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November 20, 2008
Aspirants to succeed Hutchison might have to wait
I write in my column this week, here, about Dallas lawyer Ken Emanuelson launching a Web site pitching Michael Williams, chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission, for the U.S. Senate.
Williams ranks, of course, among many possible successors to Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, who could resign her seat to gear up for a 2010 run for governor.
And he won’t necessarily have support from all quarters.
Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, a fellow Republican, rates Williams’ endorsement of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani for president as a weak point.
Calling Williams a “great guy and a tremendous asset to our party,” Patterson said his endorsement of Giuliani, a “pro-choice and rabidly anti-Second Amendment candidate for president, will pose a problem for him in a primary or special election. One can’t help but wonder if Michael’s endorsement was because Rudy was thought at that time to be the inevitable nominee, and being with the winner became more important than principle.”
GOP Gov. Rick Perry would likely appoint an interim senator after Hutchison’s early resignation. And it seems unlikely he’d hold a Giuliani endorsement against anyone. Perry, like Williams and State Comptroller Susan Combs, initially endorsed Giuliani for president.
Generally, speculation has centered on Hutchison resigning as soon as June. But I heard a different scenario from a Republican operative that bears chewing over.
It could be that Hutchison stirs the waters by forming an exploratory committee in December or so to look into running for governor. She then hints or says that she won’t resign until late 2009 at the earliest.
Such timing would still allow her to focus on the 2010 campaign year while also preventing any foe from both running in the special election to succeed her in the Senate and then (after a loss) turning around to run for governor in the same field she hopes to lead. Depending on the timing of her resignation, it if happens, party candidate filing deadlines would prevent someone from doubling up, so to speak.
Emanuelson, by the way, said he’s never voted for Perry. Speaking for himself and not for the effort to draft Williams as a senator, Emanuelson said he lately has misgiving about Perry’s vision of toll roads criss-crossing Texas with the state acquiring farm and ranch properties to put together each route.
Emanuelson said that if Hutchison goes for governor, “she’s probably got it. It’s really difficult to think of somebody really challenging her for it.”
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November 19, 2008
Houston mayor wants to resolve political plans soon
Houston Mayor Bill White, whose last term runs through December 2009, intends to address his post-mayoral political goals within the next few weeks, an aide said today.
“He’s going to make a decision in the near future,” said Michael Moore, White’s chief of staff. “It will be based on where he could do the most for Texas with his experience and abilities.”
I touched bases with Moore while preparing a column running in Thursday’s newspaper on jockeying among Texans who might want to succeed U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, if she resigns in advance of running for governor in 2010.
Moore said White, who wasn’t immediately available, is talking to people around Texas by telephone, sounding out his prospects. Most observers expect White to make a try for the Senate or for governor.
White’s goal is to settle his plans well before the end of this year, Moore said. “Days,” Moore said, “not weeks.”
White, a Democrat, will be taking a calculated risk if he airs his plans before the new year.
An outright declaration for governor, say, would put GOP Gov. Rick Perry and Hutchison on early notice of his seriousness—likewise giving White ample time to plan his run. But he’d also be putting anything he does as mayor in his last year in office in an especially political light, including anything the city seeks from the 2009 Legislature.
Then again, White’s pending decision could be less dramatic.
He might simply say he’s ruling out a position in President Obama’s cabinet and/or a bid for the Senate. Such a move would leave him plenty of time to mull a 2010 run for governor without jeopardizing his actions as mayor through 2009.
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November 14, 2008
Perry out as chairman of Republican governors group
I may be wrong, but I distinctly remember Gov. Rick Perry assuming the chairmanship of the Republican Governors Association last year with the expectation he would serve two years in that role.
I know it’s absolutely true the association changed its rules in early 2007 to allow chairs to serve up to two years.
Dave Carney, Perry’s outside political consultant, advises that Perry has planned to yield the chairmanship for at least six weeks—even putting together the slate of officers chosen this morning.
“We have a ton of governors who want to serve,” Carney said. “With the (Texas legislative) session in ‘09, he never intended to serve two years as chair.”
Turns out too that The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder had Perry bowing out in an October post.
In a press release issued earlier today, the association said South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford was elected by GOP governors as the new chairman with Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour becoming vice chairman.
Perry is dubbed the finance chairman with other governors filling other roles.
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November 11, 2008
Perry holding Thursday presser with Palin
The word is out that Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is chairing the annual meeting of the Republican Governors Association in Miami, will hold a press conference Thursday morning with other governors including Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the former GOP vice presidential nominee.
Count on them to tell observers that Washington is different from state capitals. Spending is out of control. Republican leaders have lost touch with basic conservative principles. And the future of the party lies with state leaders such as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.
Not expected: Particularly new policy ideas, though one never knows what leaders say at press conferences.
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November 7, 2008
Perry not listed among GOP governors to watch
The Washington Post’s busiest political blogger did not list Texas Gov. Rick Perry among the nation’s top Republican governors to watch. Chris Cillizza’s list is topped instead by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, followed by Govs. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, Sarah Palin of Alaska, Mark Sanford of South Carolina and Haley Barbour of Mississippi.
Cillizza notes, though, that the Republican Governors Association meets next week in Miami. Perry chairs that group.
Peek—and agree or disagree—here.
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November 6, 2008
Hutchison: McCain loss forecast in "donut" vote
She was kidding, of course. Had to be.
But U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, told a luncheon crowd at the University of Texas post-election conference on politics that she knew Sen. John McCain was in trouble when Sen. Barack Obama won the “Krispy Kreme” donut vote.
