Texas

Republican Will Hurd will serve a third term.

The possible takeaways from Beto O'Rourke's performance.

Hurd has represented the swing district since he was elected in 2014.

And what's next.

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

It's not really about Beautiful Ted and Beto. It's about the future.

An object lesson in Trumpism.

It takes a lot of trips to Dairy Queen.

Are you Trumpy enough?

This is one the best GOP results of the Trump era.

SwingSeat update: We have updated forecasts in Texas, Arizona, and Florida.

Dan Crenshaw, a 33-year-old former Navy SEAL, won the GOP primary runoff election in Texas's second congressional district on Tuesday night. With 90 percent of precincts reporting, Crenshaw led his opponent, state representative Kevin Roberts, 70 percent to 30 percent.

Turmoil, generations, and starpower in the 1956 film classic.

Don’t stress about just one poll – fundamentals still favor Republicans in Texas

Between McAllen and Brownsville, only a river separates the U.S. from a war zone.

There hasn’t been a drop of rain on this entire trip, but I woke up in Rio Grande City to find sheets of water coming out of the sky. South Texas’s prayers have been answered. Cattle ranches won’t have to sell off cows, and all the onions, cabbage, and corn I’ve passed will make it from farm to…

A distinctive border city.

A chance meeting with Keith Bowden, writer of "The Tecate Journals."

Getting to know Sanderson, Texas, through the way it celebrates Easter.

After sleeping in a ditch on US 385, Devon and I biked 30 miles to Marathon, Texas. It was a short distance, and Devon was as cheery to get on the road as he had been the entire trip: "Dude, every day there's a new pain that makes me forget about the old pain." If Devon has taught me anything, it's…

Big Bend National Park is a tough sell because there isn't any one scene or location that's especially notable or so beautiful that it deserves to be your desktop background. But the park does have an overall effect on people that keeps them coming back year after year. I said in the previous entry…

Big Bend National Park is one of the largest, most biologically diverse parks in the country—and you've probably never heard of it. Stuck all by its lonesome in the bendy part of southwest Texas, along 118 miles of the Rio Grande river, Big Bend is famously isolated and inaccessible. Out of all the…

The road from Van Horn to Marfa, Texas, is unbelievably boring. I woke up from a night in a highway motel that involved multiple trips to the McDonalds next door and A Perfect World on cable, and went straight back to—you guessed it—McDonalds. Holding my second McGriddle in one hand and my phone in…

After a whirlwind visit to Casas Grandes and Colonia Juarez on the Mexican side I crossed back into El Paso late Friday night to pick up my bike from the mechanic. I still had a few hours of daylight, so I set off immediately for Clint, Texas, a small farming town 20 miles outside El Paso. It was…

There is nothing, absolutely nothing, that could make a primary election for Texas land commissioner interesting. Not if Kinky Friedman were running. Not if Milton Friedman were running. Not if an underwater city of gold and vibranium and sweet crude oil were discovered on election eve 10 miles off…

In a crowded nine-way Republican congressional primary in Texas, former Navy SEAL Dan Crenshaw has decided that the best way to break out of the pack in his run for Congress is to run for Congress—literally. February 20 marked the first day of Crenshaw’s 5-day, 100-mile run through a congressional…

When is Texas going to turn blue?

Texas is the Democratic white whale. Every election cycle, some enterprising statewide (or national) Democratic candidate tries to flip the state by winning the governorship, a senate seat, or the state’s electoral college votes. And recently, they haven’t had much success. Texas has elected…

Uncovering the TUSD Deep State. Imagine if your local school district had a secret document. The purpose of this document is to blacklist and retaliate against employees. That's what the Arizona Daily Star's Hank Stephenson uncovered at the Tucson Unified School District.

The end of free speech? Katherine Mangu-Ward at Reason has an excellent cover story about how "the left eats its own and the right shows its true colors." Here's my favorite part:

It's impossible to know—and difficult even to contemplate—what sort of nihilistic depravity could drive a man to do what Devin Kelley did on the morning of November 5. Kelley killed 26 and injured at least 20 at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, told constituents in a Tuesday email that he will not seek re-election in 2018.

