of the constitutional amendment defining marriage in Texas as between one-man, one-woman, I believe it’s wrong for a sitting judge to hold a ceremony mocking our state constitution. It is the responsibility of our judges to uphold the rule of law and every Texan should be upset with this clear attempt to use their trusted position as a seat for activism. This issue has been decided by 76 percent of Texas voters who stood with me in...

By Matthew Waller

AUSTIN — State leaders are calling for oversight of the oil and gas industry-affected roads, and a state agency has kicked off a safety campaign in those areas where tractor-trailers take up a good portion of highways.

The Texas Department of Transportation is launching a new safety campaign aimed at drivers traveling through the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale area, two of the state’s hot spots in oil and gas production.

“Safety is our top priority at TxDOT and we strongly encourage drivers to exercise additional caution when traveling through energy zones and other areas where they share the road with heavy trucks and equipment,” John Barton, TxDOT deputy executive director, said in a news release. “Being safe and driving smart could be the difference between crashing and reaching your destination.”

Funded with $1 million, TxDOT is planning a media blitz on...