Government

Two Republican groups that support equal rights for the LGBT community are rallying support to have the Republican Party of Texas change its official platform on same-sex marriage and other LGBT issues.

This week the Log Cabin Republicans of Texas and the Metroplex Republicans were denied permission to have a booth at the Texas GOP convention in Fort Worth. The two group's stance on LGBT issues put them in contrast to the official Texas GOP 2012 platform:

Business leaders across the state of Texas are hoping they can convince Dan Patrick, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, to work with them on their agenda of providing more money for roads and water.   

During the Republican primary and runoff election, groups like the Texas Association of Business threw their support behind incumbent Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, even going as far as to say Republican voters made the wrong choice with Patrick as the nominee.

Now that the Republican Party of Texas has formed it’s ticket for the fall elections the party is looking toward their convention in June, which is where they will decide on a platform.

State Sen. Dan Patrick, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, and other highly influential groups like the Texas Eagle Forum have said they support removing a guest-worker program from the platform. But the inclusion of a guest-worker program has the support of major business groups and party chairman Steve Munisteri.

The race for the Precinct 4 Bexar County Commissioners Court seat is now narrowed down to two people:  Kirby Mayor Tim Wilson and KROV-FM General Manager Tommy Calvert.

Wilson held a small lead over Windcrest Mayor Alan Baxter with the early voting results and kept that narrow margin to the end, winning the Republican spot with just under 52 percent of the vote. Wilson said if he is elected during the mid-term election, his first move would be the elimination of projects like the streetcar system.

Leticia Van De Putte, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, wasted no time pointing out the differences between herself and Dan Patrick, her Republican opponent on the November ballot.   

Van De Putte pointed to Patrick’s use of campaign rhetoric and hot button issues to build an audience in his runoff against incumbent Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.

The Texas Republican primary and runoff elections have been dominated by tea party values, but once the votes are in and a full Republican ticket is formed, will candidates move back to the center?  

Without even looking at the runoff election returns, Professor Mark P. Jones, who heads up the political science department at Rice University in Houston, said the tea party is already a winner in Texas.

"The tea party issues have really defined the terms of this campaign," Jones said.

Julian Castro's nomination by President Obama to head the department of Housing and Urban Development is a path Castro carved locally.

In his five years as mayor, Castro pushed initiatives that would land San Antonio both the Promise and Choice Neighborhood grants, an accolade that San Antonio alone has gained.

The goal of the Choice and Promise grants is to support local strategies aimed at struggling neighborhoods, to improve housing and schools, specifically on the city's east side.

The history of executions in America seems to be a string of one botched form to another. In a reaction to a botched execution in April and the supply of lethal drugs drying up, states like Tennessee have announced the return of the electric chair.

Dr. Deborah Denno, who teaches law that Fordham University in New York and is considered an expert on the topic of executions, said it was botched executions that led states to consider the electric chair in the early 1900s.

A committee of House lawmakers heard the reasons why the state of Texas would be better served with an online voter registration system, but some groups remain skeptical about the possibility of voter fraud.

As of April, 19 states offer online voter registration. Last legislative session Texas came very close to passing their own version but it was not added the calendar for a final vote. In this period between sessions, lawmakers are re-considering the same thing.  

Typically, money slated for the state budget is handled by the Legislature.

But yesterday the Texas House Appropriations and Natural Resources Committee found out about $5 million paid to the state of Texas by British Petroleum following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico happened in April 2010, and in September of that same year the governor’s office received $5 million from BP without informing the Legislature of the funds.