Her words: “I knew that it was going to be a bad night when the results of the Krispy Kreme election were announced and Obama had won. If John McCain couldn’t take the donut-eaters conference, I knew that we were lost.”
I couldn’t find an online description of a Krispy Kreme vote, though this site suggests giveaways of donuts and Starbucks’ coffee fueled Obama’s big day.
As I type, Hutchison is a few minutes into her remarks and hasn’t re-hinted at her desire to run for governor in 2010.
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November 3, 2008
Imagine it's Thursday and the election is over ...
Will you have your fill of politics once Tuesday’s election is over?
For everyone needing more to chew on, the University of Texas has pulled together a day-long gathering Thursday featuring at least two possible candidates for governor in 2010: U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Houston Mayor Bill White, a Democrat. State Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, also is expected as part of a panel.
The event at the AT&T Conference Center, titled “Who’s Right? Who’s Left? What’s Next? Texas Politics and Policy Beyond 2008,”, the conference hosted by the LBJ School’s Center for Politics and Governance starts with a 10 a.m. coffee with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Hutchison penciled in to speak at lunch.
Later in the day, closing remarks are expected from White.
To RSVP, and to line up the free lunch, go here.
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October 16, 2008
Perry names new chief of staff
In a surprise shakeup, former state homeland security chief and gubernatorial confidant Jay Kimbrough will take over Monday as chief of staff for Gov. Rick Perry, officials said.
Brian Newby, who had been Perry’s chief of staff, was named Wednesday by Perry to co-lead the Hurricane Ike Recovery and Coordination Effort. Newby was named chief of staff in July 2007, replacing longtime political adviser and confidante Deirdre Delisi, who Perry has since appointed to the Texas Transportation Commission.
Kimbrough, deputy chancellor and general counsel of Texas A&M University System, had served twice in recent years as Perry’s deputy chief of staff. In 2007, he made headlines as the hard-charging first conservator of the troubled Texas Youth Commission —a post to which Perry appointed him to begin cleaning up a sex-abuse and official cover-up scandal.
“I am excited that Jay is returning to my staff,” Perry said in a statement. “He is a man of integrity with a proven track record and my complete trust. Jay is a decorated combat veteran, a man of action and sound judgment, and will help lead us through the upcoming session.”
In December 2002, after serving as Texas’ first homeland security director, Kimbrough was named deputy attorney general for criminal justice by Attorney General Greg Abbott. In that post, Kimbrough continued to coordinate homeland security efforts for the state, working directly with the governor.
In the 1990s, Kimborough served then-Gov. George Bush during the conservatorship of the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (TCADA). That agency was placed in conservatorship amid financial irregularities.
Kimbrough previously served as director of the Governor’s Criminal Justice Division and since 1966 has held a variety of posts in federal, state and local government.
A decorated Vietnam veteran, Kimbrough was awarded the Purple Heart for his service in the Marine Corps and served as a prosecutor in the U.S. Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He also is a former county judge and county attorney in Bee County. He also has served as the executive director of the Texas Commission on Private Security and TCADA.
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October 1, 2008
Perry plays both sides on rescue plan
Gov. Rick Perry is sending mixed signals on how he thinks Congress should act on the financial rescue plan that the Senate is considering tonight.
Earlier today, he put out this statement:
“In a free market economy, government should not be in the business of using taxpayer dollars to bail out corporate America. Congress needs to take off its partisan gloves and work together to bring both short and long term stability to the credit markets. They need to stop blaming each other and start thinking about solutions that put the taxpayers of this country first.”
One could reasonably conclude, by virtue of the fact that he said government should not use taxpayer dollars to bail out corporate America, that Perry was therefore against the rescue plan.
But earlier in the day, Perry, the head of the Republican Governors Association, and West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, head of the Democratic Governors Association, sent out a joint letter to Congress urging them to “leave partisanship at the door and pass an economic recovery package.”
The letter does not explicitly state that Congress should pass the bill before the Senate tonight, but it uses very similar language as those who have been urging passage of the so-called bailout plan this week.
Here’s a key part of their short letter: “It is time for Washington, D.C. to step up, be responsible and do what’s in the best interest of American taxpayers and our economy.”
They also said, “Americans across the country and in every demographic are feeling the pinch. If Congress does not act soon, the situation will grow appreciably worse. It’s time for leadership. Congress needs to act now.”
We sought clarification from Perry spokeswoman Allison Castle about whether Perry supports or opposes the Senate plan. She didn’t offer much.
“As the governor’s statement said, they need to take off the partisan gloves and work together to bring both short-term and long-term solutions to the credit markets and protect taxpayers,” Castle said. “The senators have to make their own decisions.”
Well, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison made the decision to respond to Perry’s solo statement.
Said Hutchison spokesman Matt Mackowiak, “Texans can only conclude that Governor Perry opposes the sales tax deduction, protecting them from the Alternative Minimum Tax, extending tax credits for refinery expansion and providing over $600 million in tax credits to help rebuild Texas communities damaged by Hurricane Ike, all of which are contained in this bill.”
Hutchison is voting for the rescue plan. She’s also likely to run for governor in 2010, an office that Perry may run for again himself.
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September 11, 2008
Mansion to get temporary roof by Friday
With Hurricane Ike bearing down on Texas, and heavy rain forecast for Austin this weekend, the arson-gutted Governor’s Mansion should have a temporary roof in place by Friday, officials confirmed this afternoon.
