July 18, 2017 Edition


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Texas Politics Today is designed to keep people who work in and around the Capitol informed about their colleagues -- elected officials, capitol staffers, lobbyists, association people and others who work there.

If you missed a previous newsletter or want to go back and refresh your memory about someone go to our Texas Politics Today website  where we have the newsletter archived by date.

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Editors Note:    Please be sure to send us news of departures, promotions, births, marriages and other milestones, so we can share it with the Capitol community.
Quote of the Week

"Dance Like No One is Watching; Email Like It May One Day Be Read Aloud in a Deposition. "

Around the Capitol

Of the 6,631 bills filed in both chambers of the  85th Regular Legislative session, only  1,211 passed both chambers. Gov. Abbott signed 1007 bills, vetoed 50 bills and allowed 153 to become law without his signature. 

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People on the Move


David Dunn, the founding Executive Director for the Texas Charter Schools Association (TCSA), is leaving the organization in October after nearly a decade. A search committee has been formed to find a replacement.
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David Bradley , longtime member of the State Board of Education, announced his retirement at the end of his term. He has served the Southeast Texas area since 1996, being reelected six times.

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Former Texas State Representative, State Treasurer and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison has been selected by President Trump to serve as NATO Ambassador.

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Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Sid Miller, recently indicated he would still consider taking a position in President Donald Trump's Agriculture Department.
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Hans Klingler, former Perry and Hutchison staffer and former ED of the Texas Republican Party has formed a new consulting firm with former US Rep. Connie Mack and Republican political operative Rick Wiley.  The new firm is Black Diamond Strategies and will have offices in Austin, Miami and DC. 

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The Texas Cable Association has elected new executive officers. They include: Skip Ogle (Chairman), Jeff Burdett (Vice Chairman), Melinda Little (Secretary), Clem Maddox (Treasurer), Todd Baxter & Kenny Walker (Members at Large), and Leo Munoz (Immediate Past Chairman)
Shout Outs

Congratulations to Rep. Byron Cook, Rep. Sarah Davis, Rep. Dan Huberty, Rep. Joe Moody, Rep. Chris Paddie, Rep. Four Price, Rep. Matt Schaefer, Rep. Senfronia Thompson, Sen. Joan Huffman and Sen. Robert Nichols for being named Texas Monthly's Best Legislators. 

Rep. Ina Minajarez was named Texas Monthly's Rookie of the Year. Although serving the final 30 days of the previous session, this was her first full session. 

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Congratulations to Sen. Judith Zaffirini, and Sen. Jane Nelson who were named by Capitol Inside as two of 10 Texas Lawmakers to be "Best of the Legislature" during the 85th session. 

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Sen. Robert Nichols was selected by his colleagues to be the next president pro tempore of the Texas Senate.

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Congratulations to Rep. Tom Oliverson, who was named by the GOP Caucus as the Freshman Legislator of the Year and Rep. Victoria Neave, named Freshman Legislator of the Year by the Democratic Caucus.  

Congratulations to Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, Rep. Shawn Thierry and Rep. Jarvis Johnson,  named by the Black Caucus  as Freshmen Legislators of the Year. 

Congratulations to Rep. Gina Hinojosa named by the Mexican American Legislative Caucus as Freshmen Legislator of the Year and Rep. Lina Ortega, named by the Border Caucus as its Freshman Legislator of the Year. 

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Former Rep.  Carl H. Isett was honored at the end of the 85th Regular Session for his retirement from the US Navy Reserve.

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Congratulations  to Shelley Dahlberg, who  has been awarded by the Travis County Women Lawyers' Association with the Litigation and Appellate Attorney Award. Dahlberg is currently the associate deputy attorney for civil litigation in Attorney General Ken Paxton's office. 

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Congratulations to Rep. Charlie Geren and Mindy Ellmer on their recent nuptials at the Capitol. 

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Congratulations to Ashley and Seth Juergens on the birth of their daughter Emma earlier this month.  

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A belated happy birthday to former US Senator Phil Gramm. Gramm celebrated his 75th birthday on July 8th with his wife Wendy and his sons Marshall and Jeff. They were joined by over 200 of Gramm's former staffers and their families at his ranch north of San Antonio. Among Gramm alums and Texas Capitol veterans at the party were Dale Laine, James Bernsen, Phil Wilson, Laurie Rich, Jennifer Bannister, Richard McBride and Hans Klingler.



