Blogs: James Henson, PhD

This week in politics started with American politics' version of the Fall Classic with the beginning of the US Supreme Court's session. Over in the legislative branch, the leading candidate for the Speaker of the House dropped out unexpected Thursday, a reflection of just how miserable divisions in the GOP caucus have made the party's leadership. Also on the national stage, Joe Biden's decision to enter the presidential fray draws ever closer-- or not. In Texas politics, we got a double blast from the recent past with news when David Dewhurst and Rick Perry were back in the news.

Lt. Governor Dan Patrick's office released a list of interim charges that led strong for conservatives, and once again invited attention to the different attitudes and priorities of different elements of the Texas Republican Party.

Much of the week was filled with continuing storylines that are illuminated below with polling data and other graphics – attacks on Planned Parenthood, Ted Cruz's campaign for the Republican Presidential Nomination, more of Hillary Clinton's vexed run for the Democratic Presidential nomination, and another entry into the race for the House seat currently held by Speaker Joe Straus. The end of the week turned much more sadly serious with another mass shooting at a community college.

Speaker Boehner’s exit, Pope Francis’s speech to Congress, Jeb Bush’s comments on immigration in Houston, the legal and political wrangle over HHS spending on therapy for poor and disabled children, and Governor Scott Walker’s departure from the Republican presidential nomination race

Given the speed with which Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's campaign sank over the summer, his exit from the 2016 Republican presidential nomination contest won't leave much of a wake in Texas public opinion. The second choice preferences in that race reveal who Walker appealed to before he was forced to abandon ship, though the limitations of what early polling numbers can tell us underline just how shallow his appeal was – and that Walker's peak was too little, too soon.

If Biden's rationale for entering the primary is to win the nomination, his only real chance (without guarantee of success) is for one of the most durable political figures of the last two-plus decades of American politics to be forced out of the race by circumstances. This is closer to the presidency than virtually anyone in America ever gets – but far from a sure thing for Biden.

Voting is still months away, but a Donald Trump vs. Ted Cruz showdown in the Texas GOP primary next year is a distinct possibility. Based on polling, Trump's campaign rhetoric is likely finding a receptive audience in Texas - but one already very supportive of Ted Cruz.

While proposals to repeal birthright citizenship have not been widely or consistently discussed proposals in the mainstream, University of Texas/Texas Tribune polling has included an item on this proposal as part of a battery of questions that explored different attitudes toward a range of immigration policy proposals in the February 2011.

The news of the Rick Perry campaign's problems meeting payroll is feeding expectations that the former Texas governor's second bid for the presidential nomination is nearing its end. Their messaging notwithstanding, it's fair to consider the possible implications of a Perry exit by looking at who the Texas Perry supporters said would be their second choice among the remaining candidates in the June 2015 UT/Texas Tribune Poll.

With a new slate of statewide leaders in charge, key questions about the tenor of Texas politics loomed large as the legislative session unfolded. New polling provides some preliminary answers.