Last week, I pondered whether you knew there was an election going on in Texas. By now, you would need to be living under a rock not to notice.

The “gotcha” game is in full swing. Both party primaries are having their fair share, some more egregious than others.

On television, we are bombarded with campaign ads for the U.S. Senate race in the Republican primary. The fact is that the winner of the primary is very likely to be our next Senator. This is not an offense to the Democrats but just a hard truth. The Dems are fielding candidates but they will be underfunded for the fall election.

The “gotcha” game seems to involve Ted Cruz the most. His opponent, David Dewhurst, accuses him of “giving business secrets to the Chinese” and attacks his law firm for giving money to…. wait for it…. gasp, “Obama”. This is definitely “gotcha”. Dewhurst is being attacked on his legislative record. My personal favorite, however, is the Tom Leppert ad with empty suits. These ads are funny without being especially nasty.

In the Democratic Primary, it is a Harris County race that may reflect the ultimate “gotcha” game. Elaine Palmer is trying to unseat Judge Steve Kirkland for the 215th Civil District Court. She has done direct mail, radio ads and automated phone calls to Democratic Primary voters attacking Kirkland, primarily on a nearly 30 year old DWI charge. Apparently, Judge Kirkland had two DWI’s before he was 25 and is now celebrating 28 years of sobriety. Really?

Ms. Palmer is funded primarily by trial lawyers who were unhappy with rulings in Judge Kirkland’s court. Which raises an interesting point, trial lawyers are an issue in several of the campaigns. A Republican State Senate race finds one opponent attacking the other for taking funds from the “state’s biggest Democratic trial lawyer donor”.

I guess all of this information could be relevant and help you to make your decisions. Does it really?

PRIMARY ELECTION DAY IS MAY 29! POLLS OPEN FROM 7AM TO 7PM.