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State Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth, has more than three times as much to spend on his re-election effort as Democratic challenger Wendy Davis, according to campaign reports available Wednesday.

Davis, a former Fort Worth city councilwoman, raised $421,437 during the first half of the year and had $392,179 in her campaign fund as of June 30. Brimer reported raising $503,191 during the same period and having nearly $1.5 million on hand.

In two other local Texas House races, Democrats are more competitive financially, campaign finance reports show. State Rep. Bill Zedler, R-Arlington, raised less than Democratic challenger Chris Turner...

Four months before Election Day, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has reported a 10-to-1 cash advantage over Democratic challenger Rick Noriega.

Cornyn, seeking his second six-year term, reported raising $1.7 million for the three-month filing period that ended June 30 and has $9.4 million on hand. Noriega, a five-term state representative from Houston in his first statewide race, raised just under $930,500 and has nearly that much in the bank.

Campaign finance reports filed Tuesday showed that several local campaigns attracted a healthy interest from donors in recent months.

In the high-profile Texas Senate race between Republican incumbent Kim...

AUSTIN — Chris Bell, a former one-term congressman from Houston and failed Democratic nominee for governor, is now aiming a bit lower: a seat in the state Senate.

Bell says he’ll run for the Houston seat being vacated by Republican Kyle Janek, who is retiring.

Republican Gov. Rick Perry, who defeated Bell and two others to win his second full term in 2006, set a Nov. 4 special election to fill District 17 until January 2011.

"It gives me a chance to focus on a lot of issues: reforming public schools, improving access to healthcare insurance and ethics reform in...

AUSTIN — After five years of placing losing bets on legislation that would allow video slot machines at Texas racetracks, the racing industry is upping the ante.

The parent company of Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie is circulating a proposal that would make off-track betting and Internet wagering on races across the country legal in Texas. Insiders say it’s an uphill fight, but the company says Texas is losing tens of millions of dollars to the 20 other states that have legalized such wagering.

"Thanks to the development of the Internet and new technologies designed to support it, the...

FORT WORTH — With more than 50 supporters standing behind her, state Senate candidate Wendy Davis shot back Tuesday at incumbent Kim Brimer of Fort Worth for filing a lawsuit she called a "political trick."

"He thinks this lawsuit will hide his 20 years of failed leadership," Davis said at a news conference in front of the Tarrant County Courthouse downtown. "To the contrary, it has highlighted it."

Brimer, a Republican, sued Davis last week, charging that she should be disqualified from the November general election because she filed to run for the seat while serving on the Fort Worth...

ARLINGTON — Several ideas on how the state could lower property taxes were floated Tuesday at a public hearing before the Texas House Select Committee on Property Tax Relief and Appraisal Reform.

More than 50 people attended the forum at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Ideas included replacing property taxes with a consumption tax, relying solely on sales taxes and basing property taxes on the most recent sale price.

Speakers also criticized the appraisal district review board, which handles formal protests of appraised values.

"The fox is watching the henhouse," said Dave Cooksey, a Dalworthington Gardens resident. "The board isn’t...