Government

The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a lower federal district court's ruling that found a section of House Bill 2, Texas new abortion law to be unconstitutional.  

Starting Friday, Nov. 1 every clinic performing abortion will have to be staffed by doctors with admitting privileges at a hospital no more than 30 miles away from their facility.

In the 5th Circuit Court's opinion justices wrote:  

While the general election is still a year away, tension between gubernatorial candidates Wendy Davis and Greg Abbott is already ratcheting up.

That battle is over money that the courts say Davis is owed for attorney fees during the 2011 redistricting battle over her state Senate seat -- a federal court in San Antonio ruled in Davis' favor just over a month ago.

Davis’ attorney Gerry Hebert said the federal court ordered Abbott to pay $600,000 as part of their decision for Davis.

A leading Democratic candidate for Wendy Davis’ Senate seat has indicated he will not be running in 2014, leaving the party with a smaller margin of error in the Texas Senate.

Some in the Texas Democratic Party believed Fort Worth City Councilman Joel Burns would be the person to take over in Davis’ district because he has bipartisan support, but this week Burns announced he would not be running in 2014.

Speaking at a campaign event in Brownsville on Monday, Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott said he’d like to introduce laws that further restrict the legislature’s access to the state's Economic Stabilization Fund, more commonly known as the Rainy Day Fund.

"I will promote a constitutional amendment that strictly limits the fund to be used only -- either for one, its intended purpose of meeting unforeseen budgetary shortfalls, reducing existing debt, one-time infrastructure payments and expenses related to state disasters," Abbott said.

As he promised before a decision was even announced, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has filed an appeal on the federal judge's ruling that two components of Texas’ new abortion law are unconstitutional.

Federal District Judge Lee Yeakel ruled yesterday afternoon that the abortion clinic regulation contained in the new law requiring doctors at facilities that provide abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 minutes of the clinic is unconstitutional.

Former U.S. House Majority Leader Republican Tom DeLay told a tea party group that God has told him to lead a constitutional revival. What that means for his political future remains to be seen.  

Speaking to the Texas Patriots at an event in the North Texas town of Burleson on Tuesday, Oct. 22, DeLay called on them to join him in a constitutional revolution.

For some time, many thought Texas Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn would run unopposed during the Republican primaries next March, but this week, Houston immigration attorney Linda Vega announced she would be challenging the twelve-year incumbent.

“For someone who's been a senator for twelve years, I can’t to the best of my knowledge recall any policy that he’s proposed that has been good for Texas," Vega said. "If you are going to be a senior senator, if you are going to lead, lead.  Don’t wait for someone else to propose something.”

Despite criticisms from Republicans, Democratic candidate for governor Wendy Davis is spending time in Washington D.C. next week for a major fundraising dinner.

The event Davis has been asked to speak at is to be hosted by the groups Battleground Texas and the Lone Start Project.  Immediately upon its announcement, Davis began catching heat from her Republican rival, Attorney General Greg Abbott, who in a campaign email said Davis is “trying to bring Obama-styled politics and policies to Texas.”

Name-calling, accusations  of lying, and mudslinging are what people have come to expect of the debate between the four Republican candidates for Texas lieutenant governor, but in front of the Montgomery County Tea Party on Wednesday a new idea was introduced that all four of the candidates agree on.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott has launched a new online ad touting support from Texas women, using candid interviews recorded at the 2013 Texas Federation of Republican Women Convention in San Antonio.

The voices in the ad state: