In a three-city tour on Wednesday, Democrat Tom Schieffer is officially declaring his candidacy for governor. He's starting in his hometown of Fort Worth, then jetting to Houston before winding down with a stop in Austin. His key issues, according to a release, will be healthcare, education and a "revival of Texas' can-do spirit".

"It has been a long time since we had any vision in this state, and I want to do something about that," Schieffer said. "I am a Democrat - as Sam Rayburn used to say, without prefix, suffix or apology -- and I think it is time we all had a governor."

He's planning on visiting San Antonio, the Rio Grande Valley, El Paso and other cities over the next two weeks.

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State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, has been subject of speculation about a possible 2010 gubernatorial bid for months. But in a statement released this morning, the longtime senator says she won't be putting herself or her family through the hurly burlyness of a statewide campaign in Texas. Here's the end-of-press-release-twist.

"That's why I think Senator Kirk Watson should raise his sights and run for Governor. I've watched as Senator Watson has emerged as a leader in the state Senate on the issues of most importance to Texans. While staying true to Democratic values, he is a bipartisan pragmatic leader solidly focused on addressing the priorities of all Texans. I intend to lobby Senator Watson to run for governor, and I'll wholeheartedly support him if he does. But if he declines, Democrats should recruit and support someone who, like Watson, is energetic, pragmatic, focused, and smart; and who can fully energize Democratic supporters while also attracting a broad range of independent voters in every region of the state."

VAN DE PUTTE'S FULL STATEMENT AFTER THE JUMP.

Continue reading "Van de Putte Won't Run For Governor, Says Watson Should Run"

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I am back from the faraway land known as KVUE News Nighbeat (aka the night shift), where I was subbing last week. The nightbeat is a foreign place to me. So foreign that the most political story I covered all week was Austin's demonstration against the disputed election results in Iran. (Other hits from the nightbeat stint included man-who-might-have-tried-to-drown-wife in Colorado River and the Hazmat-scare-that-wasn't.)

This was Austin, so the most oppressive thing was the heat... which reached the triple digits. About five hundred demonstrators showed up with "Where's My Vote" and other green signs, some wore bandanas around their mouths to symbolize the systematic communication cutoffs in Iran. Here's some quick video of the protesters marching away from the Capitol.

Austin Rallies For Iran Reform from Elise Hu on Vimeo.

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Governor Rick Perry says he'll be back in the office after breaking his collarbone in a mountain biking accident last night. We know this because he broadcasted the message from his computer using social-networking program, Twitter.

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Credit: Gordon McGregor Perry in his athletic gear, 2005

Governor Rick Perry took a tumble on a mountain bike ride Tuesday night and broke his right collarbone, Perry's office says. It happened around 7:30pm near the governor's temporary residence in west Austin. Crews took the injured governor to the ER at Seton Medical Center, where he is getting treated and released.

The governor's schedule for Wednesday has been canceled. He was originally planning to sign the supplemental budget in a ceremony in Galveston. The measure okayed millions to rebuild Hurricane Ike-ravaged UTMB.

Perry is an avid runner and known to take part in his share of triathlons.

This got me thinking -- didn't President George W. Bush injure himself in a mountain biking accident as well? In fact he did, in Crawford in 2005, but got away with a minor ankle injury.

Fake presidents fall, too. President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet of NBC's The West Wing fell off a bike he borrowed from his chief of staff. The press secretary, CJ, had to spin it.

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Governor Rick Perry on a special session due to lawmakers' unfinished business:
We're in the process now of making the decision about when a special session would be appropriate. I think we now are to the point where we can say there will be a special session. When is still up in the air and we will notify you ASAP.

How worried are you about bond ratings?
Anytime something happens in the state that is going to impact our cost of doing business, so we obviously care about it, so yeah, it is a concern.

Will Voter ID be part of a special session call?
When I decide on the date, I'll let you all know what we're going to discuss.

What changed from last week to convince you now that we will need a special session?
The biggest issue out there floating around was the bad advice that some senators got that we could do this by executive order. We have researched that and that was blatantly bad information. So, I think it is important to not get drug down by bad information. That was one bad piece of it that was floatin' around.

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I have nothing but post-session depression to blame for my lack of posts. It's a phenomenon that I battle, sometimes after particularly interesting election cycles as well. Someone joked it was like being released from your captors after having developed Stockholm Syndrome.

A couple of news items for ya, if you haven't already seen them elsewhere.

**State Rep. Wayne Christian, who was publicly sandbagged by Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson for amending a bill to allow his personal beach house to be rebuilt, is hitting back.

