The Evening Brief: Sept. 12, 2013

Culled

•    Greg Abbott adviser retweets Wendy Davis “too stupid” to be gov (The Dallas Morning News): "Dave Carney, a sharp political adviser who has helped guide Rick Perry’s state campaigns, tried to take on Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, over guns. But he might have shot himself in the foot. Carney was touting on Twitter the Colorado recall of two state senators who had supported gun control measures after Aurora and Sandy Hook. Both lost that election this week. On Thursday, Carney was tweeting about it and pulled up posts by others that were critical of Davis on gun control measures. He retweeted: 'Total Recall in CO (and why Wendy Davis is too Stupid to be Governor)' … On Thursday, Democrats expressed their outrage on behalf of Davis, who is contemplating a run for governor and would likely face Abbott. 'It’s clear that Abbott’s advisers are following a strategy of offending every woman voter in the state of Texas,' said Will Hailer, executive director of the state Democratic Party."

•    Tea party leader targets Pete Sessions (Politico): "The conservative group FreedomWorks on Thursday threw its support behind Katrina Pierson, a Dallas tea party leader who is trying to unseat GOP Rep. Pete Sessions. 'Katrina Pierson has led the fight to elect principled conservatives across the state of Texas for years,' FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe said in a statement. 'While incumbent Rep. Pete Sessions seems more concerned with keeping his seat at the leadership table, Katrina understands the importance of connecting to the grassroots at home and sticking to your guns in Washington.'"

•    Summers for the Fed? Senior GOP Senator Says No (The Wall Street Journal): "The second-ranking Republican in the Senate said he would oppose former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers if President Barack Obama nominates him to lead the Federal Reserve. 'Temperamentally, he’s really unsuitable for that job,' Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn (R., Texas) said in an interview Thursday."

•    George P. Bush opponent says time to quit educating Mexican children in Texas (The Dallas Morning News): "Republican Land Commissioner candidate David Watts has an idea he says will save money and help solve the immigration problem. Watts is an East Texas business consultant who’s opposing George P. Bush in the March GOP primary. Watts’ idea: Stop educating the children of undocumented immigrants."

•    UT regents approve plan for $310 million engineering building (Austin American-Statesman): "The University of Texas can now proceed with a plan to build a $310 million engineering education and research center. UT System regents unanimously approved the plan Thursday."

New in The Texas Tribune

•    Sessions Draws a Tea Party Opponent: "A former supporter — Tea Party activist Katrina Pierson — of U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Dallas, has decided to challenge the incumbent in next year's Republican primary."

•    The Polling Center: Are Suburban Women in the Democratic Resurgence Recipe?: "While the Hispanic vote has been the focus of much of the analysis of Democrats’ prospects for turning the Republican tide, in the short term, they will almost certainly need to look to suburban women — especially if Wendy Davis is at the top of the ticket."

•    Despite New Efforts That Target Cheating on State Tests, Doubts Remain: "The Texas Education Agency is stepping up its scrutiny of accountability violations with a new department devoted to investigating complaints of cheating. But questions remain about the agency's ability to effectively operate the division."

•    UT System Chancellor to Address How Schools Report Fundraising Totals: "University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa plans to send letters to leaders at the system’s 15 institutions to address how they report alumni membership dues in their fundraising totals."