Free Republic

Candidates for new congressional district focus on their Republican credentials. HOUSTON -- Face to face for the first time since the primary, GOP congressional candidates Ben Streusand and Michael McCaul stayed in tune with a runoff campaign that has devolved into an issue-free contest based on questioning each other's Republican credentials. After several previously scheduled debates fell through when Streusand didn't show up, and after some last-minute negotiations needed to get McCaul to show up Tuesday, the two candidates sparred at an evening event organized by several Houston-area Republican clubs. Streusand and McCaul will face off in an April 13...

Runoff rivals spar over GOP credentials. U.S. House candidate Michael McCaul, whose GOP credentials are under fire from runoff foe Ben Streusand, has picked up the endorsement of one of the state's most popular Republicans. Former President Bush will be a "special guest" at a March 31 McCaul campaign fund-raising reception at a private home in Houston, according to invitations sent out this week. "We are proud in our family to have President Bush as a friend," McCaul said in an invitation letter for the event. "Lowry Mays, my father-in-law and head of the Texas A&M Board of Regents, has...