Campaign Update

Cellphone pioneer Motorola announced Wednesday that it's opening a Texas manufacturing facility that will create 2,000 jobs and produce its new flagship device, Moto X, the first smartphone ever assembled in the U.S.

Richard Overton, 107, of Austin, is believed to be America's oldest living World War II veteran. He had planned to spend Memorial Day quietly at home with close friends. However, that changed for about half an hour when his front porch turned into a meeting place between him and Governor Rick Perry.

Eight of the 15 fastest-growing large U.S. cities and towns for the year ending July 1, 2012 were in Texas, according to population estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. The Lone Star State also stood out in terms of the size of population growth, with five of the 10 cities and towns that added the most people over the year.

Rick Perry has some harsh words for the mainstream media’s coverage of Benghazi and the emerging IRS scandal, saying today that “the mainstream media needs to quit protecting this administration.”

In its ninth annual survey of CEO opinion about the best and worst states in which to do business, 736 CEOs—the highest response on record—rendered their verdict. Business leaders were asked to grade states with which they are familiar on a variety of competitive metrics that CEOs themselves regard as critical. These include: 1) taxation and regulation; 2) quality of workforce; and 3) living environment. The tax and regulatory grade includes a measure of how CEOs grade a state’s attitude toward business, a key indicator.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) met with Mark Malkowski, owner of Stag Arms of New Britain, Connecticut, who was in Houston for the NRA convention. The two met to discuss a possible move to Texas for the firearm manufacturer.

Arms manufacturers in at least two states with strict new gun laws are making good on their promise to move their operations -- along with thousands of jobs and millions in tax revenues -- to locales they deem friendlier to the industry.

“While I will always welcome healthy policy debate, I won’t stand for someone mocking the tragic deaths of my fellow Texans and our fellow Americans,” Perry wrote. “Additionally, publishing this on the very day our state and nation paused to honor and mourn those who died only compounds the pain and suffering of the many Texans who lost family and friends in this disaster.”