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Gov. Perry is stuck in third. He’s behind Herman Cain and Mitt Romney in most polls, but it hasn’t hindered his performance. Arguably the fireiest debate yet for the governor came Tuesday night in Las Vegas.

The governor went after Mitt Romney. Now, Romney’s campaign is going after Perry. CareerPolitician.com launched today and, on the site, Romney attacks Perry’s record on job creation, immigration and his stance on social security.

Perry’s campaign also released an ad today calling Romney misleading.

More cronyism allegations

Multiple times throughout his campaign for the GOP nomination, Gov. Perry has been faced with allegations of crony capitalism.

One of Perry's former top aides will now lead the Texas Department of Transportation. Phil Wilson will be the department's 19th executive director. He’s currently an energy company lobbyist.

He has previously served as Texas Secretary of State for a year and as Perry’s Chief of Staff.

YNN obtained the resumes and cover letters of the other applicants applying to the executive director position at TXDOT. Among them, mostly engineers, most with highway project experience.

In 2009 the State Legislature changed the position’s title, allowing it to be filled by someone who is not an engineer. Wilson will be the first non-engineer to head the agency.

When he was selected, Wilson’s appointment came under fire. Transportation officials originally asked for Wilson’s salary to be $381,000 per year. Gov. Perry denied that request. He’ll be paid $292,000, about $100,000 more than his predecessor.

Peggy Venable from the conservative think tank Americans for Prosperity agrees with the governor’s decision.

"People in public service need to consider it public service,” Venable said. “We don't expect them to stay there their whole careers and I think those salaries need to be more in line with what the taxpayer believes is appropriate with these agencies."

Redistricting fight continues

The Texas primaries are just months away and Congressional and State House maps are still held in court. Candidates for those districts are already campaigning, although their districts may not hold up. The U.S. Department of Justice has said the maps don't meet federal anti-discrimination requirements.

Republican Tony Dale is running for State House District 149. If it holds, it will include Cedar Park, Leander and other parts of western Williamson County. That seat replaces a Houston-based district which currently has a minority representative.

Rick Gray, the attorney representing minority plaintiffs suing over the districts says 149 is an example of why the maps are held up. He says he and his clients believe that district should have been preserved with its minority representation.

"You may wake up a week from now and be running in a different district,” Gray said. “So the money you spend on campaign organizing and advertising may be all wastes, which is unfortunate, but it's just the way the system works."

For Democrats State Representative Joaquin Castro and US Congressman Lloyd Doggett, the hope is that the districts shift in a way that benefits both. Castro and Doggett are both currently running in the newly drawn 35th district, which runs along I35 between San Antonio and Austin.

"We're both hopeful, I think, both of us, that the courts will come up with a map that both gives him a democratic district in Travis County to run in and at the same time creates a new district in San Antonio for me to run in," Castro said.

Doggett's old Travis County area district was redrawn to include a big Republican voter base, forcing him to campaign in the 35th for now.

"They cut out downtown Austin and put in downtown San Antonio and the Alamo,” Doggett said. “As I tell folks there, I don't have much experience representing the Alamo, but plenty of experience representing the Alamo Drafthouse."

The state attorney general's office defends the state and asked the San Antonio judges to keep the Legislature's maps intact.

Meanwhile, interim maps are being submitted in case Washington DC judges do not pre-clear the maps in time to meet the state election deadline. Preclearance is required in some states with a history of racial discrimination, like Texas.

For analysis from the Quorum Report’s Harvey Kronberg, Democratic Strategist Harold Cook and Republican Strategist Ted Delisi, watch the video above.