This online psychic cleaned up. Down in Texas, a Democratic state legislator is facing trial for misdemeanor charges for a few of a series of accused fraudulent acts. This story is all kinds of crazy. The legislator is Dawnna Dukes, who is in her 12th term in the Texas House. Here's a taste of the…

The president travels to Springfield, Missouri, on Wednesday to deliver a speech about tax reform. Congress will take up this next legislative agenda item when it returns from its August recess after Labor Day. But don’t expect Donald Trump to roll out a detailed set of proposed reforms and changes…

On May 29, Texas governor Greg Abbott signed a law creating a statewide regulatory framework governing ridesharing services. The impetus for the law was clear—overriding the city of Austin’s onerous ordinances that prompted the sector’s leaders, Uber and Lyft, to stop operating in the state capital…

On May 29, Texas governor Greg Abbott signed a law creating a statewide regulatory framework governing ridesharing services. The impetus for the law was clear—overriding the city of Austin’s onerous ordinances that prompted the sector’s leaders, Uber and Lyft, to stop operating in the state capital…

Even in Texas, where everything's bigger, the little guys can still win one. In the latest case, the little guys are the nearly 40 private music museums across the Lone Star State. Their defeated foe? A plan backed by Governor Greg Abbott, Austin politicians, and the state's preservation board to…

Days after the Super Bowl in Houston, the NFL is warning Texas that legislation requiring individuals to use public bathrooms in accordance with their biological sex could cost the state future opportunities to host the big game.

Donald Trump has officially become the president-elect, as electors in Texas put the Republican nominee over the required 270 votes to win the White House over the Democrat, Hillary Clinton.

At a middle school in Texas, a nurse's aide plastered her office door with a festive handmade poster quoting Linus's scripture recitation from A Charlie Brown Christmas:

Ted Cruz, the Texas senator and one of Donald Trump's main rivals in the Republican presidential primary, has endorsed the Republican nominee in a lengthy Facebook post. "After many months of careful consideration, of prayer and searching my own conscience, I have decided that on Election Day, I…

During Barack Obama's tenure in the White House, he has stacked the deck at the National Labor Relations Board with officials sympathetic to unions. (At one point, a unanimous Supreme Court decision ruled that Obama's recess appointments to the board were illegal.) The NLRB has in turn issued all…

Have a question for Matt Labash? Ask him at askmattlabash@gmail.com or click here.

On this date 50 years ago, Charles Whitman, a 25-year-old ex-Marine and engineering student, climbed to the observation deck of the Tower at the University of Texas in Austin and shot 49 people, killing 14. Earlier in the day he had stabbed his wife and mother to death; Whitman himself was shot and…

Cleveland

In a set back for the pro-life movement, the Supreme Court released a 5-3 ruling Monday that safety regulations passed into law by the state of Texas represented "a substantial obstacle to women seeking abortions, and constitutes an 'undue burden' on their constitutional right to do so."

Writing for the Supreme Court in the Texas affirmative action case, Justice Anthony Kennedy said that the school's use of race in admissions "can make a difference [as] to whether an application is accepted or rejected." The question for the Court, as Kennedy put it, was whether, "drawing all…

In 'Folsom Prison Blues,' Johnny Cash sings, "I hear that whistle blowin'/ I hang my head and cry." The lyric is jarring because trains are about the freedom to travel, not imprisonment.

At a rally in Fort Worth, Texas today, Donald Trump unloaded on Amazon.com founder and owner of the Washington Post Jeff Bezos.

Texas senator Ted Cruz said the Rebel Alliance in George Lucas's Star Wars films are "unequivocally" the good guys. The Republican presidential candidate told THE WEEKLY STANDARD Tuesday evening the question over which side in the original three movies, the Rebels and the all-powerful Galactic…

Something has gotten into Ted Cruz. The Republican senator is known as a conservative firebrand willing to take on his own party, but in a Thursday meeting with reporters in his Capitol Hill office, Cruz was sounding almost ecumenical. Maybe it was the presence of Pope Francis.

