Watch Gov. Rick Perry, his defense attorneys and the special prosecutor in Perry's felony indictment speak Thursday to news outlets following a pre-trial hearing in Perry's abuse-of-power case. Perry's attorneys argued that the prosecutor was improperly sworn in.

Requiring voters to show a photo ID has proved controversial in the federal courts, but the law is popular with Texas voters, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Texas voters favor it by a 3-to-1 margin, even though 38 percent say it decreases voter turnout.

Defense lawyers for Gov. Rick Perry have asked that a transcript of the grand jury witness testimony that led to his indictment be made in the event there was information provided that could prove his innocence. 

Lawyers for Gov. Rick Perry on Friday requested that the indictment against the governor be dismissed, saying the special prosecutor in the case was never properly sworn in.

The judge in Gov. Rick Perry's case ruled Friday that Perry does not have to appear at an Oct. 13 court hearing, according to the special prosecutor in the case. But that does not mean Perry has a pass to skip hearings.

Michael McCrum, the special prosecutor who secured an indictment against Gov. Rick Perry in August, said he expected to reply in October to a challenge filed by Perry's legal team.

On this week's edition of WFAA-TV's Inside Texas Politics with host Jason Wheeler, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Bud Kennedy and Tribune Executive Editor Ross Ramsey, it's all about the November elections.

Gov. Rick Perry, speaking on Sunday at The Texas Tribune Festival, said he still supports a Texas law that grants in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants. He also said he would not decide whether he was going to run for president until 2015.

This week in the Texas Weekly Newsreel: The candidates for governor have settled on two debate engagements, a federal judge ruled parts of the state's abortion restrictions are unconstitutional and Gov. Rick Perry said he does not condone a tweet making fun of Rosemary Lehmberg.

On this week's edition of WFAA-TV's Inside Texas Politics, we talked about Thursday's ruling by a Travis County district judge that the state's school finance system is unconstitutional, the delay in raising standards on state exams, Gov. Rick Perry addition of a sixth attorney to his legal team and more.

Lots of people want to take prosecutions of state officials away from the Travis County district attorney's office. But agreeing on a nonpartisan place to put it is not going to be easy. Almost every possible alternative has political baggage of its own. 

A secretive nonprofit, which until recently has been known solely for its efforts to unseat New York Democrats, has launched an online campaign in support of Gov. Rick Perry in light of his recent legal troubles.

Tony Buzbee, who is leading Gov. Rick Perry's defense, has made a fortune being the kind of lawyer the governor has spent much of his time in office villainizing. But Buzbee rejects the suggestion that he was an unconventional pick.

This is the time of a political year when voters start — slowly — to pay attention to the candidates, issues and arguments ahead of a general election. But this year, there is something else to watch instead: An indicted governor and an unsympathetic prosecutor are hogging the spotlight.

Accusations about criminalizing politics go hand in hand with indictments of political figures. But prosecutors in Travis County have fumbled enough big cases to give the officeholders they chase some room for argument. Gov. Rick Perry is the latest in a long line of public officials to cry politics when the grand juries issue indictments.

Mindy Montford, a former candidate for Travis County DA and daughter of former state Sen. John Montford, confirmed on Sunday that Gov. Rick Perry called to see if she was interested in replacing District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, the Austin American-Statesman and KVUE-TV reported.

Gov. Rick Perry has  attacked the premise of his indictment as politically motivated “farce.” At Republican gatherings in this crucial primary state, where Perry opinion ahead of a possible presidential run, it was hard to find folks who disagreed with his take on the charges. And some wore that viewpoint – literally.

Gov. Rick Perry's camp says it has no plans to tap campaign funds to cover the $80,000 that the state has earmarked to pay the governor's initial legal defense fees.