Months of delays in installing a temporary roof on the historic structure — the oldest continuously occupied executive mansion west of the Mississippi — had been the focus of increasing criticism in recent weeks after rains in early August soaked some interior portions. Historic preservation groups had decried the lack of fast action to install a temporary roof.
John Sneed, the new interim director of the State Preservation Board, the agency that is overseeing the project, said today that construction started Tuesday on a large wood-frame roof structure that will be covered with plywood, then tar paper and then a waterproof tarp.
The temporary roof structure will be supported by temporary shoring installed inside the 152-year-old building, and not on the mansion’s brick walls that engineers earlier feared could have been weakened in the June 8 fire.
“It means … we will offer substantial protection from water infiltration,” Sneed said. “Things will be protected.”
The temporary roof will cover the top of the two-story building’s original 1852 section, Sneed said, and a waterproof tarp will protect the 1914 addition until a temporary roof can be completed over it, as well.
As an added protection, he said a special guttering system is being installed “so if water does get in, it will not harm anything.” Windows are also being sealed to ensure no water comes in there.
“We are very pleased with the progress made on this roof” in such a short time, Sneed said, crediting the expedited installation to the newly hired restoration project manager, Dealey Herndon, whose hiring was announced Monday.
With 35 years’ experience in historic preservation and 15 years’ experience in construction and restoration project management, Herndon is no stranger to high-profile restoration jobs.
From 1991 to 1995, she served as executive director of the Preservation Board during the $183 million restoration and expansion of the Texas Capitol. After that, she was a principal in an Austin-based consulting and construction management firm that handled several large restoration projects.
Cost of the temporary roof was not immediately available. Officials earlier said the costs of the fire cleanup and safeguarding the mansion until its restoration can begin. The mansion was undergoing a $10 million renovation project at the time it was torched June 8 by an arsonist who remains at large.
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August 29, 2008
With Gustav churning, Perry suspends GOP trip
With Texas in the cross hairs of Hurricane Gustav, Gov. Rick Perry has suspended plans to attend next week’s Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.
Perry’s press secretary Allison Castle said this morning the governor was to host the Texas delegation’s Monday prayer breakfast, and was to address the convention.
“At this point, he’s not going,” Castle said. But if Gustav changes its path or the storm diminishes, she said, Perry could resume his earlier plans.
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August 21, 2008
Miner new Perry communications chief
Mark Miner, former communications director to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, today got a promotion: the same job with Gov. Rick Perry.
Allison Castle was elevated from Perry’s deputy press secretary to press secretary.
She replaces Robert Black, who is leaving at the end of the month to start a public affairs consulting business. As press secretary, Black had also served as Perry’s communications director.
Miner served as Dewhurst’s director of communications during the 2005 and 2007 legislative sessions. After leaving Dewhurst’s employ, he worked in the private public relations field.
Miner previously worked as communications director for Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore. Before that, he served as director of communications for the Republican National Committee and worked in several campaigns in Virginia and California.
He is a 1987 communications graduate of Michigan State University.
Castle has served as a deputy press secretary for Perry since August 2007. She is a biology graduate of the University of Texas at Austin.
In announcing Miner and Castle, Perry also said that Katherine Cesinger will return to his press office as deputy press secretary to replace Castle. Cesinger has been serving as communications director for the Governor’s Competitiveness Council.
Cesinger will replace Krista Piferrer, who is leaving to become communications director for Baptist Child and Family Services in San Antonio.
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August 13, 2008
Perry adviser says Hutchison won't run for guv
U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is wrapping up a press tour of Southeast Texas, her spokesman said by e-mail this afternoon. And no one in her realm will comment on a remark by an adviser to Gov. Rick Perry that she won’t challenge Perry for governor in 2010, Hutchison’s Matt Mackowiak said.
Dave Carney, Perry’s longtime political consultant, told me the other day that Perry, who has said he’ll seek a third full term in two years, is focused on raising millions of dollars and crafting a strong plan for a general-election showdown against a Democrat.
“Fundraising is the least of our problems,” Carney said. “I’m anticipating an aggressive general election. I’m not anticipating a problem in the primary.”
Carney said that until Hutchison does something beyond privately telling activists she’s inclined to run for governor, skepticism should reign.
“Until she actually does something real — resigns or runs — people will always be skeptical because we’ve been down this road,” Carney said, a reference to Hutchison’s looks at running for guv in 2002 and 2006.
When I reminded Carney that at least a few Capitol observers doubt Perry will follow through with his declared plans to run again, he replied: “The political chattering class has this inability to believe anybody would say what they believe or what they plan. He absolutely is going to run.”
Hutchison, meanwhile, stopped by a replica of the Governor’s Mansion in Liberty this afternoon.
Maybe she pointed out it’s in better shape than the Austin one, which was attacked by an arsonist in June. (Peek at the replica here.)
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July 23, 2008
UPDATED: Perry names Andrade as secretary of state
As expected around the Capitol, Gov. Rick Perry named Hope Andrade today to succeed Phil Wilson as the Texas secretary of state.
Perry’s office said the new secretary, whose full name is Esperanza “Hope” Andrade of San Antonio, started immediately. As secretary, she’ll serve as the state’s chief elections officer, the governor’s liaison on border and Mexican affairs, and Texas’ chief protocol officer for both state and international matters. The office also serves as the formal repository for official and business records, publishes government rules and regulations, keeps the state seal and attests to the governor’s signature on official documents.
