Free Republic

Bill Clements, a blunt-spoken former roughneck who founded an international oil drilling company before becoming Texas' first Republican governor of modern times, died Sunday at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. He had been in declining health since suffering a stroke last year and had undergone surgery the day before his death. He was 94. A statement released by his family said he also had been grieving over the death of his son, B. Gil Clements, who was murdered last year. Clements had never held elective office before shocking the Texas political establishment in 1978 with a...

Former Texas Gov. William "Bill" Clements Jr., who broke the Democratic Party's century-long hold on the Governor's Mansion with his election 33 years ago, died Sunday. He was 94, had suffered a stroke and had been ill for some time. A brusque and colorful Dallas oilman, Clements shocked the political establishment by beating Democrat John Hill Jr. in the 1978 gubernatorial election. Hill, then the attorney general, had unseated Gov. Dolph Briscoe in the Democratic primary, and Capitol power players — as overwhelmingly Democratic then as they are Republican now — assumed the race was over. Clements, spending freely from...

Even though he didn't get a majority for re-election last year, Gov. Rick Perry's 39 percent was ahead of everybody else. And so he's now in a term that lasts into 2011. In the eyes of some of his detractors in the blogosphere, that's too long. Political activist Linda Curtis has started a website calling on legislators in 2009 to impeach the governor (www.impeachperry.indytexans.org/). That's a pretty rash idea. But since Texas doesn't allow for recall elections, like the one that nailed California Democratic Gov. Gray Davis in 2003, Texans' only way to toss Perry out before the 2010 election...

Commentary: Dave McNeely Comptrollers count office as rung up Thursday, April 22, 2004 The three Texas comptrollers since 1975 have wanted to be governor. Carole Keeton Strayhorn is no exception. The first two — the late Bob Bullock and John Sharp, both Democrats — eventually settled for a run at lieutenant governor. Bullock won; Sharp didn't. Strayhorn, one loud grandma, has yet to announce her plans. Though she's a Republican like Gov. Rick Perry, Strayhorn has been slapping Perry every time he turns around. She says he: is an ineffective leader, should put more money into the Children's Health Insurance...

Retired judge gets recount lawsuit BY T.A. BADGER Associated Press Writer SAN ANTONIO - A retired state judge was chosen Thursday to preside over U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez's lawsuit alleging vote fraud in two South Texas counties after a recount showed he lost the Democratic primary election to Henry Cuellar. Joseph H. Hart, a senior litigator in the high-powered Austin firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, was assigned the case by state Judge David Peeples of San Antonio, presiding judge in the Fourth Judicial Administrative Region. "I picked the person that I thought was the best person for the...

Former governor to be honored as Great Westerner By The Associated Press Former Texas Gov. Dolph Briscoe Jr., who presided during the state's oil and gas boom years and left office after a stunning primary defeat, will be inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners in Oklahoma City next month. Briscoe, governor from 1973 to 1979, will be honored at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City on April 17. Others being inducted are Wina Rae Calhoon, a pioneer teacher and minister, and Thomas "Broken Hand" Fitzpatrick, a mountain man, guide and fur trader. Briscoe was elected...

Re-Elect Justice Steven Wayne Smith Texas Supreme Court, Place 5 ____________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Jan. 2, 2004) CONTACT: David Rogers, Campaign Manager, (512) 923-6188 (Austin) Supreme Court Justice Steven Wayne Smith announces campaign team and supporters Supreme Court Justice Steven Wayne Smith today announced his campaign team and his lengthy and growing current list of prominent conservative and Republican supporters. First among Smith's campaign team is his treasurer, former Congressman and Railroad Commissioner Kent Hance. Hance is a leading Republican activist and contributor. In 1978 , Hance beat political newcomer George W. Bush in a Congressional election -- the only...