The latest state government news from The Texas Tribune.
An upset seems likely if not certain in the Republican primary for Railroad Commissioner. Victor Carrillo, the incumbent, is trailing challenger David Porter by 21 percent with nearly 80 percent of precincts counted. Full Story
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Rep. Betty Brown, R-Terrell, is 121 votes behind Lance Gooden — a former aide — with two precincts left to count. Full Story
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State Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, appears to have beaten challenger Ben Bius quite badly after an ugly campaign. Full Story
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Tim Tuggey conceded the race for the GOP nomination to incumbent Ken Mercer in State Board of Education District 5. Full Story
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Griffin holds an early lead in his bid to replace Lubbock County's Carl Isett. Full Story
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Rep. Vicki Truitt, R-Southlake, was holding off three primary challengers in early returns, trying to stay out of a runoff as she defends a seat she's held since 1999. Full Story
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Early returns show the four-way scrum for the Texas House seat of outgoing state Rep. Dan Gattis, R-Georgetown, isn't as close as some had predicted. Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Charles Schwertner is way up. Full Story
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Hank Gilbert maintains a sizable lead over Kinky Friedman with nearly half of votes counted. Full Story
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Chuck Hopson is leading two challengers in a very closely watched Republican primary in HD-11. In early returns, Hopson was over the critical 50 percent mark, with Allan Cain and Michael Banks tied somewhere behind. Full Story
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After early returns, Sergio Muñoz Jr. leads opponent Sandra Rodriguez in his bid to replace embattled state Rep. Ismael "Kino" Flores in HD-36. Full Story
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Linda Chavez-Thompson announces victory over Ronnie Earle and Marc Katz in the race for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor. The winner of that contest will face incumbent Republican David Dewhurst in November. Full Story
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Some losing candidates in today's primary election could have one last chance to win — provided they meet one of three criteria. Full Story
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While the director of the Department of Public Safety and some state senators argue that X-ray machines and metal detectors are critical in the wake of a shooting at the Capitol, the Governor and others in the Legislature worry that a gamut of security hurdles would make the place unwelcoming to the public. Full Story
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With all precincts reporting, State Board of Education incumbent Don McLeroy has lost to challenger Thomas Ratliff in the race for District 9 by a razor thin margin — less than 1,000 votes. Full Story
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National Journal says she's more conservative than Alexander, Hatch, Murkowski, and a few others but less conservative than the vast majority of her colleagues. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry issued a posthumous pardon today for Tim Cole, who died in prison after he was wrongly convicted of rape. Full Story
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Early voting totals in Texas' largest counties nearly doubled, with the GOP race leading the charge. Full Story
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In backing the former state representative over incumbent Al Edwards, the paper cites his "proven business acumen and leadership abilities." Full Story
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Ramshaw on the state's quiet sharing of infant blood samples with the military and on the things Rick Perry's opponents aren't saying about him, Grissom on Farouk Shami's surprising popularity in El Paso, Philpott on the political advantages of a job creation fund and how Debra Medina's supporters are reacting to her "truther" comments, Hu on Debra Medina in the latest installment of Stump Interrupted, Thevenot on how the kids feel about the federal option of closing bad high schools, Rapoport on the newest mutation of the state's pay-as-you-go transportation philosophy, and our roundup of party primaries in the last week before the election: Rapoport on HD-7, Ramsey on HD-11, Aguilar on HD-36 and HD-43, Philpott on HD-47, Thevenot on HD-52 and SD-5, Kreighbaum on HD-105 and one Supreme Court race, M. Smith on another, and Hamilton on the colorful Democratic candidates for Agriculture Commissioner. The best of our best from February 22 to 26, 2010. Full Story
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Last chance to cast an early ballot, Hodge still a threat and a warning from the feds about going into the badlands. Full Story
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