Politics

As Texans across the state continue to hit the polls this week for early voting, several reports have surfaced of voter intimidation. The Houston Chronicle reports the most recent allegations have been in Harris County:  

It always comes as something of a shock to political junkies this time of year that not everyone’s a political junkie! (You may actually know people like this, yourself.)

Those in the political world (and those covering it) find themselves living from campaign claim to opposition counterclaim in the weeks leading up to Election Day.

House District 47 candidates Paul Workman says he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.  In an e-mail from his campaign the 58-year-old Republican said the cancer was discovered during a recent routine  physical, and that he's been given an optimistic prognosis because the cancer was detected early.  He also says he's not dropping out of his race against Democratic incumbent Valinda Bolton.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White lobbed more allegations of cronyism and corruption at incumbent Republican Governor Rick Perry. On Tuesday, Mayor White launched what his campaign dubbed their “October Surprise.”

The former Houston mayor spoke on the steps of the Teacher Retirement System building. TRS is the largest pension fund in the State, valued at over 100 billion dollars.

Today, in an event trumpeted by his campaign as its "October surprise," Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White held a press conferance on the front steps of the Teacher Retirement Systems (TRS) building in downtown Austin. The TRS manages a trust fund valued at over $100 billion on behalf of 1.3 million current and former Texas teachers.

Gun-toting incumbent land commish Jerry Patterson is once again having a laugh over the idea of shooting his political opponents.  This time, the target is Democratic candidate for agriculture commissioner, Hank Gilbert.

Dallas Morning News reporter Christy Hoppe reports how Patterson "shoots from the lip."

Early voting starts today and everything is running smoothly so far at Travis County polling stations.  That's not really a surprise, given that early voting rarely draws large crowds.