I first learned of Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett on Twitter—fittingly—in 2013, when he asked me for a copy of my then-Twitter header image of the U.S. Supreme Court justices holding Care Bears (except Justice Scalia, who is photoshopped holding broccoli). Since that time, I've had the…

The first Republican presidential debate isn't until next month, but former Texas governor Rick Perry is already hitting back at fellow GOP contender Donald Trump. In a statement, Perry knocked Trump's criticism of the governor's 14-year tenure in Austin, saying the New York businessman has a…

It’s no accident that Texas senator Ted Cruz sounds like a minister on the stump. His father, Rafael, is an evangelical pastor, after all. And as the Republican presidential candidate displayed before the faith-focused crowd at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority conference in…

Rick Perry, the former Texas governor, announced Thursday afternoon he is running for president in 2016. Introduced by his wife Anita and flanked by retired U.S. Navy SEALs Marcus and Morgan Luttrell, Perry spoke about his upbringing in West Texas, touted his job-creation record during his 14 years…

Former Texas governor Rick Perry is running for president, releasing a video focusing on his record and background. The Republican will formally announce the campaign Thursday during an event outside of Dallas.

There's still a lot we don't know about what happened in Garland, Texas, earlier this week, including the name of the heroic police officer who averted certain disaster by outshooting two heavily armed terrorists. But blogger Bob Owens, who generally knows his stuff when it comes to firearms, has…

The Philadelphia Inquirer has a smart op-ed about the Garland attack by former federal prosecutor George Parry. He points out the left’s agonized reaction to Garland—We’re for free speech! But these people using free speech are horrible and hateful!

Republican senator Ted Cruz said Wednesday afternoon he is “long-term optimistic and short-term pessimistic” on the question of passing any immigration reform legislation. Speaking with Javier Palomarez, the president of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Texan presidential…

In one of his gag appearances, this one as a 2000-year old man, Mel Brooks was asked to name the greatest invention he had witnessed in his long life. “Saran wrap,” he shot back. A useful product, surely, but if environmentalists had the power they now have, unlikely to have emerged from the lab…

Windham, N.H.

The super PAC supporting former Texas governor Rick Perry has a new web ad focusing on the Republican's farming roots and showcasing his recent trips to Iowa. "My background is off of a dry-land cotton farm 200 miles west of Fort Worth, Texas," says Perry in the video. "I understand blue-collar,…

Former Texas governor Rick Perry responded to news that the Obama administration is instituting new regulations on hydraulic fracturing.

Former Texas governor Rick Perry said he was "alarmed" by reports the Obama administration is considering not supporting the state of Israel at the United Nations. Perry, who may run for president in 2016, said he urged Obama to "turn away from such a path."

Singer-songwriter Steve Earle was recently asked by the Texas Standard if he would ever move back to his home state, and he had a rather revealing answer: 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Gina McCarthy took to the EPA and White House blogs Wednesday to declare that "We Must Act Now to Protect Our Winters." McCarthy was in Aspen, CO, last week, the famous ski destination and home to an X-Games venue, and she warned that without…

Election Day has just begun, but MSNBC is already saying it's a "fact" that minority voters are being disenfranchised in Texas:

Frank Bruni, the restaurant critic-turned-op-ed columnist for the New York Times, traveled to Texas recently to attend the Austin City Limits Music Festival—and did he have a miserable time! The music seems to have been enjoyable enough, but Bruni’s own pleasure was seriously diminished by…

The WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with senior writer Stephen F. Hayes on ebola in the U.S., the administration's response, and how ebola is impacting close senate races in 2014.

The WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with editor William Kristol on the ebola outbreak in the United States and the Obama administration's response.

In 1884, John Zach Means and his wife Exa acquired a ranch just outside the tiny town of Valentine, Texas. The spread was called the Y6, after a cattle brand he had designed, and the couple’s move there was the happy culmination of several years of despair and hard work. 

The editorial board of the New York Times has plenty of nasty things to say about Texas governor Rick Perry. But the editors still think the indictment of Perry "appears to be the product of an overzealous prosecution."

