Campaign Chatter

Not dead yet: Gregory Parker, the Comal County commissioner who wants to be on the Texas Railroad Commission, recently "suspended" his campaign, saying he wasn't raising the kind of money it would take to run a serious race for that statewide position. He's still got that email account, though, and something to write home about: He got 63 percent in the Tarrant County GOP straw poll last weekend, and is asking people to donate to "begin the grassfire." Parker, if he runs, would face fellow Republican Barry Smitherman in the primary.

• Just because there's no election date doesn't mean the candidates aren't shooting at each other. Democrat Dan Grant tagged U.S. Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Austin, on the Stock Act, pointing to stories that the incumbent purchased shares of a company that stood to gain from approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline and then promoted approval of the pipeline in letters signed by dozens of fellow House members.

• Republican U.S. Senate candidate Craig James endorsed Rick Santorum for president. He was previously a Rick Perry backer.

• State Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, got a reelection endorsement from TEXPAC, the political affiliate of the Texas Medical Association. He drew two challengers in the GOP primary, including Texas Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones, who's backed by Texans for Lawsuit Reform, and Donna Campbell, who moved into the district to challenge the incumbent.

• HOSPAC, the political affiliate of the Texas Hospital Association, endorsed Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst's Senate bid. The PAC also endorsed the three Republican incumbents running for reelection to the Texas Supreme Court: Nathan Hecht, David Medina, and Don Willett.

• Dewhurst also got an endorsement from HOMEPAC, the campaign fund associated with the Texas Association of Builders.

• State Rep. Paul Workman, R-Austin, also picked up a reelection endorsement from TEXPAC.

• Jason Villalba won the support of the Hispanic Republicans of Texas in his bid for the Texas House in HD-114. That's a Dallas County seat; in one version of the maps, the incumbent is Rep. Kenneth Sheets, R-Dallas.