The Evening Brief: Nov. 7, 2013

New in The Texas Tribune

•    Pauken's Jab at "Elitist" Higher Ed System Questioned: "Tom Pauken, in his long-shot bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, is the only statewide candidate who has made higher education a central issue in his campaign thus far. But his approach to the issue is drawing criticism from within the higher education community."

•    UT/TT Poll: Texans Split on Pathway to Citizenship: "Texans are split on whether undocumented immigrants in the U.S. should have a pathway to citizenship, but with certain prerequisites — like service in the military — a majority would be willing to grant citizenship to the children of undocumented immigrants, according to the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll."

•    Facing Deportation, Activist Says He Has No Regrets: "Even before a judge confirmed Wednesday what Edgar Torres Hernandez knew was coming — that he would soon be deported to Mexico — Torres remained confident that his controversial actions were the right thing to do."

•    Texas Libraries Face Federal Funding Cuts: "The federal government is threatening to cut about 70 percent of its annual funding for Texas public libraries, because it says the state has failed to pull its own weight in library funding. ... The federal cuts came after state lawmakers in 2011 made an unprecedented 64 percent funding cut in the 2012-13 state library budget. The Library and Archives Commission says it will appeal the federal decision."

Culled

•    Wendy Davis, Texas Legislator, to Write Memoir (The New York Times): "Wendy Davis, the Texas state senator whose 11-hour legislative filibuster of an abortion bill gave her instant fame in the Democratic Party, is about to take the next logical step in her political ascent: writing a memoir."

•    Texas Republicans love Ted Cruz but Rick Perry? Not so much (The Dallas Morning News): "A new poll finds that Sen. Cruz is the overwhelming favorite among Texas Republicans to be their presidential nominee in 2016. And Gov. Rick Perry, who’s been in office more than a decade? He’s almost nobody’s choice."

•    Rick Perry returns to Iowa, fueling presidential speculation (The Dallas Morning News): "Gov. Rick Perry has said whenever asked that the two things he’d do differently if he ran for president again would be to avoid surgery before launching his campaign and go to Iowa early and often. And so he’s back in Iowa, the first state to hold a presidential contest."

•    Texas comptroller hits GOP for alienating women (Washington Times): "The top elected woman in Texas gave the Republican Party a scolding Wednesday, saying her party showed in this week’s off-year elections that it can be clueless when it comes to connecting with women voters."

•    Hilderbran says he’s attracted business support for his comptroller run (The Dallas Morning News): "Republican comptroller candidate Harvey Hilderbran says he’s rounded up support from about two dozen leading business people who are major Texas political donors. 'We feel very good about the business leaders that we’re attracting,' he said Thursday, appearing at TribLive, an interview series sponsored by the online political news outlet Texas Tribune."