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SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - A panel of three federal judges late on Friday approved a plan to delay the Texas primary elections from March 6 to April 3, a move that could be a blow to Republican Governor Rick Perry's presidential hopes. A likely victory in Texas on March 6 would have given Perry a surge of momentum on Super Tuesday, when 10 other states are holding primaries or caucuses. Now, Texas's primary will be toward the end of the calendar. Related U.S. Republican Presidential candidate and Texas Governor Rick Perry steps off his bus on his way to a...

BALTIMORE, MD.--The Obama campaign is claiming a five-delegate margin of victory in Texas, according to projections from the campaign. FROM THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN.... Obama Wins Delegate Fight in Texas AUSTIN -- Obama Texas State Director Adrian Saenz issued a statement on the projected primary and caucus results that show Senator Obama won more Texas delegates than Senator Clinton. “By fighting the primary to a near-draw and earning a resounding victory in the caucus, the people of Texas have moved Barack Obama one step closer to claiming the Democratic nomination for president,” said Adrian Saenz. “Texans in both parties and of...

About 250 enthusiastic supporters chanted "We like Mike" this morning as Republican long-shot presidential candidate Mike Huckabee brought his campaign to Houston. "Your vote on March 4 is not going to be wasted if it's a vote for me," Huckabee told the cheering crowd. "If we win Texas, everything changes." The former Arkansas governor spoke at a campaign rally at the Renaissance Hotel in Greenway Plaza. Political pundits nationwide are saying John McCain has the GOP nomination wrapped up but Huckabee is telling Texans they might be able to turn the tide in favor of his conservative candidacy, in which...

Recent polls show that John McCain is in for a struggle in the Republican primary contest in Texas. Despite a recent endorsement from former candidate Mitt Romney and a declaration by much of the American press that McCain is the Republican Nominee, McCain has been forced to stay on the campaign trail and fight for the final delegates needed to win the nomination. If we have learned anything from this election cycle it is that the polls are not to be trusted. So a 4 point lead in Texas is negligible at this point for McCain. McCain could be further...

... "It ain't over until Texas says it's over," Huckabee said of his long-shot campaign. "We win Texas and it all changes." Huckabee told a crowd of about 1,000 at Collin County Community College in suburban Dallas that he is the best choice for conservative voters in "the largest Republican state in the country." He promised to ban abortions and gay marriage and reform the tax code, prompting the loudest applause lines of his 50-minute speech. ... His pitch found a receptive audience among Texas conservatives, but Huckabee has struggled to win endorsements and votes from what he called the...

With the start of early voting, the first ballots will be cast today for presidential primary elections in Harris County and surrounding communities. Here are basics on voting before the March 4 primaries: • All registered Texas voters, including 1,826,231 people in Harris County, can vote in the Republican or Democratic primary, early or on Election Day, regardless of how they voted in the past. Participation in a primary does not restrict how voters can vote in the November general election. • Bring your voter registration card or other form of ID for the fastest treatment. • Any voter in...

Texas Democratic Presidential Primary Texas: Clinton 54% Obama 38% Friday, February 15, 2008 When Election 2008 began, long before the first votes were cast, Senator Hillary Clinton led in the national polls but trailed Barack Obama in the key state of Iowa. Many remarked upon the difference between those national and state numbers. At Rasmussen Reports, we noted that if Clinton won Iowa, she could wrap up the nomination. On the other hand, if Obama won Iowa, he would have the chance to make his case but there would be no clear frontrunner. Today, the situation is reversed. Obama leads...

AUSTIN — For the first time in 20 years, Texas will have a heated presidential primary election next month, a contest that will bring the state's complex primary and caucus system into play for Democratic hopefuls Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. "Texas arguably has the most arcane system in the country," state Rep. Juan Garcia, D-Corpus Christi and an Obama backer, told the Houston Chronicle in a story published Sunday. "There are a lot of people scrambling to get smart on it in a hurry." The Democratic and Republican primaries in Texas are March 4. The Clinton-Obama tussle for...

Texas will hold its primary on March 4, 2008. People do not register as members of political parties in Texas, so on March 4th, anybody who is registered to vote, can vote for Obama. See http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/voter/primary.shtml. With McCain already the Republican nominee effectively, why not have those who lean Republican all vote for Obama to help destroy Hillary's candidacy? Texas will send delegates to the Democrat convention. 126 of those will be chosen in the 31 separate primaries on March 4, 2007 divided by state Senate districts. See http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/2/8/17340/43669. Republicans can help Obama get many of these 126. Another 67...

FIVE INCUMBENTS GO DOWN IN TONIGHT'S RACES Grusendorf, Casteel, Jones, Reyna and Madla are out in the primaries. Five incumbents -- Kent Grusendorf, Carter Casteel, Jesse Jones, Elvira Reyna and Frank Madla -- are out in their respective primaries tonight. Rep. Roy Blake continues to trail Wayne Christian with some boxes yet to be reported. Diane Patrick, who won a hard-fought race against Grusendorf, said the vote in House District 94 was a mandate from the voters of Arlington to fix the school finance system and they wanted everyone at the table to do it. Patrick said it would be...