Perry loosed the announcement this afternoon with Hurricane Dolly coming ashore.
UPDATE: His spokeswoman, Allison Castle, said the announcement had been set for more than a week. It followed Andrade’s private swearing-in by Perry this afternoon.
“The bottom line is the wheels of state government don’t stop turning,” Castle said.
She said Perry intends to visit the Rio Grande Valley in the wake of the hurricane Thursday. He is scheduled to start a family vacation next week.
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July 22, 2008
Hope Andrade could be Perry's secretary of state
I hear that Hope Andrade, a former member of the Texas Transportation Commission, is in Gov. Rick Perry’s sights as his choice to succeed the departed Phil Wilson as Texas secretary of state.
“It’s the worst-kept secret in town,” a Republican in the know said today.
That said, I couldn’t confirm the development this morning.
Andrade didn’t immediately return a call for comment. Perry’s office had no comment.
The state senator who would be consulted by Perry if Andrade is his pick insists he doesn’t know where she lives.
Boerne, near San Antonio, a Web search indicates.
Maybe state Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, was joshing with me.
Andrade, an entrepreneur appointed to the commission by Perry in 2003, served as the in-the-crosshair’d panel’s chair from January until her departure April 30. Her position on the five-member body was filled by Deirdre Delisi, Perry’s former chief of staff.
State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, said she’d welcome Andrade if she proves Perry’s choice. “I was hoping that he would tap her for something; she just has so much credibility,” Van de Putte said, adding that Andrade is “savvy about the border,” a factor that could help in the international relations that go into the job.
Andrade could be the second woman and second Hispanic chosen by Perry as secretary of state. The previous Latino was Henry Cuellar, a Democrat who went on to win a U.S. House seat. The previous woman was former state Rep. Gwyn Shea.
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July 17, 2008
Former first families join Mansion push
Two former governors and members of five former First Families are joining First Lady Anita Perry’s private fund-raising push to restore the arson-gutted Texas Governor’s Mansion.
At a Capitol press conference late this morning, former Gov. Dolph Briscoe presented Perry with a $100,000 check for the fund, which was launched on Tuesday. He joked that the amount was just a pittance of former Gov. Bill Clements, a retired billionaire Dallas oilman who succeeded him in office, will probably contribute.
“I wanted to get in early,” he said. “I was hoping Bill Clements would be here, my very, very good friend, because I know he’s going to put in many times what I did.”
Clements was not present.
Clements, a Republican who replaced Democrat Briscoe in 1979, was instrumental in restoring the Mansion during his first term. He served a second term, after Mark White, from 1987-91.
Other governors and first families in attendance said they plan to contribute, as well.
“(Did) you bring the checkbook?” White joked as his wife, former First Lady Linda Gale White, was introduced, after Briscoe made his surprise presentation.
During the brief ceremony, Perry read a letter from First Lady Laura Bush supporting the restoration project.
Perry said all contributions to the special fund — corporate and private — will be disclosed publicly. The fund-raising goal has not been set, pending the completion of a restoration plan by preservation architects and a decision by lawmakers on how much they want to appropriate.
Asked whether the Mansion, once restored, would become a museum with the governor relocated elsewhere, Perry said her feeling is that it should remain the official residence of Texas’ chief executive. It is the oldest executive mansion west of the Mississippi in continuous use “and I think … it should stay that way,” she said.
The 11 a.m. press conference in the ornate Governor’s Reception Room was decorated with a backdrop of large photos of former governors and their families at the Mansion, from that of Gov. Price Daniel in the early 1950s to George W. Bush in the 1990s.
Contributions are being solicited on the Web at www.texasonline.com and by mail at Texas Governor’s Mansion Restoration Fund, PO Box 12878, Austin TX 78711-2978. Those with questions can call a toll-free telephone number: 1-866-751-5829.
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July 16, 2008
Who insured the Governor's Mansion?
Several readers reacted to today’s story on Anita Perry launching a private fund to contribute toward restoring the burned Governor’s Mansion by wondering whether a private insurer also was ponying up.
The understandable assumption: A private company held an insurance policy on the mansion much like firms insure private homes everywhere.
Wrong.
As reported by Statesman staff writer Mike Ward in early June, the mansion was self-insured by the state, basically meaning that if it fell prey to damage, the state would pick up the costs of restoration — no private insurer involved.
Ward wrote: “…because the state is self-insured, the restoration would be paid for by taxpayers and private donors - as have several mansion restoration projects in the past.”
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July 15, 2008
Anita Perry launches private fund-raising for mansion
In the shade of an oak tree hanging over the iron fence bounding the Governor’s Mansion, Anita Perry accepted a $10,000 donation this morning toward a newly created private fund devoted to restoration of the burnt landmark.
“We hope that all Texans will join us,” Perry said, saying too that there’ll be an effort to involve schoolchildren.
Perry introduced Pamela Willeford, former ambassador to Lichtenstein and Switzerland, as a key adviser to the fund-raising effort. Willeford has been a player in previous restorations of the Capitol and mansion.
Perry fielded the check from Julian Read, the Austin public-relations executive and former longtime aide to the late Gov. John Connally. Read is the president-elect of the Heritage Society of Austin, which made out the check.
Perry conceded she otherwise had little information—and Perry and other officials did not speak to any aspect of the search for arsonists believed to have caused the June 8 fire.
Perry said former governors’ families would be enlisted and that Laura Bush has expressed interest.
