In the wake of a court ruling keeping state Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, on the ballot, lawyers for his Democratic opponent and the state party are deciding whether to appeal to the Texas Supreme Court. But time is short: Under state election law, Friday, August 20, is the last day a candidate who is removed from the ballot can be replaced.

Texas ranks fifth nationwide in Supreme Court candidate fundraising, according to a recently released study that tracked campaign spending in state judicial races between 2000 and 2009.

A briefing this week for lawmakers who sit on the House State Affairs provided a crash course on how to craft immigration-related legislation — and not get sued by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Getting to college might get more difficult in the next biennium. Amid serious budget concerns, the state’s ability to help qualified students afford higher education may be on the chopping block.

Driver, Stock, Horn, Strama, Rawlins, Branch, Taylor, Sarukhan, Bersin, DeLay, and Wlodek

Rick Perry and Bill White are starting to engage on a daily basis. The shape of their election fight is starting to solidify, ads are in the works on both sides and if you count third parties on the Democratic side, already running.

The action in the state's SD-22 is all in a Dallas court now, with Democrats suing to knock Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, off the ballot, and Birdwell responding (in court filings) that the challenge itself is flawed and that he's eligible anyhow.

The Texas Ethics Commission has July cash on hand numbers for 2,694 political committees and campaigns that together held $167 million last month.