AUSTIN - Democratic voters in two South Texas state House districts ousted incumbents in Tuesday's runoff elections, completing the party's purge of lawmakers who had either become too cozy with the Republican leadership or fell out of favor with Democratic power brokers. The defeat of state Reps. Gabi Canales of Alice and Roberto Gutierrez of McAllen brought this year's total of dislodged House Democrats to seven -- including Fort Worth's Glenn Lewis. "You could call this the first shot fired in a coordinated strategy to take back the Texas House," said Kelly Fero, a veteran party operative. "And to do...

There are a few observations that stand out in examining the 2004 primary elections. First and foremost, Texas Republicans are definitely on track for another historic victory in November. Across the state, Republican voters made informed decisions and chose the very best from a field of quality, conservative candidates. At the statewide level, Republican Railroad Commission Chairman Victor Carrillo came within about 2,000 votes of winning outright a four-way primary for a six year term. He will face a runoff with Robert Butler of Palestine. In the congressional delegation, the GOP has already gained a new seat long before the...

BROWNSVILLE, March 7, 2004 — Before Brownsville physician Dr. Jesus Antonio Caquias or Ingleside Mayor Willie Vaden can try to unseat U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz, they have to contend with one another first. Caquias and Vaden are running for the Republican nomination for U.S. District 27, which includes much of Cameron County and parts of Nueces, Kleberg and Willacy counties. The winner of the election on Tuesday will face Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, on Nov. 2. Also running for the District 27 seat are Libertarian candidates Christopher J. Claytor of Plano and Frank Jones III of Ingleside. Vaden, Ingleside’s mayor since...

Political vets pitted against newcomers. Congressional District 25 links the Hill Country with the borderland. But in this newly designed district, four candidates are battling on two fronts - Austin and Hidalgo County. Last year's redistricting battle has fragmented South Texas into ribbon-shaped congressional districts with counties that have little in common. The district, according to Texas legislative reports, is 68 percent Hispanic. Live Oak and Karnes counties, the district's most conservative counties, are sandwiched between Caldwell, Duval, Gonzales, Jim Hogg, Starr and portions of Hidalgo and Travis counties. The district will have two primaries. The Democrats are Lloyd Doggett,...

PHARR, Texas - Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett, forced to run in a new and unfamiliar district after the Republicans redrew Texas' congressional map to their liking, is up against a judge in Tuesday's primary. But his REAL opponent, he tells the voters, is U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. It was DeLay, a Texas Republican, who played a major behind-the-scenes role in the redistricting battle that could give the GOP seven more congressional seats and break the Texas delegation's 16-16 split. The new map was adopted by the GOP-controlled Legislature last year after months of turmoil that included two out-of-state...

AUSTIN — A rock 'n' roll legend joined trial attorneys, labor unions and computer executives to pour almost $500,000 into U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett's already well-funded campaign, according to the latest federal contribution reports. Leticia Hinojosa of McAllen, his opponent in an increasingly bitter Democratic primary race to represent the newly drawn Congressional District 25, raised and spent almost $250,000 — including a $100,000 loan from Lone Star Bank in Pharr and a separate $25,000 personal loan she made to her campaign. Paul Basaldua, Hinojosa's campaign manager, said both loans were anticipated and that the campaign's fundraising efforts "are right...

Matthew Griffing, Vice Chairman for Legislative Affairs, Young Conservatives of Texas; Phil Magness, Project Chairman, East Gulf Coast Republican Assembly; Brian Bodine, Chairman, University of Texas College Republicans; March 4, 2004 Dear Fellow Republican, It is great to be the majority party in Texas, but with this achievement comes the danger that liberal Democrats will attempt to manipulate our primary to undermine conservative Republican candidates. This danger is even greater now that leftist John Kerry has secured the presidential nomination. We should be pleased when any remaining conservative Democrats join our party and participate in our open primary. However, we...

McALLEN — The new 25th Congressional District has been described as the "bacon-strip" district. But some who live at the southernmost tip tend to see it as a "fajita strip." And that pretty much sums up the district’s cultural diversity. In the northern part, which stretches to Austin, the demographics show a predominantly Anglo population with a higher income average and higher education levels. But travel south in the district about 350 miles and you’ll find a mainly Mexican-American population still struggling to overcome language barriers, low employment rates and one of the lowest per capita income rates in the...

Rep. Lloyd Doggett fights for his political life against Leticia Hinojosa. PALMVIEW — With a practiced smile and outstretched hand, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett recently greeted two cleaning ladies at the newly dedicated Garcia Middle School in this booming Hidalgo County town. Nervously, they retreated. But with shy smiles, they shook his hand after Libby, the candidate's wife and a longtime bilingual education teacher, told them in Spanish, "My husband's a congressman, and we'd appreciate your support." Doggett, who hasn't lost an election in 20 years, began campaigning in South Texas two months before the newly drawn 25th Congressional District...

U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez lashed out at Democratic opponent Henry Cuellar on Tuesday in his most visible show of negativity yet in this down-and-dirty congressional matchup. Spurred on by a harshly critical Cuellar mailout last week, Rodriguez is fighting back with literature in district mailboxes set to hit today that paints Cuellar as a party-hopping political opportunist. "We would have liked to have not gone negative, but we feel it's important to set the record straight," said Rodriguez campaign manager John Puder. The grudge match, one of the most watched and competitive Texas races heading into Tuesday's primary, pits two...