With the primary election now in the rear-view mirror, Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is amusing himself with a short song, "You Can't Be a Liberal Man," that pokes at his Democratic general election opponent, U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke.

And even makes fun of his nickname.

Liberal. That's the new tagline for Texas Republicans seeking to dis their opponents, whether it's Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick blasting the "Liberal Texas Association of Business" for opposing his conservative agenda or Gov. Greg Abbott working to defeat "liberal" incumbent Republican state Reps. Sarah Davis of Houston and Lyle Larson of Antonio.

Both won.

With several runoffs coming up May 22 to decide the remaining contests, including the Democratic nomination for governor, the heated political rhetoric promises to continue for two more months as an entertaining work-up to the November balloting.

Then there's this: In talking about the need for gun-control, and why Texans have such steadfast support for the Second Amendment, O'Rourke recently told a story about a woman in Brownwood who was "born with a gun in her hand" and who has 46 grandkids.

My, my. Now that's something.

Our sponsor this week: The Texas Association of Counties.

With Scott Braddock, editor of the Quorum Report, and Mike Ward, Austin Bureau chief for the Houston Chronicle, with special guest Ryan Poppe, Texas Public Radio's Capitol reporter.

Texas politics are entertaining but never boring, as this edition of the state's leading political podcast, produced in collaboration with partner Texas Public Radio, clearly shows.

The Texas primary season is nearly over as early voting closes Friday and election day is Tuesday.

All across the state, Texans have been turning out in record numbers for a non-presidential election, with huge enthusiasm on the Democratic side.

Meantime, Texas House Speaker Joe Straus says business leaders need to be asking candidates three questions:

• Do you support more investment in public schools?
• Do you support local control?
• Would you vote for a bathroom bill if it comes up in the 2019 session of the Legislature?

Gov. Greg Abbott this week told President Trump about the state's school marshal program as a possible model for the national following the tragic school shooting in Florida. Trump was happy to hear about the program created through legislation by Rep. Jason Villalba, R-Dallas.

Candidates across Texas spent big out of their campaign accounts for things like SUV's, Christmas ornaments, and paper weights. Yes, paper weights.

And, one way a candidate raised money for her campaign raised quite a few eyebrows – she received deer semen donations to auction off and netted more than $50,000.

Our sponsor this week: The Texas Association of Counties.

With Scott Braddock, editor of the Quorum Report, and Ryan Poppe, Texas Public Radio's Capitol Reporter, sitting in for Mike Ward, the Houston Chronicle's Austin Bureau Chief who is out on assignment, this is Texas' leading podcast about Lone Star politics -- coming to you in collaboration with Texas Public Radio.

Early voting has started in Texas' spring primary elections, and Democratic turnout is reported to be at record levels. Republicans, on the other hand, seem focused on attacking each other in several high-profile contests.

Gov. Abbott is campaigning not just for himself, but against three Republican incumbents in the Texas House -- Sarah Davis of Houston, Lyle Larson of San Antonio and Wayne Faircloth in Galveston. The split in GOP ranks stems from a throwdown over ethics the lawmakers had with the governor last year.

He's out there calling them liberal -- practically a profanity in conservative Republican circles -- and they're firing back that they've voted with him on most issues, which they believe vouches for their conservative credentials.

Then there's the nasty fight between Land Commissioner George P. Bush and challenger Jerry Patterson, Bush's predecessor. Bush is accusing Patterson, a tough-talking former Marine and author of the state's concealed handgun law, of being l-i-b-e-r-a-l.

He says Patterson deserves the tag because of his softer stance on immigration and other issues important to staunch conservatives. Patterson questions why Bush is cozying up to President Trump, who was mortal enemies with Bush's dad -- former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush -- during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Remember the "Low-Energy Jeb" slap during one nationally televised debate?

Get some popcorn and pull up an easy chair. The primary elections are March 6, and the testiness between candidates in coming days promises to get quite a bit more acrid and entertaining.

Our sponsor this week: The Texas Association of Counties.

With Mike Ward, the Houston Chronicle's Austin Bureau chief, and Scott Braddock, editor of the Quorum Report, it's Texas' leading online podcast about Lone Star politics -- coming to you in collaboration with Texas Public Radio.

Forget that civilized political discourse thing that you may think elections are all about. Texas' Republican primaries are beginning to look more like a full-on street fight.

