Political advisors to Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, pulled the plug on an unusual fundraiser for "Speaker Tom Craddick's Political Action Committee" after inquiries about the event. Pitts, the House Appropriations Committee chairman, was traveling outside the U.S. and unavailable for comment. But before he left, he sent a letter to House colleagues from the Dallas delegation asking them to help with a funder on December 1: "I believe, together, we can plan an event that will honor Tom Craddick for his outstanding work during the 79th Legislative Session." It was to be held at Pitts' second home, in Dallas, and the letter asked each recipient to "commit to raising $10,000 for Speaker Craddick and to bringing a minimum of 25 people to show their support for our first Republican Speaker in over 100 years." He said he would provide the location -- his $2.5 million home in the Park Cities area -- and would underwrite the event. Members who signed up would have been listed as hosts, and he asked them to line up their lists of invitees by October 24. The letter, sent last week, caused some murmuring among legislators and lobbyists who knew about it. Many House members are working on raising money for their own political accounts right now, and $10,000 -- all in a day's work for a statewide officeholder dragging the sack -- is a lot of money to most state representatives. The Stars Over Texas PAC, set up by House leaders to defend incumbent Republicans in elections, wasn't mentioned in Pitts' letter. The Stars Over Texas PAC had $162,231 on hand at mid-year. Craddick's own account is in good shape -- he reported $2.7 million in cash on hand as of June 30, outpacing all but a handful of elected officials -- and so far, he doesn't have an opponent for his reelection bid next year. The letter didn't make it clear what the money would be for -- Craddick's speaker account, his own campaign accounts, or some larger effort to help with campaigns of other legislators. Craig Murphy, a consultant to Pitts who returned our call to the representative, said they decided to halt preparations because of that ambiguity. He said the intent was to raise money for Craddick's own campaign account. A spokeswoman for Craddick, Alexis DeLee, said his political folks weren't aware of the event and weren't involved in the preparations: "We don't know anything about it." According to Murphy, this is a postponement and not a cancellation. He said they'll clear up the confusion and try to put another fundraiser for Craddick together soon -- this time with clearer descriptions of where the money is going.