Tx Capitol Report | A view from the Texas state capitol

Add Williams to the list

Remember how I said yesterday that Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams' name might appear on the list of candidates who want to replace U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison?

Williams, a Republican, announced today he plans to run if Hutchison resigns.

She's expected to relinquish that responsibility to give Gov. Rick Perry a run for his money in the 2010 gubernatorial race.

Here's the e-mail Williams sent to supporters today:

Dear Friend,
With much encouragement from my fellow Texans, with the support of my wife Donna, and with firm resolve to make the America of tomorrow more prosperous and free than the nation we know today, I am announcing my candidacy for the United States Senate.
We are at a critical juncture in time, and the likelihood of a special election to replace Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison provides an historic opportunity for Texans to rekindle our can-do spirit and offer forward-looking solutions to the great challenges posed by an economic crisis, record debt, two simultaneous wars, and our dependence on foreign energy.
I have served at every level of government: in three cabinet departments under two presidential administrations, as an elected member of the Texas Railroad Commission and as a local prosecutor in the Midland County District Attorneys office. I know the honor of public service is not holding an office, but preserving the public trust.
If elected, I will address these issues that demand national and international leadership:

1. Economy: we need a long-term prosperity agenda starting with a tax code that rewards work, encourages saving, investment and entrepreneurship; incentives for innovation, research and development yielding to solutions for more and higher-valued jobs, steadier wages and stronger retirements.
2. Energy and Environment: we need to develop pro-growth energy and environment solutions for greater energy security that will produce more American energy, accelerate the use of alternative energy technologies and promote greater energy efficiency and conservation.
3. Education: we need to rekindle a love of learning in America’s classrooms, specifically a renewed focus on math, science, engineering and technology.
4. National Security: we need to ensure safer communities and neighborhoods by enforcing our laws, protecting our borders and making sure our military continues to be the strongest in the world to defend America and defeat our enemies.
5. Health care: we need transformational health solutions and policies that create better health care, more choices at affordable costs.

I am uniquely experienced to address these great challenges. Having served in the U.S. Departments of Education, Justice and Treasury, I know we can do so much more to unleash the power of innovation and job creation and to make education and opportunity accessible to all. And as an elected leader in the energy industry, I know we can increase exploration at home, invest in cleaner sources of energy, and protect the environment for future generations.
We can have economic prosperity and cleaner air and water. We can have financial security without our elected officials compromising their conservative principles. We can have an efficient, effective government that controls spending and lives within its means. We can have government accountable to the people.
This campaign is not about me. It’s about you. As a candidate, I hope not to be the focal point, but the mirror that reflects the hopes, dreams and concerns of every Texan.
In traveling to every corner of this state, I have listened to a great many Texans. I have heard the calls for a new voice in Washington who can bring about change and reform to a culture that desperately needs it. And I know the change Texans seek is not a blank check for Congress, but a voice of reason when it comes to your money. With your help, we can be that new voice and create a Texas with greater liberty and prosperity. We can generate a sense of optimism in all communities and neighborhoods across the state.
To me change is not just a slogan, it is a lifelong calling. Thousands of Texans have called upon me to take this step—to offer myself up in service to change the way Washington works. I take this step neither lightly nor flippantly, but with full faith in the possibilities of a new tomorrow, and undying devotion to the greatest people on the face of the earth—the people of Texas.
I ask for your prayers, your continued friendship and your full support. I look forward to seeing you on the trail.

Candidate list growing for KBH's job

Houston Mayor Bill White, a Democrat, is the latest to join the growing list of candidates who want to take U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's job if she resigns to compete in the 2010 GOP gubernatorial primary.

White's name is at least the third among possible Democratic contenders for the seat. Former Texas Comptroller John Sharp has said he's in the running. And former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk's name has been bandied about, too.

In the GOP, former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams has thrown his hat in the ring. State Sen. Florence Shapiro, from Plano, and Texas Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones have said they're in the hunt, too. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Michael Williams, chairman of the Railroad Commission are among other names that could appear on that list.

Who knows, by the time she actually resigns this list of candidates could be as long as the list of candidates for speaker of the Texas House.

Energy serendipity

State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh and outgoing state Rep. Pat Haggerty are both attending the same energy conference in Vancouver this weekend, but it seems neither knew the other would be there.

The two are both planning to attend the 2008 Global Energy and Environmental Issues Conference today through Saturday.

"I can hardly wait to see him," Haggerty said today, talking on his cell phone from Washington state, when I told him folks in Shapleigh's office said the senator was headed there, too. 

Shapleigh's a Democrat and Haggerty's a Republican but they have both shared the experience of running brutal campaigns against Republican businessman Dee Margo. Shapleigh beat Margo in 2006, but Haggerty lost in March.

"I love Eliot," Haggerty said. "He's crazy as a March hare, but I do get along with him. He's an intelligent man. You can't take that away from him." 

Bring a toy ... and your checkbook

State Rep.-elect Joe Moody is having a "retire the debt fundraiser" tonight in El Paso. Here's the invite he e-mailed.

You are cordially invited to a retire the debt fundraiser for
Joe Moody
State Representative Elect District 78
December 11, 2008
5:30pm – 7:30pm
Casa Jurado
4772 Doniphan Dr

$100 * $250 * $500 * $1000 * $2500

The Joseph Moody Campaign will be donating gifts to young boys and girls in the Canutillo area, so please help us celebrate this season of giving by bringing an unwrapped gift along with you to the fundraiser. 
If you cannot attend our event, but wish to donate a toy, please contact us.
Please make checks out to the Joseph Moody Campaign or contribute online below 
before December 13th.