Upcoming Birthdays:

July 19, Chris Cutrone, Jody Richardson, Sen. Van Taylor
July 20, Ryan Marquess
July 21, Brady Vaughn, Rep. Bryan Hughes
July 22, Ben Utley
July 24, Jenifer Sarver, Geoff Connor
July 26, Ana Yanez Correa, Dustin Meador, Jason Steele
July 27, Kristine Donatello, Rep. Hugh Shine
July 28, Dinah Welsh
July 29, Nick James, Hans Klingler

Aug 1, Emily Howell, Jesse Lewis
Aug 2, Sam Nancarrow, Hugh Brady
Aug 4, Noe Barrios
Aug 5, Marian Wallace, Sen. Brandon Creighton, Yvonne Barton, Robert McVey
Aug 6, Shawn Thierry
Aug 8, Ellen Arnold, Kelsey Bernstein, Kym Olsen, Gaylord Armstrong, Luis Gonzalez, Rep. Morgan Meyer
Aug 10, Former Sen. Troy Fraser
Aug 12, Stephanie Speer Smith, Rep. Bobby Guerra
Aug 13, Sheila Beckett, Dan Casey, Gary Fuchs, Rep. Cindy Burkett, Rep. JD Sheffield, Rep. Tony Tinderholt, Sen. John Whitmire
Aug 14, Betsey Christian, Judge Ed Emmett, Deborah Giles
Aug 15, Mattie Heath, Dennis Borel



In Our Thoughts

Our thoughts are with the family and Capitol colleagues of former Speaker Straus intern, Bakari Henderson, who was killed in Greece earlier this month.  

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Our condolences to Lyndon Olson and his family on the passing of his mother earlier this month.  

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Our thoughts are with the family of former Congressman Jack Brooks, who passed away at the age of 89.

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We offer our condolences to Sarah Floerke and her family on the passing of her grandfather, Roy James Floerke, who passed away at the age of 86. 

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We offer our thoughts and prayers to Shannon Wickliffe Rusing and her family on the passing of her father earlier this summer. 

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Condolences to Larry Kopp, former LBB staffer, on the passing of his son, John Kopp.  
Politics

Gov. Greg Abbott announced for reelection last week in San Antonio.  The Governor has one announced Democratic opponent, Jeffrey Payne, of Dallas, who is loaning his campaign $2.5 million.  Rep.  Rafael Anchia  has ruled out a run for Governor in 2018. 

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Former Rep. Allen Vaught (D) is considering a run for Lt. Governor in 2018.   Mike Collier has made his Democratic bid for Lt. Governor official.  
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Commissioner Christi Craddick has announced she will run for reelection to the Railroad Commission in 2018
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Speaker  Joe Straus has announced he will run for Speaker of the Texas House again.

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Representatives Dade PhelanEd Thompson, John WrayMike SchofieldRon SimmonsRichard Raymond,  Briscoe CainJason VillalbaTony DaleTravis ClardyPaul WorkmanKevin Roberts, and  Rick Miller all announced that they will run for reelection.

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Sen. Robert Nichols will run for reelection as will  Sen. Joan Huffman,  Sen. Konni Burton and  Sen Kel Seliger.

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George P. Bush announced that he will run for reelection to his Texas Land Commissioner position.

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Damon Rambo, a paster at First Baptist Church in Markham, Texas, announced that he will run against Rep. Dennis Bonnen in HD 25. 

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Chris Evans a Dublin businessman has announced he will challenge Rep. J.D. Sheffield in the primary next year. 


John Turner, son of former US Rep. Jim Turner and brother of former Sen. Kirk Watson staffer and current head of the Annette Strauss Institute, Susan Turner Nold announced he will run for the Texas House in HD 114 as a Democrat.  Rep. Jason Villalba is the incumbent. 

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Jeremy Story, a Republican who heads a Christian ministry, announced Wednesday he is running for House District 52. The seat is currently held by state Rep. Larry Gonzales, R-Round Rock. (h/t Texas Tribune's The Blast)

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Rep. Mark Keough of HD15 announced that he will not run for reelection in 2018 but instead will seek a Montgomery County judgeship. Former Rep. Steve Toth announced that he will run for Keogh's seat.

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Lobbyist Trey Blocker has said he's interested in running for Agriculture Commissioner if current Ag Commissioner Sid Miller takes a post in the Trump Administration.