She said she didn’t know if she and Gov. Rick Perry will make a personal donation, that no one knows the ultimate cost of restoring the mansion, that she doesn’t know if there’ll be a target portion of the restoration to be covered by private dollars, and that she doesn’t know if expenditures from donations will be limited to paying for certain aspects of the restoration or not.
Workers have finished cleaning and shoring up the mansion’s first floor and are focused now on doing the same on the second floor. By the end of August, the building should be readied for removal of its damaged roof to be followed by the construction of a temporary roof that effectively seals the mansion up, enabling the state to maintain the interior humidity and temperature with temporary air conditioning and heating units.
About the same time, look for the State Preservation Board to settle how it wants to proceed with the restoration—including decisions related to how much state revenue to seek from the 2009 Legislature toward the project.
Read, whose daughters include Ellen Read, caretaker of the mansion, showed reporters a handwritten letter from a Georgetown veteran accompanied by $30 cash. Dan Graham wrote that he was “proud of my state and proud of my Governor’s Mansion.” He referred to his contribution as a “small, but from the heart, restoration contribution.” His money, along with $10 sent by another mansion fan, was rolled into the $10,000 check, Read said.
Donations can be made online here.
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July 14, 2008
Black leaving as Perry press aide
Robert Black, Gov. Rick Perry’s press secretary, announced this afternoon he’s departing to form his own consulting firm starting in September.
In a statement, Black said the new firm will specialize in public affairs, political and strategic communications.
“In a profession where decision making is too often determined by the fickle winds of popular opinion or the latest poll, it has been a privilege to work for Gov. Perry, who is willing to make the hard call and believes that leadership is not a popularity contest, but a moral responsibility,” Black said in the statement issued through Perry’s office.
From Perry: “Robert has been an indispensable clear voice and trusted adviser in my administration, and has demonstrated a real talent for effectively communicating my long-term vision for Texas, crafting messages in the daily battle of a campaign and guiding media strategy.”
No replacement was announced.
In addition to serving in Perry’s press office since 2003 — as deputy press secretary, press secretary and communications director — Black directed the governor’s communications efforts during his successful 2006 reelection bid.
He previously served as communications director for Attorney General Greg Abbott’s 2002 campaign, director of public information at the Texas Department of Insurance and communications director for the Republican Party of Texas for more than three years.
He previously worked in Washington for then-Majority Leader Dick Armey, as a press aide to Ari Fleischer at the Committee on Ways and Means, as an aide to two state senators and, in 1990, as a legislative assistant to now-Speaker Tom Craddick.
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July 11, 2008
Fero: Tony Sanchez intended negative '02 run at Perry
Democratic consultant Kelly Fero of Austin walks back through the 2002 Texas elections—including Laredo businessman Tony Sanchez’s sudden rise and big fall—in an interview with Nate Wilcox. Though the interview took place in 2007, it’s just posted online because it plays into a book, “Netroots Rising”.
An excerpt:
…when I was first talking to Tony, very early, still in 2000. Sanchez and I were at the Four Seasons and he told me he wanted to run the most negative campaign ever. It registered with me later, after he ran one of the most negative campaigns in history.
Peek at the interview transcript here.
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Bumpersticker seems to target Perry's re-election
A lobbyist just back from out of town came across a white envelope in his mail with 25 bumperstickers tucked inside—just like the one pictured below. The guess here is that this sticker is directed at GOP Gov. Rick Perry, whose declared intention to run for a third full term in 2010 has previously been encouraged by a bumpersticker that says “Again in ‘10” with Perry’s campaign brand upon it.
I don’t have ordering information. And the lobbyist declined to be identified.
Perry spokesman Robert Black laughed at the sticker, saying: “That’s liberals’ wishful thinking.”
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July 10, 2008
Perry celebrates Texas economy
Gov. Rick Perry flew to Washington on Wednesday to welcome a cable network’s designation of the Texas economy as No. 1 in the nation; the state was No. 2 to Virginia last year.
CNBC said Texas has the best transportation system in the world, though its correspondent said the education system ranks 30th among the states. The network noted the state’s relatively low unemployment rate, its lack of a state personal or corporate income tax and that 58 Fortune 500 companies are based in Texas.
“Quite an honor,” Perry said in his interview segment from a Washington studio.
Asked to illuminate the education system’s ranking, Perry didn’t speak directly to the question. He said things are getting better. He also noted that a “substantial number” of students have parents whose first language isn’t English. Smiling, he said: “We’re seeing it headed in the right direction.”
Perry welcomed the distinction a day before Toyota announced it would temporarily suspend production of its Tundra pickup at a San Antonio plant.
That cloudy development could have a silver lining, though.
As reported by the Associated Press: “Toyota will suspend production of the Tundra pickup at its San Antonio truck plant and the Sequoia sport utility vehicle at its Princeton, Ind., plant for three months starting Aug. 8 because of declining demand. Next spring, it will stop producing Tundras in Princeton and will consolidate all truck production in San Antonio.”
See Perry’s visit with CNBC about the Texas economy here.
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July 2, 2008
Perry taps health expert to lead budget & policy division
Gov. Rick Perry today named Mary Katherine Stout director of his budget, planning and policy division.
Stout will join the governor’s office later this month from the Texas Public Policy Foundation, where she is vice president of policy. She directs the Center for Health Care Policy at the foundation, a think tank that advocates for limited government.
“Mary Katherine Stout brings legislative and policy expertise rooted in sound fiscal conservative principles,” Perry said in a statement. “Her work on a broad spectrum of policy issues at one of the leading conservative think tanks in the country provides her with a depth of knowledge that will be invaluable.”