Following Texas governor Rick Perry's grand jury indictment yesterday, even David Axelrod cast significant doubts on the merits.

Google has not been kind to Rick Perry. Type in “Rick Perry gaffe” and you get 111,000 results. Google also offers “searches related to Rick Perry gaffe.” These include “Rick Perry drunk speech, Rick Perry oops, Rick Perry gaffe YouTube, Rick Perry gaffe debate .  .  . Rick Perry video, Rick Perry…

One February day in 2012, the U.S. government granted its 8,112,504th patent to a corporation called Personal Audio. The company’s invention was described as a “system for disseminating media content representing episodes in a serialized sequence,” which sounds complicated and impressive. The…

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis, of Texas, says President Obama should, "at some point," visit the border. The Houston Chronicle reports:

Immigration reform is deader than ever in 2014 and the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee says President Obama is to blame.

We’ve weighed in sufficiently in recent issues on unhappy commencement activities at the nation’s universities. So here’s a change of pace: a fantastic speech, delivered by Admiral Bill McRaven. As Navy Times blogger David Larter reports, McRaven “is a bad-ass​—​and fount of good advice. Head of…

Governor Rick Perry of Texas criticized President Barack Obama's Washington-centric approach to solving problems in a Sunday appearance on NBC's Meet the Press. Perry was asked by host David Gregory about the recent botched execution of a convicted murderer in neighboring Oklahoma and the…

Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott of Texas is more popular among female voters than his Democratic opponent, state senator Wendy Davis, according to a new poll from PPP. The Democratic polling firm found 51 percent of Texas voters support Abbott while 37 percent support Davis. That's…

Edinburg, Texas

THE WEEKLY STANDARD Podcast with staff writer Michael Warren on his recent story "The Next Governor of Texas?"

Texas governor Rick Perry told late-night host Jimmy Kimmel that "America is a great place for second chances" when asked about running for president in 2016. Perry, appearing on Kimmel's show Tuesday night while on location in Austin, teased the idea of running again after his failed 2012 bid.

Austin

A question: Are Texas and all its agencies and local governments breaking the law? The answer is that they probably are, according to the Obama administration and its Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. But the Texas attorney general, Greg Abbott, isn’t waiting for the EEOC to investigate and…

In a bid to confuse and/or deliberately mislead voters in her native Texas, gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis announced today that she is “pro-life.”

Abortion advocate Wendy Davis has a strange claim. She now says that she's "pro-life," a term usually associated with those who are against abortion.

If “stealing jobs” were as bad as – and essentially no different than – stealing cars or stealing horses, Texas Gov. Rick Perry might expect to wind up at the end of a rope – the traditional fate in cowboy movies for horse thieves and cattle rustlers in the Lone Star state.

Several times a day, especially if he’s out travelin’ and talkin’ to folks, as he always is when the U.S. Senate isn’t in session, Ted Cruz will stand before an audience and reflect, seemingly for the first time, about the generational shift taking place in the Republican party. 

Wendy Davis, the abortion cheerleader from Texas who's considering a run for governor, held a fundraiser yesterday at a popular restaurant across from the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Perhaps the highest-profile attendee was former speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was caught on video leaving the event:

How do you succeed in wooing Hispanics without really trying? Rick Perry may have the answer. In 2010, running for his third full term, the Republican governor won the support of more than 400,000 Hispanic voters in Texas, his best performance to date. Perry didn’t need to win that many—Texas is…

KSAT in San Antonio reports that a local businessman faces a $1 million Obamacare bill:

Local Ci Ci's pizza franchise owner Bob Westbrook had to sell off part of his business due to Obamacare:

Now that he’s not seeking another term as Texas governor, Rick Perry says he has a year to decide whether to run for president in 2016.  And he’ll be highly visible across the country while he’s making up his mind.

Texas governor Rick Perry announced today that he will not seek reelection:

Rick Perry will make an "important announcement" Monday, a spokesman for the Texas governor said in an email Friday afternoon to the press.