Make it 12

Another Republican in the Texas House has added his name to the list of candidates wanting to boot GOP House Speaker Tom Craddick.

State Rep. Ed  Kuempel from Seguin, who has been in the House since 1983, is the latest to file paperwork to challenge the Midland Republican who has drawn the ire of both parties with what some call his "autocratic" leadership style.

That takes the tally of speaker candidates to 12, including Craddick. There are seven Rs bidding for the job now and five Ds.

There's still a month left before session starts. Any bets on how long this list is going to get?

Race to replace KBH starts before she leaves

Former Texas Comptroller John Sharp, a Democrat who lost a bid for lieutenant governor to then-Agriculture Commissioner and now Republican Gov. Rick Perry, announced Monday that he plans to run for the U.S. Senate.

And former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, he's gearing up for a run at the U.S. Senate, too.

Of course, there isn't a U.S. Senate seat open right now, at least not yet. 

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison has indicated she plans to run against Gov. Rick Perry in the 2010 GOP gubernatorial primary. She hasn't resigned from the U.S. Senate yet, but odds are she will shed that responsibility to focus on what is sure to be a doozy of a campaign against Perry.

Here's Sharp's press release:

JOHN SHARP TO RUN FOR U.S. SENATE

(AUSTIN) — John Sharp, the former Texas Comptroller known nationally as a leading expert on economic and energy policies, said today that he will run for the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate seat currently held by Kay Bailey Hutchison.

“I will be a candidate whether the election is in 2012 or any time before then,” said Sharp, who received the highest percentage of votes statewide of any Democrat during the past decade.  “Texans face tough challenges that call for innovative solutions, and that’s what our campaign is all about.”

Sharp, 58, said he is forgoing the step of forming an exploratory committee and will file the required papers on January 1 so that he can begin raising money and campaigning across the state with the dawn of the new year.

As Texas Comptroller, Sharp earned a national reputation for innovative initiatives, including the Texas Performance Review, which saved taxpayers more than $8.5 billion, helped divert a proposed state income tax, safeguarded vital public services, and served as the model for Vice President Al Gore’sNational Performance Review.

A native of the South Texas farming community of Placedo, Sharp graduated from Texas A&M University, where he was elected student body president and commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserves.  He earned his master’s in public administration from Texas State University in San Marcos while working fulltime as a fiscal analyst at the Legislative Budget Board in Austin.

As a Texas House member, Sharp served as vice chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and was named Outstanding Freshman by Texas Monthly magazine.  He later ran successfully for the Texas Senate and was appointed to the powerful Senate Finance Committee.  In 1985, he was elected statewide to the Texas Railroad Commission and served as the energy agency’s chairman. 

Sharp worked for the Dallas-based financial management firm Ryan, Inc. after leaving the Comptroller’s Office and is currently helping the firm set up a charitable foundation.  He was co-founder and treasurer of Texans to Cure Cancer, the largest anti-cancer initiative ever launched in the state.  In 2006, with state lawmakers facing the prospect of shutting down public schools or advocating a state income tax, he led a bi-partisan committee to find a solution to avoid both — cutting overall taxes by more than $1 billion in the process.

Sharp and his wife Charlotte have two grown children and live in Austin, where they are active in their church and a variety of community programs and humanitarian efforts.

And Cook makes 11

State Rep. Byron Cook, a Republican from Corsicana, became the eleventh Texas House speaker candidate yesterday, according to news reports.

Cook, a former supporter of Republican Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick, is the fifth GOP legislator to decide to challenge the Midland leader.

Including Craddick, there are now six Republican speaker candidates and five Democrat candidates. 

This thing just keeps getting more interesting.

KBH officially launches gubernatorial bid

Republican U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison released a statement this morning, announcing that she is creating an exploratory committee for a gubernatorial race against Gov. Rick Perry in 2010. For months, Hutchison has said she was considering a run for the state's top elected office.

Here's the statement she released today:

Statement by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison

Today, I am filing an exploratory committee so I can begin the process of organizing a campaign for Governor of Texas. I am not yet a candidate, but Texas law requires this first, important step before an announcement can be made.

I am transferring $1 million from my Federal account to this new state exploratory committee and will take further steps as they become appropriate.

Right now, there are a lot of Texans - friends, community and business leaders, Republicans, Democrats, Independents and people who've never been in politics - that I want to talk to before becoming a formal candidate.

While Texas is faring somewhat better economically than many other states, a positive future is not guaranteed. It will take leaders who look ahead to meet the economic and budgetary challenges that are coming.

Texans deserve a Governor who, in the context of sound budgetary policies and low taxes, works for quality schools and universities, access to health care for our families, communities safe from crime and drugs, protection of private property rights, sensible transportation and a government that listens and responds to them.

There's too much bitterness, too much anger, too little trust, too little consensus and too much infighting. And the tone comes from the top. Texans are looking for leadership and results.

I am humbled by the number of hard working Texans who have asked me to run for Governor in our state that I love so dearly. And I am honored to serve Texas in the United States Senate, protecting our state's interests and standing for our values and vision. Texans understand I put Texas first and I will continue to do so while I explore and prepare for a race for Governor of Texas.

Chavez: No Grinches allowed

State Rep. Norma Chavez, D-El Paso, is having a holiday-themed fundraiser next Saturday in El Paso. Here's a copy of the invite if you're looking for somewhere to have a mimosa and shed some of your extra Christmas cash on the 13th. Unless you're a Grinch.