It's a state where GOP leaders pride themselves as being conservative with a capital "C.  But l-i-b-e-r-a-l is the label that's getting the throwdowns rolling.

Gov. Abbott is accusing three incumbent House members of being too liberal as he campaigns for their challengers, and they're throwing punches back at him. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is helping fund the challenger to a sitting senator.

Incumbent Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller has no nice things to say about GOP challenger Trey Blocker, and vice versa.

And incumbent Land Commissioner George P. Bush and challenger (and predecessor) Jerry Patterson? They aren't playing nice with each other, either.

Other candidates are blasting their opponents for being-shows at public forums, for lying about their voting record and for being incredibly disingenuous in their rat-a-ta-tat attacks. Even an endorsement by President Trump's son touched off a brief spat.

The spokesman for Ken Paxton, Texas' indicted attorney general, went off on lazy reporters for trolling Twitter and writing "crappy articles" without ever going out to cover Real News.

Geez. Is no one happy? Really not happy, in fact, just weeks before the March 6 primary.

Our sponsor this week: The Texas Association of Counties.

With Mike Ward, the Houston Chronicle's Austin Bureau chief, and Scott Braddock, editor of the Quorum Report, it's Texas' leading online podcast about Lone Star politics -- coming to you in collaboration with Texas Public Radio.

Not so long ago, a lot of Texas Republicans were running for cover from President Trump.

Now, with The Donald's approval ratings high in Texas on the even of the March 6 primary, many are running to embrace him. "I agree with President Trump" seems to be the new mantra for some GOP conservatives.

Included is Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who's put up a new television ad underscoring his closeness with Trump, who many conservative Texas Republicans think is anything but.  Trump is popular and he's a Republican, and that's what counts most right now.

A lot of other Republicans are not playing so nice with each other. The State GOP executive Committee has publicly censured fellow Republican, retiring House Speaker Joe Straus, for not toeing the party line. Gov. Greg Abbott is running campaign ads against state Rep. Sarah Davis, R-Houston, accusing her of being too liberal.

GOP consultant Luke Macias has done an about-face on supporting state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, who he once helped get elected. And Land Commissioner George P. Bush and predecessor Jerry Patterson, who is now challenging Bush for reelection, aren't saying anything nice about each other.

Texas Politics may be entertaining, but the growing unpleasantness is beginning to look more like a Jerry Springer Show.

Our sponsor this week: The Texas Association of Counties.

With Mike Ward, the Houston Chronicle's Austin Bureau chief, and Scott Braddock, editor of the Quorum Report, it's Texas' leading online podcast about Lone Star politics -- coming to you in collaboration with Texas Public Radio.

After a three-day shutdown of the federal government, Congress is back at working trying to resolve the issue that triggered it: What to do with The Dreamers, the undocumented immigrants that were brought to this country by their parents.

Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who has been working on a compromise solution to deporting the 124,000 Dreamers in Texas, says there's another hitch: Approval of $81 billion in Hurricane Harvey relief funds, much of that headed to Texas, is stalled until a deal on Dreamers is worked out.

In a week when state leaders had to borrow $38 million from the prison system budget to keep funding housing relief programs, until the federal money arrives, nail biting continues in Houston and other communities devastated by Harvey as the political primary season gets into full swing.

The rhetoric is heating up in legislative races, over NAFTA and over toll roads, a perennial favorite for drama, as county judges call for state leaders to lighten up on the pay-as-you-drive roads they say are the only way Texas can keep up with its mushrooming traffic growth.

Texas Politics are seldom boring, always entertaining.

Our sponsor this week: The Texas Association of Counties.

With Mike Ward, the Houston Chronicle's Austin Bureau chief, and Scott Braddock, editor of the Quorum Report, it's Texas' leading online podcast about Lone Star politics -- coming to you in collaboration with Texas Public Radio.

Within hours after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott rolled out his plan put the brakes on skyrocketing property taxes in Texas, to GOP cheering, Democrats and a variety of other groups were shooting at it right and left.

Lupe Valdez, at an Austin forum a day later, appeared to leave open the door to perhaps raising taxes -- a comment she walked back within hours. "I'd have to lose a leg before I'd do that, and I don't want to lose a leg," she told a TV interviewer.