An ABC 13 report from Houston, Texas on doctors who are closing their doors because of Obamacare:

New York City

Imagine a parallel universe in which the media coverage of legislators' recent efforts to pass gun control omitted any reference to last year's slaughter of 20 children and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

While half the country is obsessed with the cases that the Supreme Court is about to decide—not to mention the cases that the Court may or may not take up next—Justice Alito left the Beltway this week for greener pastures. Specifically, he headed south to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas, and…

Austin, Texas 

Texas senator John Cornyn has released this video, titled "A Culture of Intimidation," about the IRS's targeting of conservatives in his home state and across the nation:

Garden City (“What a misnomer!” said cousin Betty, who’d been there) is the seat of Glasscock County, a rectangular piece of flat, dry West Texas with a population density of two per square mile. The population of the “city” fell as low as 100 early in the last century, but the 2010 census put it…

Barack Obama is attending a memorial service for the victims of a massive fertilizer plant in West, Texas. But the president didn't visit the damage from the ground; instead, he opted only for a flyover.

President Barack Obama's remarks at the George W. Bush Presidential Library opening in Dallas, Texas:

Dallas, Texas

President Obama will attend a memorial in West, Texas for those killed in the explosion there last week, the press secretary announced today. Obama will be in Texas anyway for a Democratic fundraiser and the opening of President George W. Bush's library.

The AP reports:

Texas senator John Cornyn announced this morning that he's offering "National Conceal-Carry Reciprocity Legislation" in the Senate, according to a press release from his office.

The economy is not seamless and as all have known for some time now it is better to be where taxes are low and unions are scarce.  Consider this recent example, as reported by Michelle R. Smith of the AP:

Senator John Cornyn of Texas has produced this web video, titled "Spring Break Shut-Out," encouraging the White House to re-open for tours:

Senator John Cornyn, as well as all other 44 Republicans in the Senate, introduced the balanced budget consitutional amendment today in the Senate.

As reported in the Hill:

A reader sends along this picture of a 9/11 memorial set up by the Young Conservatives of Texas at the University of Texas:

Senate candidate Ted Cruz is projected to win the Republican primary runoff for U.S. Senate in Texas. With 37 percent of precincts reporting, Cruz has won nearly 53 percent of the vote over Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, who has won just under 46 percent. Dewhurst won the four-way GOP primary…

A final poll of Texas Republican voters from PPP shows Ted Cruz leading David Dewhurst by 10 points in Tuesday's runoff election for U.S. Senate. Cruz, the former state solicitor general and favorite of conservative activists, has 52 percent support compared to 42 percent for Dewhurst, the…

Republican Senate candidate David Dewhurst received the endorsement Tuesday of former Dallas mayor Tom Leppert. Leppert, who came in third in the May 29 GOP primary behind Dewhurst and Ted Cruz, did not qualify to run in this month's runoff election.

Former Texas solicitor general Ted Cruz has taken a four-point lead over Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst in the Republican Senate primary runoff race, according to a PPP poll released Thursday. PPP found that 49 percent of likely Texas GOP runoff voters support Cruz, while 44 percent support…

A new poll released by the David Dewhurst campaign shows the lieutenant governor of Texas 8 points ahead of his Senate primary opponent Ted Cruz. Fifty percent of Republican primary voters in Texas support Dewhurst, while 42 percent are for Cruz. Last week, however, the Cruz campaign released its…

Ted Cruz is leading David Dewhurst in the Republican primary runoff for U.S. Senate in Texas, according to a new internal poll released by the Cruz campaign. Forty-nine percent of respondents said they support Cruz, with 40 percent supporting Dewhurst.