"The fight with Commissioner Patterson is unfortunate. The citizens of District 9 have allowed me to serve them for over a decade. I would never betray that trust," Christian writes.I've put the full Christian response in the "extended" area after the jump.

**The responses to Texas Monthly's Ten Best/Ten Worst Legislators are coming in.

1.) State Rep. Debbie Riddle's so-well-written-you-wonder-who-wrote-it response is here.
2.) State Rep Kino Flores questions where the Latinos are on the Top 10 list.
3.) Harold Cook questions the judgement of the listmaker, taking it to TM scribe Paul Burka with this photo
4.) State Sen. Kirk Watson (who made the best list) thanks TM for the mention, calling it "cool and gratifying"
5.) State Sen. Robert Duncan, another best, says it's "nice" and that he's "real pleased".

**Now that the session's over, the news tidbits gleaned from previously embargoed weekly interviews that San Antonio Express-News reporter Gary Scharrer did with Speaker Joe Straus are available for mass consumption. He put the details together in an interesting behind-the-dais piece.

Continue reading "Sorry, I'm Awake Now"

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In his first term in the Texas Senate, state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, took home Texas Monthly magazine's 'Rookie of the Year' prize. His sophomore year (despite the bizarre ending) was arguably even stronger, and Watson landed on the magazine's "Ten Best" legislators list in its July issue. Said Paul Burka and Patti Kilday Hart of Watson (the rest is available at Texas Monthly):

He's the Galápagos penguin of the Texas Legislature. That rarest of birds--an effective liberal--Watson has adapted, Darwin-style, to the inhospitable habitat of the Republican-dominated Senate. This session he emerged as the thoughtful leader of the loyal opposition, armed mostly with a pragmatic survival instinct.

In the battle over reforming the state's insurance regulatory agency, Watson used the Democrats' ability to block debate long enough to win crucial consumer-oriented concessions. Stealth attacks by Senate leadership against his solar energy legislation proved no match for his vigilance.

Watson's name as been tossed around a lot lately to fill the Democrat's statewide roster in the 2010 campaign cycle. Now that the session's over, Watson said he'll take time to think about whether to try for another statewide run, after a failed effort for AG in 2002.

Me: You're name has been tossed around for various statewide offices. When will we know what your intentions are?

Watson: Oh you know -- we're doing this interview when I'm not even a week out of the session. I'm very gratified and it's really neat that people have been talking about me as much as they have. It shows that they're pleased with the leadership I've shown in the Senate. I'll be talking to some people, I'll be doing some research on my own. And- I'm not the kind of guy, I think you know, that spends a whole lot of time worrying these things. I'll make a decision pretty quickly. The good news is I have a gig in the Texas Senate I really enjoy. I think I can make a real difference there. But we'll look at all the possibilities. If there's opportunities there, I'll make the right decision about whether we do something different.

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The current state comptroller will announce what she wants to do next with her career, in a press event Wednesday morning. The media advisory notes Combs has been elected statewide three times, made state spending more transparent and showed other tall women that standing tall is nothing to be ashamed of. (OK I made up that last one. But that would be a good accomplishment.)

The Combs presser will take place at Austin's Four Seasons at 10am Wednesday.

Combs has previously served as Commissioner of Agriculture, as a state representative from Austin, and as an assistant district attorney in Dallas. She grew up in a ranching family with operations in Brewster County.

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Despite House Speaker Joe Straus' efforts to avoid "blame gaming" after the sudden Senate meltdown on the closing day of the session, the back-and-forth between the Senate, House and Governor's office continues on this morning after.

"If I understood what happened last night, I would be an absolute genius. I thought I was watching an episode of Lost. I don't understand what they [the senators] were thinking," said Governor Rick Perry, in his post-session press conference.

Perry says he worked with Straus mid-afternoon Monday to come up with the resolution idea that allowed state agencies to stay alive. In Perry's retelling, he thought things were going to tie up just fine. But state Senator Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, clearly wasn't okay with the eleventh hour fix when it reached the Senate later in the evening.

Senators were upset they found out the House adjourned without dealing with the $2 billion in transportation bonds from the lege website, and not House members, as is custom. Straus said there were indeed five House members chosen to inform the Senate they were going to adjourn, but Straus did not know whether those representatives ever made it to the upper chamber with the message.

As for the big question hanging over the capitol -- whether we're headed for a special session -- the Governor didn't rule it out. But he admits: "I don't think anybody's dyin' to come back to Austin."

Austin's not a bad place to be. But for many, the pink dome has probably grown tiresome.

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