Stout replaces Mike Morrisey, who was promoted in April to senior adviser, said Allison Castle, a spokeswoman for the governor.
“Texas continues to prove that lower taxes and a competitive economy make our state a great place to live and work,” Stout said in a statement. “Gov. Perry’s commitment to Texans’ freedom and prosperity has made us a leader among the states and I am proud to be a part of his administration.”
Stout came to the foundation in 2005 and before that was a policy analyst at the Texas Workforce Commission.
At the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Kalese Hammonds will be the foundation’s sole health care analyst when Stout leaves, spokesman David Guenthner said; Justin Keener will be the new vice president for policy and communications.
Keener has worked as a public affairs consultant and as an aide to House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, and state Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano. He starts at the foundation Aug. 1.
“I am excited to work with (the foundation’s) policy experts to educate Texans and their elected officials on how free markets and limited government provide the best solutions to our state’s challenges,” Keener said in a statement from the foundation.
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June 23, 2008
CNN asks viewers to question Gov. Perry
Gov. Rick Perry will be on CNN’s “The Situation Room” on Tuesday—and the cable network asks viewers to submit video questions on energy policy.
Want in? Click here.
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Perry: Ask DPS why not more troopers at mansion
Gov. Rick Perry on Monday offered his first public comments since the Texas Public Safety Commission on Thursday confirmed shortcomings in security at the Governor’s Mansion on the Sunday morning it caught fire.
Perry said he doesn’t know if technology missing in action at the time the mansion caught fire has been repaired or turned back on, but his instinct is that the Department of Public Safety has made needed staffing changes ensuring the burnt building’s security.
Referring to Thursday’s revelations by the commission that oversees the DPS—see the Statesman account here—Perry said: “We fairly well knew what the report was going to say from bits and pieces that we had picked up. Obviously we’re disappointed that there was not the response from some of those who realized that there were some lapses there and that the leadership had not accepted those.” It appears Perry was referring to reports of broken cameras and an absence of trooper training on how to turn on an infrared detector when the fire broke out June 8.
“That was my concern, is that there was a good report… of here’s what you need to do, you don’t have enough people there, and that those were disregarded. As the chairman (of the commission, Allan Polunsky) said, it was not the DPS’s finest day,” Perry said.
Elise Hu of Austin’s KVUE TV asked Perry if he’d like the DPS to see more funding so it doesn’t have staffing problems. Perry replied: “I don’t think funding had a thing to do with whether or not they had enough staffing at the Governor’s Mansion.”
What did? Perry said: “I don’t know. You need to ask the leadership over at DPS.”
Perry doesn’t appoint the law officer who runs the DPS. He does appoint the commissioners that oversee the agency — and who choose the day-to-day chief.
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June 19, 2008
Questions left unanswered
Reporters at the governor’s press conference this morning on “Texas Hold ‘Em” — an initiative to impose harsher penalties on truckers who “knowingly smuggle illegal weapons, drugs or humans” across the border — were itching to get to the big question: would Perry push DPS to release information on security lapses at the mansion?
Spokeswoman Krista Piferrer asked reporters to keep their questions related to the border initiative until the go-ahead for other questions came. It never came: Perry walked offstage without taking “off-topic questions” about 20 minutes into the press conference, followed by a mini-platoon of border patrol officers.
Spokeswoman Allison Castle said the governor’s office wasn’t trying to pull a fast one on reporters — the press conference had run longer than expected and Perry needed to rush off to a 11:35 meeting.
What was it?
A meeting with Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones, Castle said.
And what would the governor have hypothetically said about whether DPS should release information on security lapses at the mansion?
“We need to recognize that this is an investigation,” Piferrer later said over the phone. “We don’t want to do anything to compromise that.”
Perry may have also been in a hurry to get to a fundraiser scheduled for high noon that he was headlining for Tim Kleinschmidt, Republican candidate for the Texas House of Representatives.
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June 18, 2008
Fire could help Governor's mansion go green
The Texas Governor’s Mansion may be 152 years old, but its restoration in the aftermath of an arson-set fire nearly two weeks ago will have a 21st Century signature, officials said this afternoon.
Initial plans: To go “green.”
At a press conference at the State Capitol, Tere O’Connell, a preservation architect on the project, said upgrades to the building are under active consideration that would make the Greek Revival icon more energy efficient — much more so than was planned in a $10 million renovation underway when the fire occurred.
“We will be able to do even more of that work now,” she said.
Included will be replacement of the Mansion’s air conditioning and mechanical systems that were destroyed when the basement flooded during firefighting operations, additional insulation in the attic and crawl spaces and other “green” measures now in vogue in the building industry.
None of those changes, O’Connell and others said, will change the outward, historic appearance of the Mansion.
Not on the list of considered “green” changes are double-pane windows, which they said don’t add much to energy efficiency of old buildings like the Mansion.
At a Monday event in Austin, Gov. Rick Perry had remarked that the restoration would include “green” measures, but provided no other information. Today’s remarks provided the first detail.
In addition to the green building possibilities, project officials provided details this afternoon on the cleanup after the fire. They said efforts to shore up the first floor are still underway. After that, workers will move to the more heavily damaged second floor. Contractor John Braun said there is no timetable for removal of the Mansion’s collapsed roof and installation of a temporary roof.