Texas senator John Cornyn told Attorney General Eric Holder to resign earlier today at a hearing on Capitol Hill: 

Texas senator John Cornyn is targeting classified leaks being released by the Obama administration. "The leaks appear to have formed the basis of two New York Times reports about the White House’s role in classified national security efforts, one detailing the use of cyber warfare against Iran, and…

Terry Eastland reviews The Blood of Heroes for the Wall Street Journal:

In yesterday’s U.S. Senate Republican primary in Texas, lieutenant governor David Dewhurst won 45 percent of the vote to Ted Cruz’s 34 percent and Tom Leppert’s 13 percent. Dewhurst fell just a few points shy of the 50 percent, resulting in a runoff with Cruz. Yet Dewhurt's 11 percentage point…

Texas lieutenant governor David Dewhurst will face former state solicitor general Ted Cruz in a runoff election for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate on July 31. The Associated Press reports:

The Republican Senate primary in Texas has long been a battle between establishment favorite and lieutenant governor, David Dewhurst, and the conservative challenger, former solicitor general Ted Cruz. But Dewhurst, who has lead in the most recent polls ahead of the May 29 primary, has launched a…

With just days until the May 29 Texas Republican primary for U.S. Senate, former state solicitor general Ted Cruz is focused on one thing: denying his opponent, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, the 50 percent share of the vote needed to win the GOP nomination outright. "Politically, the only…

Ted Cruz, the Republican candidate for Senate in Texas, has a new ad out highlighting the former state solicitor general as a "fighter." The ad focuses on Cruz's Cuban immigrant family. "Tortured and imprisoned by a Cuban dictator, Ted Cruz's father fought back, escaping to America," the voiceover…

The Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Texas is now within nine points, according to a new poll. A University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll shows Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst with 40 percent, while his challenger, former state solicitor general Ted Cruz, is at 31 percent. Former Dallas mayor…

Former state solicitor general Ted Cruz is the only one of four Republican candidates for U.S. Senate in Texas to have signed the Repeal Obamacare pledge. The pledge, sponsored by Independent Women's Voice, states that the signee will vote for "all bills" that seek to repeal Obamacare.

Texas Senate candidate David Dewhurst and his allies seem to be getting worried. Dewhurst, the Texas lieutenant governor who was once ahead by 30 points, now leads his toughest challenger, former state solicitor general Ted Cruz, by closer to 10 points just two weeks away from the May 29 primary.…

Former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin has endorsed Ted Cruz in the Texas GOP Senate primary. Cruz, the former solicitor general, is facing lieutenant governor David Dewhurst in the May 29 election. From the Cruz campaign's press release:

John Wolfe Jr., Barack Obama’s Democratic challenger in the upcoming Arkansas and Texas primaries, said he is for civil unions for gay couples but refused to support gay marriage.

Richard Mourdock’s big primary victory over incumbent senator Dick Lugar in Indiana suggests that the insurgent Tea Party conservatism of 2009-2010 is alive and well in the 2012 Republican party. (On the other hand, Keith Judd’s showing against President Obama in Tuesday’s West Virginia Democratic…

Texas Senate candidate David Dewhurst has a harsh new radio ad criticizing his Republican primary opponent Ted Cruz for "helping a Chinese company get away with stealing blueprints from an American company." Listen to the ad below:

Texas governor Rick Perry has endorsed his lieutenant governor, David Dewhurst, in the latter's Republican primary for U.S. Senate. "David's been a loyal supporter of mine, and I, in turn, am a loyal supporter of him and his task to become the next United States senator," Perry said in an interview…

I don't know why GOP candidates haven't made more out of the ongoing investigation into the Fast and Furious scandal, but it looks like Ted Cruz, who's running for a Senate seat in Texas, is looking to make an issue out of it:

Republican Senate candidates in Texas, Indiana, and Connecticut are fighting back against primary opponents with new ads.

Did U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz try to "rig" the next Texas Republican primary debate? That's what opponent Craig James is claiming.

Texas Republican David Dewhurst has been the leading candidate to replace retiring senator Kay Bailey Hutchison for the last year. Dewhurst, a wealthy Houston-born businessman who served in the Air Force and CIA, has been lieutenant governor since 2003, making him second only to governor Rick Perry…

A new poll of likely voters in Texas shows that Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has "a substantial lead." Stephen Dinan reports:

The latest Republican presidential primary poll of Texas from University of Texas/Texas Tribune:

Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post reports that Rick Perry on Sunday channeled the boss and defended the four Marines:

Rick Perry is not always his best defender. For the last two weeks, Mitt Romney has hammered Perry over a Texas law the governor signed which allows children of illegal immigrants to pay in-state college tuition. At the Orlando debate, for instance, Romney said sardonically, “To go to the…

ABC News points to a new Mitt Romney ad that focuses on former Mexican president Vicente Fox's praise for Texas's policy of providing in-state tuition to the children of illegal immigrants who attend state universities and colleges.

