Deputy Secretary of State H.S. "Buddy" Garcia is apparently on track to become the newest commissioner at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

That spot opened when Martin Hubert left the agency to become deputy to Comptroller Susan Combs.

Garcia worked for Gov. Rick Perry and for Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, before getting his current job. He's concentrated on border affairs in both his current job and in his time in the governor's office. Perry's making the appointment, but wanted to wait until Garcia's new senator — Kirk Watson, D-Austin — was sworn in and could approve the appointment. Watson was a commisioner at the old Air Control Board, one of TCEQ's predecessor agencies.

Garcia joins TCEQ at a time when electric companies wanting to build coal plants are seeking permits for those projects. They're getting opposition from several cities and environmental groups, but argue they need to build plants quickly to meet the state's growing need for electric power.

Surrogates for House Speaker Tom Craddick said while this was all in the air that he had heard the complaints of the House and was prepared, if reelected, to make adjustments. But Craddick himself made no public promise of reform or change in style, and what he does next is the subject of much speculation.

Is this going to be more like the aftermath of a failed coup attempt where the guy in charge jails all of the generals who tried to knock him off?

Or will Craddick be more like the guy who gets a serious lecture from his cardiologist about changing his lifestyle before the next heart attack kills him?

The first real evidence might not come until the committee assignments are handed out in a few weeks. Craddick is collecting preference cards from members — that's where they say what they want to do, with senior members getting in line for spots reserved for those with tenure. A couple of weeks after that, he'll announce who gets the good assignments and who gets the stinkers. On one hand, it doesn't make sense for a winner to reward his detractors, and if Craddick doesn't punish at least some of them, members will see that there's no risk in crossing him.

You just knew there was a "however," right? Craddick came within seven votes of getting his political neck snapped. If he's too harsh, the opposition could get fired up enough for another run and try to win that handful of votes against him.

After the elections, Craddick had nine open committee chairmanships and 10 vice chairmanships. Those resulted from defeats and resignations since the previous session. When the votes were counted on a rule that established the battle lines between the Craddick and Pitts armies, five of Craddick's remaining chairmen were on the other side, and 10 of his vice chairs.

Pitts did worse, proportionally, on this own committee than he did in the full House. Five members of the panel didn't return to the Lege. Of the 24 remaining, Pitts got seven votes, including his own. That's 29 percent. In the House, the Geren Amendment got 68 of 148 votes. That's 46 percent.

Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, has a new legislative aide. Jason Nelson was previously with Rep. Mike Krusee, R-Austin.

Joe DaSilva moved into the executive offices at the Texas Hospital Association — he's now a senior vice president — and out of the lobby racket. John Hawkins, who joined THA two years ago after a run at the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, will head the lobby ops.

Cathy DeWitt moves from public affairs to lobbying for the Texas Association of Business for the session. She's done media relations there for several years.

Former Dallas County Judge Margaret Keliher signed on with the Locke Liddell & Sapp law firm's Dallas office. She'll work in the public law section there and will spend some time in the Austin office during the legislative session.

Appointments: Gov. Rick Perry tapped District Judge J. Manuel Banales of Corpus Christi to be presiding judge of the 5th Judicial District. That's a four-year gig, if the Senate goes along.

Mark Silverstone of Georgetown is Perry's choice for the 425th District Court judgeship. He's an attorney in private practice there. Just to the north, Fancy Jezek of Temple will be the new judge of the 426th District Court in Bell County. She's also a private practice attorney.

Perry named Jim Cox the chairman of the Texas Lottery Commission. He's been at the commission since 2002 and served on the General Services Commission before that.

The state's newest transportation commissioners are Ned Holmes of Houston and Fred Underwood of Lubbock. Holmes is a real estate developer and a former commissioner at the Port of Houston Authority and at Texas Parks & Wildlife. Underwood is head honcho at Trinity Co., a cotton bale storage facility.

The governor named Dr. Michael Arambula of San Antonio to the Texas Medical Board, which regulates doctors. He's in private practice and also teaches psychiatry at the UT Health Science Center in San Antonio.

Deaths: Former House Speaker Bill Clayton of Springlake, the first speaker of the modern era to serve more than two terms in the post — he did four — and the political survivor of a political sting investigation run by the FBI. He beat a bribery rap and was reelected to the House and to the speakership when it was over. Clayton covered his shrewd political skills with a country veneer, and became a successful lobbyist after leaving the House. He was 78.