A mold remediation expert has been brought in to begin drying out the water-soaked building and “get ahead of the mold growth now occurring,” according to O’Connell, who reported that the huge, historic mirrors over fireplace mantels on the first floor “are intact, undamaged.”
Despite heavy damage to the front porch, where the fire was started, the six trademark wooden columns can be saved, officials said. O’Connell said they have been carefully strapped to prevent further damage or deterioration as the clean-up continues.
Still no cost estimate or timetable for the restoration, officials said.
mward@statesman.com; 445-1712
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June 12, 2008
Mansion stable, restoration begins
The fire-charred Texas Governor’s Mansion is structurally stable and the first steps toward eventual restoration of the 152-year-old historic icon began late this morning, within minutes after arson investigators lifted their tight cordon on the crime scene.
First priorities: Shore up the thick masonry-and-brick walls, install a temporary roof and begin drying out the water-soaked interior.
Biggest surprise: Many historical details of the first floor are relatively undamaged, from the spiral stairway to parlor doors to original fireplace mantels, officials said an initial inspection showed. That’s because they had all been covered and protected as part of a $10 million restoration project that had been underway when an arsonist set the front porch ablaze early Sunday.
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June 11, 2008
Gov. Perry's remarks on Mansion fire
Text of Gov. Rick Perry’s Remarks Fire at the Governor’s Mansion Austin June 11, 2008
(NOTE: Gov. Perry frequently deviates from prepared text.)
Good morning. I have seen many things in my time as governor, but few sights have left a deeper impression on me than the charred remains of this genuine Texas treasure standing behind me. As I consider what was done to this once-majestic home, my heart aches beyond words.
As a Texan, I am angry that a part of my state’s heritage has been attacked. As a governor, I am saddened that a place that my family has called home has been so badly damaged.
I cannot begin to understand what would motivate someone to do this, but I do know that they will be caught, and they will be prosecuted for what they have done.
This beautiful structure has stood for more than 150 years as a symbol of our state’s commitment to representative government. A home where great Texans like Sam Houston, Lawrence Sullivan Ross, and Bill Clements once lived.
And as the current governor of this great state, I am committed to making sure that this tragedy will be but a small mark on the timeline of our state’s remarkable history. We will restore. We will renew. And we will rebuild this magnificent structure so that future generations may gaze upon its beauty and appreciate its history.
Texans have always rallied to a challenge. Be it a hurricane like Katrina and Rita or a space shuttle falling from the sky, Texas does not shrink from a tragedy. And we will meet this challenge as well.
For more than 150 years, this mansion has been a symbol of power and prestige for the greatest state in the union, and it will be again.
For more than 150 years, this has been a home where children have slid down the banister, chased their pets, and grown to adulthood. A place where families have celebrated holidays and welcomed friends…and it will be again.
For more than 150 years, this building has been the one constant as 40 different governors have passed through its doors, and it will be again.
For more than 150 years, the Texas Governors Mansion has been the home of good people, with grand ideas for a great state, and it will be again.
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May 27, 2008
Perry heading to Mexico to huddle with Calderon
Texas Gov. Rick Perry plans to travel to Mexico on Wednesday, where he’ll join governors from border states in Mexico and the United States for meetings — including a sit-down with Mexico’s president, Felipe Calderon.
The Border Governors Conference, which includes four states in the United States and six on the Mexican side of the border, plan to gather in Mexico City for meetings with Calderon and various Mexican federal secretaries on Thursday, preceded by a dinner Wednesday night.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said the meeting is a follow-up to a February binational meeting in Washington of most of the governors with members of President Bush’s cabinet.
Perry’s office confirmed that he will join the discussions.
McLear said: “The priorities for the governors on both sides of the border are similar” such as infrastructure enabling legal crossings and stopping the illegal movement of drugs and people. Such joint meetings amount to a “big show of force,” McLear said. He predicted that concrete requests would be made of the federal government in Mexico.
Schwarzenegger’s May newsletter announced his plans to visit with Calderon, adding: “Mexico is California’s number one trade partner and the two leaders will focus on strengthening this relationship - as well as protecting the environment and improving cross-border security.”
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May 25, 2008
Perry with a fourth grader, Dewhurst in France...
My story in Sunday’s newspaper, in our Insight section, draws from hundreds of pages of schedules kept by the state’s seven top elected officials (counting House Speaker Tom Craddick among them).
A surprise to me was Gov. Rick Perry granting an interview to Cole Blue, a fourth-grader from McComb, Mississippi. Blue’s parents drove him the more than eight hours from their home to the Capitol in Austin for the big sit-down. They thought an aide shot a video; when I asked Perry’s office for a copy, a spokeswoman said it had been erased. Still photos are viewable online here.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst’s office redacted the names of about 70 individuals who he visited in the year’s first quarter, though Dewhurst later named many in an interview.
Dewhurst further volunteered that he’d gone to France for about a week to try to negotiate with the French government on expanding a museum devoted to Utah Beach to better display the role Allied air, army and naval power played on D-Day in World War II. Dewhurst said he learned more about his late father’s role as a pilot in the invasion last year.
Dewhurst said he was promised an answer on his expansion pitch by D-Day, June 6.
“The Legislature gets blamed for sometimes moving slowly,” Dewhurst said. “After spending a week trying to negotiate with the equivalent of an American governor and a United States senator in France, I now believe that the Texas Legislature moves with lightning speed.”
Remember his words when the 2009 session drags—if it ever does, of course.