As the political season heated up this week, Abbott took heat for blasting state Rep. Sarah Davis, R-Houston, on a push he said she made to tap emergency funds -- a push that House records show she never made.

As the political squabbling grew this week, with the March 6 primary election getting closer,  so did the  list of additional costs the state will face in the coming year: Recovery from Hurricane Harvey, relying on state funds because federal funding continues to be delayed; $85 million in special education mandates, and perhaps millions more to overhaul the foster-care system to satisfy a just-rendered federal court order.

You can always count on this: Texas Politics are seldom boring, always entertaining.

With Mike Ward, the Houston Chronicle's Austin Bureau chief, and Scott Braddock, editor of the Quorum Report, it's Texas' leading online podcast about Lone Star politics -- now coming to you in collaboration with Texas Public Radio.

As the elbowing among dozens of little-known Texas candidates in both parties intensifies as they scramble to get attention just eight weeks before the election, President Trump is again stealing the limelight with an explosive remark featuring an expletive.

Just days earlier, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick appeared on a Dallas radio talk show extolling Trump as among the greatest presidents -- the greatest, in fact, behind iconic Republican Ronald Reagan.

While Trump has low polls numbers in a lot of states, his standing with Texas Republicans remains rock solid. That's even as The Donald increasingly becomes a boogeyman for Democrats running for most any office. Democratic candidates at all levels are seeking to energize their base to oust state GOP leaders who support Trump.

Fighting over an immigration deal in Washington for Dreamers, and calls in Austin to cut the state's $800 million in border security funding rounded out another political week in which the unexpected made the headlines.

As we say in Texas, politics is seldom boring, but always entertaining.

Welcome our sponsor this week: The Texas Association of Counties.

With Mike Ward, the Houston Chronicle's Austin Bureau chief, and Scott Braddock, editor of the Quorum Report, it's Texas' leading online podcast about Lone Star politics -- now coming to you in collaboration with Texas Public Radio.

As U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz touts the Republican-pushed tax cuts recently approved in Washington, he predicts that Texans will see more in their paychecks by next month. A prophecy, he calls it, that will refute the claims of Democrats who opposed the cuts.

With the spring primary elections in Texas just weeks away, fireworks are already underway in several races, mostly among Republicans, as Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and GOP challenger Trey Blocker have words and as Land Commissioner George P. Bush pushes back from criticism by challenger Jerry Patterson over the Alamo and Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts.

GOP STUDY: Ted Cruz begins 2018 Senate race with 18 point lead over Texas Democrat Beto O'Rourke

Several House and Senate contests are already shaping up to be political firefights, as Gov. Greg Abbott gets involved in several legislative races -- a rarity for a Texas governor. Add to the entertainment the feral hogs that are running wild and the longstanding fight over illegal voting, and you have a full slate of entertainment for Texans.

As they say in Texas, politics is seldom boring, always entertaining.

Welcome our sponsor this week: The Texas Association of Counties.

With Mike Ward, the Houston Chronicle's Austin Bureau chief, and Scott Braddock, editor of the Quorum Report, it's Texas' leading online podcast about Lone Star politics -- now coming to you in collaboration with Texas Public Radio.

Tax cuts, cuts, cuts, as President Trump loves to say, were approved by Congress to great Republican jubilation, and predictions by Democrats that the bill could be a GOP Waterloo.

Hmmm. The two parties had much the same stance just a few years ago when so-called Obamacare was enacted, and only time gave an indication of who lost and who won.

With the 2018 elections just ramping up, the Republican primaries for agriculture commissioner, land commissioner and several House and Senate contests are already shaping up to be more like a Jerry Springer Show brawl than a civilized political discourse.

In a heated Fort Worth contest, incumbent Republican state Rep. Charlie Geren and challenger Bo French are engaging in a bitter exchange over politivcal pranks and a satirical Facebook page, of all things.

"A divisive and vitriolic primary" election, is how one political scientist summed up what will likely come to the surface in coming weeks, as candidates and challengers in several races go after each other with everything they've got. The hair-pulling is about to get really ugly.

As they say in Texas, politics is seldom boring, always entertaining.

Welcome our sponsor this week: The Texas Association of Counties.

With Mike Ward, the Houston Chronicle's Austin Bureau chief, and Scott Braddock, editor of the Quorum Report, it's Texas' leading online podcast about Lone Star politics -- now coming to you in collaboration with Texas Public Radio.