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Republican storm created too much headwind for most Dems From the moment the "Bill White for Texas" campaign moved from a U.S. Senate race to a governor's race, the Democratic candidate knew he was facing a long, hard, low-gear climb. Bill White, an inveterate bicyclist, needed every gear to mesh perfectly. He needed a clear path, however challenging. He got neither. A red-state race that all along was going to be daunting proved an impossible slog in a state full of restive Republicans determined to reverse their 2006 and 2008 losses and in an anti-Washington season that grew ever bleaker...

As called by Politico. 62 percent to 37 percent with 23 percent reporting.

Up to 450,000 ballots cast in Harris County Taken together, the events of the 2010 election season in Harris County sound almost good enough for a movie plot: electoral turmoil, thousands of burned up voting machines, controversial poll watchers and electioneering, traded allegations of voter fraud and voter suppression, even a few dirty tricks. Whatever the causes or motivations behind the differing dramas this election season, it has not been enough to deter voters. As polls closed Friday before Tuesday's general election, as many as 450,000 people are expected to have cast their ballots early or by mail, an amount...

Poll: Flores 55% to Edwards 36% Shows Flores’ Message Resonating, Edwards’ Negative Attacks Have Failed Texas Insider Report: BRYAN, Texas – A new general election poll of 400 likely voters taken by On Message, Inc. shows Republican nominee Bill Flores leading 20-year incumbent Democrat Congressman Chet Edwards (D-TX) by a margin of 55% to 36% with less than 6 weeks to go before Election Day. “We are very encouraged by the results of this poll and we will work harder than ever to bring home a victory over the next 40 days,” said Flores. “This poll is yet another reflection...

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has weighed into Texas politics again by backing Republican Stephen Broden against incumbent US Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson in Dallas. Broden has been a regular speaker at North Texas Tea Party events for over a year, regularly drawing standing ovations for preaching against President Obama's "godless socialism." Palin posted the endorsement on her Facebook page on Tuesday but the news had already come out over the weekend. On Sunday, Star-Telegram writer Anna Tinsley reported that Broden was introduced at the Wake Up America Tea Party at the Fort Worth Convention Center as the latest politician...

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White said he never considered changing his campaign schedule Monday to catch up with President Barack Obama, who is attending private fundraisers in Austin and Dallas. Instead, White will start the day by talking to Texans in Midland and end it by participating in the Pioneers and Old Settlers Reunion parade in Alvarado. “This has been scheduled quite a while,” White said Friday after talking to the Rotary Club of Fort Worth. “In general, we tend to make a schedule and keep a schedule. We have a pretty disciplined campaign. But there’s no disrespect intended toward...

Retired oil and gas executive Bill Flores cruised to an easy victory Tuesday night in the Republican runoff for Congress, setting up a potentially heated and expensive general election race against Democratic incumbent Chet Edwards. Flores won by an 18 percent margin over Waco small business owner Rob Curnock, who was significantly under-funded but hoped momentum and name recognition from his unsuccessful 2008 race against Edwards would carry him to victory. Flores sold himself as an experienced businessman whose real-world knowledge made him qualified for the position. He also had a larger campaign staff and more resources to make that...

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is expected to announce her political plans today in San Antonio. Aides to Hutchison said late Tuesday that she would appear there with her Texas Republican colleague, Sen. John Cornyn, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky for a news conference. Though the statement made no mention of a topic, Hutchison has said frequently that she would leave the Senate before her term ends in 2012. Several state politicians have already declared their interest in running in a special election to replace her. But Cornyn, McConnell, Gov. Rick Perry and every member of the Texas...

Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison will announce Wednesday morning she will stay in the Senate, flip-flopping on her resignation promise that left several candidates eager for the chance to succeed her. The Republican kept the decision close to her vest until the final hours, when she informed her inner circle as well as her Texas counterpart, Republican Sen. John Cornyn, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of her decision to stay through the remainder of her term, which expires after the 2012 election. Hutchison will make the announcement official at a press conference Wednesday morning in San Antonio with Cornyn...