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May 22, 2008
Clip and save: Texas law on appointing a senator
As mentioned here, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas could touch off a special election to fill her seat if she resigns early. There’s been talk that she might step down to run for governor, though there’s no legal requirement that she quit the post to run.
The relevant section of the Texas Election Code on what would trigger a special election is downright confusing.
Here it is: “If a vacancy occurs during an odd-numbered year or after the 62nd day before general primary election day in an even-numbered year, the remainder of the unexpired term shall be filled by a special election.”
Translation: If Hutchison resigns this year or in 2009, her resignation will trigger a special election involving candidates who wish to serve out her term, which runs through 2012. (The “62nd day” part of the legal verbiage above points to a date that won’t exist in 2010—unless lawmakers shift the state’s primary date to later than the first Tuesday in March.)
A separate chunk of law holds that the governor shall appoint an interim senator if Congress is in session while there’s a Senate vacancy or if Congress is expected to be in session during a vacancy.
So it could be that GOP Gov. Rick Perry, who has said he’s running again in 2010, will be appointing an interim senator who, most likely, would then also be a special-election candidate to serve out Hutchison’s term.
A twist: I didn’t find anything in state law precluding Perry from setting the special-election date on the same day as the general election day of the year in question. If Perry did edge that way, his appointed interim senator would enjoy (or suffer through) a longer pre-election stint as an incumbent.
Feel free to whip out your Web scissors to clip and save.
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How Gov. Perry blurted his plans to run in 2010
Gov. Rick Perry, who succeeded George W. Bush as governor in late 2000, has long left open the possibility he’d seek a third full term in 2010. That prospect, part of my column in Thursday’s newspaper, is vital to a governor staying relevant.
But he went further all of a hurry in April after a curious political reporter snagged him outside an event in Grapevine near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
According to observers, this is how Perry’s I’m-running moment happened:
Perry and five other Republican governors held a press conference at their gathering (an energy summit) pulled together by the Republican Governors Association, which Perry chairs.
After the press conference, Perry stepped away to field direct questions from local TV reporters. And it was after that that Gromer Jeffers Jr., the local political scribe for The Dallas Morning News, approached.
Jeffers asked Perry if he thought Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, would win another two-year round in the role next year. Perry said yup.
Jeffers, emboldened by Perry leaping to his Craddick query, then asked Perry about the possibility of a 2010 governor’s race featuring three Republicans—U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Perry.
Perry gave a stern look before saying he didn’t know about the other two, but he’s in.
Perry’s press secretary, Robert Black, soon guided Perry behind closed doors, but not without a parting shot. “Damn you, Gromer Jeffers,” Black said.
Black insisted later that he issued the oath with a smile on his face “because I knew my phone was going to go ape.”
He was right about that.
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May 12, 2008
Perry heading to California to help San Diego GOP
Gov. Rick Perry, who made a splash with a let-conservatives-be-conservatives speech to California Republicans in September, is returning to the Golden State on Tuesday to raise money for the San Diego Republican Party, his office announced Monday.
His stop at a noon fundraiser is to be followed by a roundtable discussion featuring a candidate for the California Assembly, Nathan Fletcher. Fletcher may be best known in Texas circles as the husband of Mindy Tucker, former press aide in George W. Bush’s campaign office.
His California swing is set to end with an evening speech at the 2008 San Diego GOP Lincoln / Reagan Day Dinner.
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April 30, 2008
Dolph Briscoe stopping in Austin tonight
Former Texas Gov. Dolph Briscoe is expected in Austin on Wednesday evening for an invitation-only event—with a few invitations still available. Anyone interested should call the Center for American History at the University of Texas at 512-495-4369 or send an e-mail to rsvp.cah@austin.utexas.edu .
Briscoe, who turned 85 a week ago, plans to sign copies of his memoir, “My Life in Texas Ranching and Politics,” in the Connally Ballroom of UT’s Etter-Harbin Alumni Center, 2110 San Jacinto St.
Briscoe was governor from 1973 through 1979—and might have served longer but for losing the 1978 Democratic primary to then-Attorney General John Hill. Hill lost that fall to Bill Clements, the Dallas oilman who became the first Republican governor of Texas since Reconstruction.
Briscoe’s book includes a look back at his first inauguration, which drew former President Johnson to a luncheon at the Governor’s Mansion. Briscoe gave a 10-minute inaugural address, promising no new taxes. Peek here.
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April 26, 2008
Was Perry trying to scoop Hutchison?
On Friday, Gov. Rick Perry called for a reduction in a federal mandate that a certain amount of the country’s fuel supply come from corn-based ethanol, as we reported today.
This morning, Politico’s Mike Allen reported in his must-read Playbook column that Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Perry’s fellow Republican, will have an op-ed in Monday’s Investor’s Business Daily calling for a freeze in such biofuel mandates, instead of steadily increasing them over the next 14 years.
Let’s quickly review: Hutchison is considering coming home to run for governor in 2010. Perry has that job now and says he wants to seek it again. The two aren’t exactly close. Could the governor have made his annoucement to steal the thunder from the senator?
“Gov. Perry announced the ethanol waiver Friday because it was the right thing to do for Texas, period,” Perry spokeswoman Krista Piferrer told us today.
It’s starting to feel a lot like 2005, the last time these two were nudging each other in anticipation of a primary fight. Perry won that round when Hutchison opted not to run, and he doesn’t seem to have lost much off his game.
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April 17, 2008
Listen to Hutchison's reaction
Shortly after the news broke about Gov. Rick Perry’s comments in