Farouk Mohammed Shami, who’s running for governor as a Democrat, has a strong Middle Eastern accent and a strange name. Some of his fellow Democrats are loathe to talk about it. He’s not worried. “If a president can be named Barack Hussein Obama, a governor can be named Farouk Shami,” he said. “If a president can be black, a governor can be brown.”
Houston
Posted in
Public Education
Ads Infinitum: White Releases First TV Spot
The former Houston mayor hits the airwaves.
Posted inState Government
An Interview with Fred Lewis, Part 1
An interview with Fred Lewis, the man behind Houston Votes 2010, a voter registration drive in Harris County of unprecedented scale.
Posted inState Government
Attack of the Ads
Rick Perry’s and Kay Bailey Hutchison’s ads seem pretty tame so far, but in an everything’s-contested campaign cycle, even what constitutes an “attack ad” is grounds for debate.
Posted in
Politics
2010: Jack McDonald Drops Bid Against Michael McCaul
Jack McDonald isn’t running for Congress after all.
Posted inState Government
Stump Interrupted: Farouk Shami
We examine the claims and quirks of the Democratic gubernatorial candidate’s Austin remarks from early December.
Posted inState Government
2010: Changing Horses
Three Democratic legislators who came out early for Fort Worth’s Tom Schieffer in the race for governor say they’ll go with Houston Mayor Bill White, who entered the race as Schieffer exited.
Posted in
Demographics
Guest Column: The Texas Political Atlas
On the eve of a noisy election year, the former lieutenant governor of Texas takes us on a tour through voting and demographic statistics.
Posted inState Government
Behind the Bill White Announcement
We take you behind the scenes of Bill White’s announcement for governor in Houston.
Posted in
Politics
2010: CQ’s Take on Texas
Congressional Quarterly’s latest rankings of congressional races has only three Texas contests in the “likely” category, two on the Democratic side and one on the Republican side.