Kim Olsen, a Democrat and retired Air Force colonel, will run for Texas Ag Commissioner in 2018.
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Mike Canon announced he will challenge Sen. Kel Seliger again in 2018.  Canon is the former mayor of Midland, TX who in 2014 narrowly lost the 2014 Republican primary for SD 31 to Seliger by about 3,500 votes. 

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Veronica Escobar,  an  El Paso County Judge,  and Dori Fenenbock, the President of the El Paso ISD Board of Trustees, are potential contenders for U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke's seat. O'Rourke is preparing to challenge U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018. TX Rep.  Cesar Blanco  removed himself from consideration and will run for reelection for his current seat. 

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Elliot McFadden, the Executive Director of Austin B-cycle, has announced he will run against U.S. Congressman  Lamar Smith, TX-21.

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The State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) elected Travis County GOP Chairman  James Dickey over businessman Rick Figueroa to be Chairman of the state Republican party. 

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The Texas GOP has hired Brandon Moore as organizational director. He is the former vice chair of the Tarrant County Republican Party.

Mike Joyce  has resigned as communicators director for the Texas GOP due to personal reasons.

Jamie Bennett , who is currently on the communications team for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, will start Aug. 1 as the party's press secretary. (h/t Texas Tribune's The Blast)
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From the   Dallas Morning News:
After scuffle on Texas House floor, Democrats take aim at Matt Rinaldi for 2018

"Hillary Clinton won in Rinaldi's northwest Dallas County district....it meant Rinaldi won by a slim 50 percent to Ocker's 49 percent. Rinaldi hadn't really campaigned that hard, since the district was thought to be reliably Republican. But the results gave Democrats hope that they could rally enough base voters and soft Republicans to the polls to oust the now controversial Republican legislator. Ocker has already announced she's running again..." Read more  here.


Engaging Stories



From the Houston Chronicle:
Have businesses lost control of the agenda in Texas?

  "Dennis Nixon is the CEO of the International Bank of Commerce, the ninth biggest bank in Texas, the kind of person the state's Republicans used to listen to. These days, however, he's feeling woefully neglected... Nixon is particularly exasperated by the passage of Senate Bill 4... He says the immigrant workforce is essential to the state's economic health, and that driving them out is self-sabotage..." Read more here.

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From Houstonia:
Sarah Davis: At Odds with Both the Left and the Right, Depending on the Day

"We actually get along as Republicans and Democrats much better in Texas than they do in D.C.," she swears, although she admits that partisanship "is bleeding down on the state level...But there's enough of us that will not embrace that kind of behavior," she says. "I'm not going to vote against a bill because the author of that bill is a Democrat. And there are some Republicans that will do that. I would never do that." Read more here.

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From Texas Lawyer:
Law Firms That Bet on Lobbying Win Big in Austin

"Law firms' market share may have diminished as many big firms pulled away from Austin lobbying, but opportunities have abounded for lobbyists in the Texas capitol..." Read more here.

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From the Houston Chronicle:
Fewer bills pass out of the Legislature, marking two-decade low

"Texas state lawmakers filed more bills this session than almost any in state history. But despite the higher number of bills they proposed, lawmakers passed and sent fewer bills to the governor than it has in more than two decades. That's probably a good thing, some lawmakers say..." Read more here.
Events

Former First Lady Michelle Obama will be back in Austin in October, participating in a conversation at a tech conference hosted by Spredfast. The " Smart Social Summit" will take place from Oct 16 - Oct 18 at the W Hotel.

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Register now  for the TX Conference for Women, an event on  Nov. 2nd in Austin featuring Viola Davis and Sheryl Sandberg.
Miscellaneous

Important dates:

Last day for Gov. Abbott to act on bills from regular session: June 18
First day of special session:   July 17
Last day of special session:   August 16

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If you're looking for your next position now that the regular session has ended, check out   Christine's List.

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Check out the Texas Politics Project for internships with state reps, senators, the governor, lobbyists, and other organizations.

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Below are links to several  podcasts  on Texas politics and what's happening at the Capitol:


Contact us at txpoliticstoday@gmail.com or text me a 512-431-5385 to let us know of other moves, birthdays, lobby sign ups, birth announcements, events, and happenings that you and your Capitol colleagues would like to read about.  
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