Richmond, Virginia

David Brooks: "Obama Rejects Obamaism"

Phil Klein: "Obama reaches out to liberals with budget plan"

At last week’s Republican debate at the Reagan Library, a long-simmering Texas political feud made its grand entrance onto the national stage. Politico’s John Harris asked GOP presidential frontrunner and Texas governor Rick Perry about his former political adviser Karl Rove’s recent statement that…

If you want a glimpse of the way Rick Perry operates as an executive and a politician, consider the issue of higher education reform in Texas, which no one in Texas knew was an issue until Perry decided to make it one.

MItt Romney took a thinly veiled jab at his opponent Rick Perry at a speech at the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) annual national convention in San Antonio today. "I am a conservative businessman," Romney said. "I have spent most of my life outside of politics, dealing with real problems in the…

Whether he wins the nomination or not, Rick Perry’s August charge into the top echelon of GOP presidential hopefuls marks at least this turning point: In national Republican politics, Texas is the new California.

Andrew Ferguson inexplicably neglected, in his fascinating and entertaining piece on Rick Perry in the current issue, to raise the question that’s surely on so many readers’ minds: But is he good for the Jews?

CBS News: "Clinton: US using 'smart power' for Libya, Syria"

Byron York: "Obama: I reversed recession until 'bad luck' hit"

One surefire way to tell that Rick Perry's entry into the presidential race is having a big impact is the sheer number of hit pieces that have been written against him in a 48-hour period. (See here, here, here, here...I could go on.)

Fox News reports that Texas governor Rick Perry will announce that he's running for president on Saturday: 

Fox News drops this big revelation following the arrest of Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo, a Muslim soldier at Ft. Hood in Kileen, Texas this morning:

A reader from Argyle, Texas sends in a picture of his car, decorated with a Paul Ryan 2012 bumper sticker. 

Dems have got to get a new message: "Dems' pre-debate spin: Romney, Pawlenty would revive Bush policies"

"Oh my: Paul Ryan opens the door slightly to running for president?"

"Sarah Palin and her advisers are refusing to tell members of the media where she is going on her current bus tour - and the former Alaska governor seems to be enjoying the cat and mouse game that's resulted."

I wrote a five-part series on Texas's breathtaking economic achievements earlier this year so this didn't come as a surprise to me, but a lot of people will probably find this stunning:

In-N-Out Burger officially arrived in Texas last week, and the overwhelming response it received has drawn attention from fans everywhere. The chain, which prides itself in its fresh, never-frozen ingredients, has established a meat-distribution center in the state and is opening stores in Frisco…

All it took was 50 years and tens of thousands of dead people: "Cuba's party congress agrees to allow private property."

Apparently Obama did not appreciate the tone of this reporter from Texas, who asked Obama some pointed questions and at one point corrected him on how badly he lost the Lone Star state in 2008. Obama testily concludes "Let me finish my answers" at the end of the interview:

Ted Cruz, a conservative popular among Tea Party activists, has raised more than $1 million this year in his bid for the Republican nomination to succeed three-term Texas senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is retiring in 2012.

The Texas legislature is likely to approve a measure that would allow students with pistol permits to carry guns on college campus.  Although the proposed law would do nothing to change the requirements for getting a permit—one would still have to be over 21, have no criminal record, no record of…

Michael Williams, former Texas Railroad Commissioner, will officially announce his bid to succeed retiring Republican senator Kay Bailey Hutchison tomorrow at an event in Austin. Here's more about Williams from the Texas Tribune, who is sponsoring the event tomorrow where he's expected to make the…

Republican Texas senator Kay Bailey Hutchison announced today she isn't running for reelection in 2012. Hutchison had planned to resign from the Senate to run for governor last year, but chose to serve out her term after losing the Republican primary for governor to incumbent Rick Perry, who went…