This Week in Texas: September 9, 2009

Posted September 9, 2009 in The Mignon Memo

Rep. Diana Maldonado (D-Round Rock) will face Republican Larry Gonzales in the race for House District 52.

Kinky Friedman has announced that he will run for Governor in 2010 as a Democrat. Friedman made the race in 2006 as an Independent. He is the fifth Democrat in the race, joining Felix Alvarado, Hank Gilbert, Tom Schieffer, and Mark Thompson.

Two candidates have officially announced their intent to run for lieutenant governor. Current Lt. Governor David Dewhurst sent a letter to his supporters announcing his intent to run for reelection. Mark Katz, owner of Austin deli Katz’s, announced his intention to run for lieutenant governor as a Democrat.

Gov. Rick Perry appointed Scott Fisher, a Bedford pastor, to chair the Texas Youth Commission. He also appointed five new members: Grayson County District Attorney Joseph Brown; Larry Carroll, who runs the Permian Basin Community Centers for Mental Health and Mental Retardation in Midland; Manson Johnson, a Houston pastor; Cameron County Judge Rolando Olvera; and Dr. David Teuscher, an orthopedic surgeon at the Beaumont Bone and Joint Institute.