Political News Roundup: On Craddick and Hutchison

Two items of note regarding Texas Republicans have come out this week. First off, current Texas House Speaker Craddick faces an ethics complaint about payments to and insurance coverage for his adult daughter. A Houston man points out that Craddick has his daughter Christi on campaign payroll (at $12,000 a month), yet claims her as a dependent so that she is covered by his state health insurance. Guess if you're Craddick you can sneak something into law which says that your adult daughter can be covered by state health insurance for her lifetime (well, as long as she remains single anyway). Shady!

Another member of the GOP, current Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, today filed paperwork towards her expected run for governor in 2010. She's still in the exploratory stages, it seems, and the paperwork filed today set up an exploratory committee and campaign treasurer. She has transferred a million dollars from her federal coffer to her state account. She released a statement saying

"Texans deserve a governor who, in the context of sound budgetary policies and low taxes, works for quality schools and universities, access to health care for our families, communities safe from crime and drugs, protection of private property rights, sensible transportation and a government that listens and responds to them."

Sounds like she's serious. KBH entering the race for Gov would likely put the fear of God into Perry, especially after that poll earlier this year where Texans named her their favorite state politician.