Large Candidate Field Expected To Compete For Joe Barton’s Seat

This week in Texas politics with the Texas Tribune.

By Rhonda FanningDecember 1, 2017 12:28 pm,

Time for the week that was in Texas politics with Emily Ramshaw, editor-in-chief of the Texas Tribune.

U.S. Rep. Joe Barton’s decision to leave Congress at the end of his current term came after a naked photo of Barton appeared online, along with explicit Facebook messages.

“He was the victim of what seems to be a scorned lover revealing photos he shared with her,” Ramshaw says. “But it’s part of a trend now. It looks like there are some other women who have come forward that have said ‘he exchanged some explicit messages with me.'”

Ramshaw says Barton’s district is a relatively safe Republican seat that’s likely to attract a large number of candidates.

A potential Democratic candidate for governor, Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez said this week she has not decided to seek the office, and that she is not resigning her current job.

In Austin, the headquarters of the state’s Health and Human Services department has a rat problem. Ramshaw says several hundred rats are believed to be in the building, and that the state has spent $60,000 on an exterminator.

Listen to the full interview in the audio player above.