We told you last month how Randy Rives is playing fast and loose with the truth in his campaign to unseat Texas State Board of Education incumbent Bob Craig in tomorrow's Republican Primary. Yesterday Rives' campaign continued to distort the truth on a key issue from the candidate's past -- the decision by the Ector County (Odessa)  Independent School District board of trustees, then headed by Rives, to adopt a Bible course curriculum that got the district sued. Read More

We have updated campaign finance information reported by Texas State Board of Education candidates.… Read More

If anyone needs more evidence that the religious right's ringleaders see voters as sheep, we present a new exhibit: Rev. Rick Scarborough's secret candidate-screening in East Texas. Scarborough, head of the Lufkin (Texas)-based group Vision America, orbits the fringes of the far right. For example, he's a "birther" who doubts President Obama was truly born in the United States and, thus, isn't eligible to occupy the White House (and here). He also argues that proposed health insurance reforms will lead to "death panels" and rationing care for handicapped children. Scarborough also works to mobilize conservative evangelical clergy to support the religious right's political agenda. To that end, this week he put together a closed-door "candidate forum" at a Nacogdoches (Texas) church, the city's Daily Sentinel newspaper reports. Read More

FEB. 25 UPDATE: Campaign finance reports for Democrats seeking the District 5 seat on the Texas State Board of Education are now available. See below for the new numbers. Rebecca Bell-Metereau continues to build a large fundraising lead over her opponents for the Democratic nomination. We have also updated finance numbers from a corrected finance report from Bob Craig. UPDATE: New numbers are available below as of noon today (Feb. 23) for Districts 5, 10 and 12 Republicans. District 5 Democratic reports are not available. (Most have been filed but are not publicly available until all have been filed.) The flow of money to the campaigns of far-right candidates and incumbents in Texas State Board of Education races increased substantially over the past month. New campaign finance reports -- which were due to the Texas Ethics Commission today, eight days before the March 2 primary -- show that a handful of big donors are largely driving the spike in fundraising. And the biggest winner in the fundraising sweepstakes this month is West Texas candidate Randy Rives, who appears to be the far right's best hope to pick up a seat on the state board. Read More

Republican candidates for Cynthia Dunbar's District 10 Texas State Board of Education seat met over the weekend at a public forum in Georgetown. It appears that evolution and sex education were among the hottest topics of discussion, according to the online Williamson County Conservative Examiner. (Hat tip to TFN Insider reader abb3w for calling this to our attention.)…… Read More