kvue's Political Junkie - blogging Texas politics with Elise Hu

April 2009
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Recently in Travis County DA Category


Watchdog Group Wants Dewhurst to Disclose Wealth

11:45 AM Wed, Sep 03, 2008 |

It's no secret Lt. Governor David Dewhurst is worth millions, after his company sold three power plants for about $226 million. But how many millions he's worth today is unclear.

Texans for Public Justice, the campaign finance watchdog group led by Craig McDonald, wants to know what is in Lt. Governor David Dewhurst's trust fund. This comes after the AP wrote a story two weeks ago, focusing on Dewhurst's lack of detail on his personal financial disclosure forms (required of Texas public officials by state law).

T...



The Purge, Part 12

6:31 PM Wed, Apr 16, 2008 |

If you are a new reader, The Purge is a meandering series on open government -- on state government email retention policies, in particular. I haven't updated The Purge since January, so here's a brief recap:

The Purge started in the early days of this blog, when I read that Missouri Governor Matt Blunt took a bunch of heat for his office's policy of deleting emails every two weeks. Which led me to start a journey on this platform, asking questions about the Texas retention policy. What did we learn? Texas state agencies each get to set their own retention policies, so long as they follow the >> Continue reading: The Purge, Part 12



Travis DA: The Numbers

4:42 PM Wed, Apr 09, 2008 |

Here's a look at how the candidates fared on April 8th versus March 4th, via Google Docs. Our Rocky-metaphor-loving poli-sci guy, Brian Smith, had a little extra time and put the Travis County DA race numbers into excel so we could take a closer look at what happened last night.

What the numbers show:
Turnout in the runoff was only 5% of registered voters, compared to a quarter >> Continue reading: Travis DA: The Numbers



Video: The New Travis County DA

11:44 PM Tue, Apr 08, 2008 |

Well, this isn't KVUE quality video, it's just shot from the little camera I keep with me at all times. It's the end of Rosemary Lehmberg's thank you speech after it was clear she won the runoff race for Travis County DA.

Lehmberg doesn't officially start her new job until January of 2009. Mindy Montford, meanwhile, says she's going to take some time before decid...



Liveblogging Runoff Night

7:17 PM Tue, Apr 08, 2008 |

9:23pm: I'm gonna shut this thing down for now. The dog total at the Montford party has dwindled to two. There haven't been any dogs here at the Lehmberg party, but Lehmberg did mention that one of the first things she's going to do now that she's won is hang out with her puppy.

9:21pm: Crowd at the Lehmberg party is still strong. We're in line for a Lehmberg interview but it may have to be after our live hit on the Nightbeat.

9:16pm: Lehmberg's campaign manager said Mindy called, but the two candidates haven't actually spoken to each other yet. Leh...



Strategists Depart

9:23 PM Sun, Apr 06, 2008 |

OK, so he didn't inspire anywhere near the kind of fascination (and vitriol) as Clinton strategist Mark Penn, but Penn and Austin strategist Kelly Fero share something in common this weekend - they were both asked to leave by the female candidates they were working for.

DA candidate Rosemary Lehmberg announced Friday ...



Revisiting Tom DeLay

4:27 PM Thu, Apr 03, 2008 |

Weird. Right after I posted about the latest in the topsy-turvy runoff race to replace Ronnie Earle, I saw a piece on The Huffington Post called "Whatever happened to Tom DeLay?"

Retiring Travis County DA Ronnie Earle famously prosecuted former House Majority Leader DeLay for his involvement in TRMPAC... but if you've already forgotten, this piece looks back, and looks ahead. Excerpted:

DeLay asked for a quick trial. But he hasn't gotten one, in part because of appeals. Texas courts threw out the ch...

Behind the Coverage: Story Stealing All Stars

1:18 PM Thu, Apr 03, 2008 |

The merits of each candidate in the ever-heated DA runoff have been debated in forum after forum, and since I often like to wander off topic, let's explore the effectiveness of the campaigns in shaping the stories coming out of this race.

Simply put, Mindy Montford's campaign is the bomb at "stealing the story" from Rosemary Lehmberg. This is one of the bright spots of her campaign. Two gleaming examples:

1.) The Day Gary Cobb Endorsed Rosemary Lehmberg
Former candidate Gary Cobb, who performed well in the primary in Eastern parts of the district, came out for Rosemary Lehmber...



Wednesday with Rosemary

10:37 AM Wed, Apr 02, 2008 |

Phillip Martin at Burnt Orange Report did a lengthy interview with Travis County DA candidate Rosemary Lehmberg, in which they talk about a whole range of topics, but unfortunately, they didn't talk about her dogs. What kind of interview is that? :)

Read the full interview he...



Travis DA: The Air Attacks Begin

3:21 PM Tue, Apr 01, 2008 |

Television viewers in Central Texas are getting treated to a new barrage of political ads, this time in a hard fought runoff race for Travis County District Attorney. The race has garnered statewide attention and money because the Travis DA is the only prosecutor in the state with the authority to criminally prosecute political malfeasance.

Most of the ads on the airwaves we've seen during the run up to the primary -- the softer side of Rosemary Lehmberg, the tougher side of Mindy Montford. But now, the candidates are running ads against each other, featuring not-so-soft portrayals.

Crystal Cotti at...



Elise Hu is KVUE's Political Reporter and your dedicated blogger. There's too much politics in Texas to fit into a newscast, so the fun continues here. Email your ideas and feedback to ehu@kvue.com.

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