The Texas Board of Education has adopted curriculum reforms designed to counteract liberal bias in the educational system. According to the Houston Chronicle, the Democratic members of the Board objected to the curriculum reforms for not focusing enough on subjects key to political correctness indoctrination: Ken Mercer, R-San Antonio, said the proposed standards reflect the desires of his constituents to emphasize “personal responsibility and accountability” and “to honor our Founding Fathers, and our military.” Mary Helen Berlanga, D-Corpus Christi, said the standards ignore the Ku Klux Klan in Texas, Texas Rangers “killing Mexican-Americans without justification” and the U.S. Army's role...

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison has conceded to incumbent Gov. Rick Perry in the Texas GOP gubernatorial primary, making Perry the Republican nominee in November's general election. There, Perry is certain beat out challenger Democrat Bill White, the former three-term mayor of Houston. That likely means that Perry will enjoy a fourth term as Texas governor — the longest serving governor in Texas history. That's remarkable, considering Texans' longstanding aversion to incumbent politicians, especially during an era of tea parties, which are especially strong in the Lone Star State. Early primary returns accurately reflected polling in late hours of the race,...

Hot off the heels of Texas Governor Rick Perry’s decisive victory over Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson for the Lone Star State’s GOP gubernatorial nomination, Daily Beast columnist Mark McKinnon thinks the governor is well-positioned for a bid at the presidency, or at least the VP slot: There’s a fight right now for the soul of the Republican Party. There’s a dominant and loud wing led by social ideologues like Sarah Palin, who endorsed Perry. But if she doesn’t run for president—and if she’s actually smart, she won’t because she’ll never wield as much power, influence, or money than she does...

Less than a year ago, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison was the most popular elected official in Texas and the odds-on favorite to be the next governor of Texas. Some polls showed her leading the incumbent, Rick Perry, by more than 20 points. What Hutchison didn't realize this time a year ago was that her fate may well have been sealed by Tax Day, April 15, 2009, when Perry spoke at tea party rallies in Houston, Dallas and Austin and suggested — merely suggested — that Texas might have reason to secede from the union. He never mentioned the word...

AUSTIN, Texas – Riding a wave of growing anti-Washington anger, Texas Gov. Rick Perry easily dispatched Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and a challenger backed by some in the tea party movement Tuesday to once again become the Republican nominee for the state's top office. Speaking shortly after Hutchison called him to concede, Perry continued the attack on the nation's capital that powered him past the state's senior senator, slamming Washington on spending, job losses, the heath care debate and for "trying to impose education standards" on Texas. "From Driftwood, Texas, to Washington, D.C., we are sending you a message tonight:...

Breaking News Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison Concedes GOP Gubernatorial Primary to Gov. Rick Perry

AUSTIN, Texas - Texas Gov. Rick Perry took an early lead over Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and a third candidate drawing support from the state's tea party movement as initial Republican gubernatorial primary returns started to trickle in Tuesday. Perry sought the GOP nomination for an unprecedented third, full four-year term. Angry protest voters backing conservative activist Debra Medina could force the governor and Hutchison into an April 13 runoff election, if no candidate gets a majority.

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Republican governor candidates Name profession Rick Perry incumbent Kay Bailey Hutchison U.S. senator Debra Medina, ex-chairwoman Wharton County Republican Party Democratic governor candidates Name profession Bill White former mayor of Houston Farouk Shami businessman Felix Alvarado teacher Bill Dear private investigator Drive Alma Aguado physician Clement Glenn professor Star Locke rancher Andrea Plumlee attorney

You'd think after several failed attempts to offer a realistic timeline of when she might resign from the Senate, Kay Bailey Hutchison might just stop answering the question that keeps getting her in trouble. But for some reason, she took another stab at it on Mark Davis' radio show, moving the target yet again. She changed her last promise to resign after the primary (which sure sounded like soon after the primary) to "sometime this year before the November elections." Those words had hardly left Hutchison's mouth when a campaign aide offered a clarification, saying that the timing really was...

Former President George H.W. Bush has endorsed U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison for Texas governor. He is the third prominent national figure to endorse Hutchison in her race against Gov. Rick Perry. Last November, she garnered the endorsement of former Vice President Dick Cheney, and early last week former Secretary of State James Baker gave his official backing. Last Friday, in front of his home in Houston, Bush said that he and his wife Barbara were supporting Hutchison because she has the right vision to lead the state...