Former mayors, heroes, and dentists line up for the House.

Rep. Nathan Macias, R-Bulverde, gets a slot on the House Public Education Committee, taking the chair left open by Rep. AnnaMowery's resignation last month. That throws a relatively obscure House rule into play: Macias is giving up his place on the Pensions and Investments Committee because of a rule that says you can't be on more than two "standing substantive committees" at the same time. No word on who House Speaker Tom Craddick has in mind for that second slot.

Macias, a freshman who upset Rep. Carter Casteel of New Braunfels in last year's GOP primary, faces a challenge of his own this time. Doug Miller, an insurance agent, former head of the New Braunfels chamber and former mayor of New Braunfels, plans to run in the HD-73 GOP primary next year. He's currently the chairman of the Edwards Aquifer Authority board.

• Brian Birdwell, a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, is pondering a run for the Texas House. He's filed initial papers to challenge Rep. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, in HD-60. Birdwell worked in the Pentagon and was seriously injured in the 9/11 attack on that building six years ago. He's now a motivational speaker, running Face the Fire Ministries, which works with burn victims and their families. He and his family recently moved to Granbury, near Fort Worth, from Springfield, Virginia. Keffer is chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee and is one of several members who have filed papers to run for speaker of the House when the Legislature convenes in January 2009.

• Rep. Juan Escobar, D-Kingsville, will have an opponent in the Democratic primary. Tara Rios Ybarra, a dentist and alderman from South Padre Island, is putting a campaign together.

Rep. Dianne White Delisi, R-Temple, says she won't seek reelection after her current term — her ninth — ends in January 2009.She says nothing in particular triggered her decision — she "just felt this is the right time" for her to leave. "I've come to the conclusion that it's impossible to leave a clean desk... that time just doesn't come in politics." Delisi was elected in 1990 — the same year voters put Ann Richards and Kay Bailey Hutchison into statewide elected positions. She's been a strong supporter of House Speaker Tom Craddick, and says she delivered the news to him shortly before announcing her decision not to seek another term. In his administration, she was chairman of the House Committee on Public Health. She'd been on the Appropriations Committee — for a while as vice chair — under his predecessor, Democrat Pete Laney. Asked about her proudest moments, she mentioned her years on the budget, Medicaid reform legislation, and the creation of the Texas Trauma System. She didn't mention either House leader in her exit statement (see below), but mentioned there and in an interview that she put a high value on the "spirit of collegiality" in the Legislature. Delisi doesn't have her next gig in mind; she says she's working on her requests for interim committee charges and doesn't know what she'll do when the term's up. She won't back a replacement candidate in the Republican primary next year, but says she'll support the winner of that primary in November. Delisi, who got 66.4 percent of the vote in last year's election, is confident a Republican will replace her. The Texas Weekly Index on that district is 33.4 in favor of the GOP: That's the number of percentage points separating the average statewide Republican candidate from the average Democratic opponent in the last two elections. Here's a copy of her statement:

Rep. Kirk England of Grand Prairie is switching parties, saying he'll seek reelection as a Democrat.

That's the last party switch in the Texas Legislature in years, and it's been a long, long time since a legislator left the Republicans for the Democrats and survived the switch.

England was elected to the House in a special election in 2006, when Rep. Ray Allen, R-Grand Prairie, resigned. England won a full term last November, running as a Republican and netting 49.2 percent of the vote. He finished just 235 votes ahead of a Democrat who ran an underfunded campaign. Election wizards from both parties thought the result might have been different if the Democrats had decided to really compete in that district last year.

During the legislative session, England often found himself with the Democrats, and he cited his dissatisfaction with House Speaker Tom Craddick in a statement issued to the press:

"In December of 2005, when I filed to run for office, I made a promise to the hardworking families in our community to fight for our public schools, fight for affordable health care and to fight for them on pocketbook issues. After one session in the House, I found that the Republican leadership in Austin had no tolerance for the values and priorities of the folks I represent.

"... I trust the voters in District 106 and I am confident that my friends and neighbors agree that doing what is right is more important than partisan politics.

"I am prepared to roll up my sleeves and work hard to be reelected in 2008. I am confident that the voters in our district want a representative who will fight for public education and the Children's Health Insurance Program, and who believes that the folks struggling to pay skyrocketing utility bills every month are more important than TXU's profits. I am committed to returning to Austin to keep the promises I made to citizens of District 106."

He was even more pointed in an interview, saying he he "came to the realization that the leadership didn't have the tolerance for an independent-minded Republican." England said House committee chairmen — he wouldn't name names — had been trying to recruit Republicans to run against him next year. Nobody bit, but he said the calls made his decision a little easier.

"I haven't changed, from the time I filed to run for office in 2005. Kirk England hasn't changed one bit. [The party switch] will allow me to make the same kinds of votes without my party leadership making threats against me in my district."

He found himself at odds with "the leadership" over teacher pay raises and other education issues, and over efforts to limit rises in appraisals and local property taxes. "My dad's been a mayor for 16 years, so I get local control," he says.

He says his local supporters — with a couple of exceptions — supported his decision to switch parties.

England says he voted for Ronald Reagan for president in his first election as a voter, but never has voted a straight party ticket. "I always liked [former U.S. Rep.] Marty Frost," he says. And he expects to get an opponent in the primary as well as next year's general election.

England's district is marginally Republican, but it's a thin margin. Republican statewides in the last two cycles beat Democrats by an average of 10.8 points in HD-106. There's one Republican in the House — Pat Haggerty of El Paso — in a less conservative district; there are ten Democrats in the House who represent more conservative districts than England's.

England's switch brings the partisan balance of the House to 79 Republicans and 70 Democrats. One seat, which had been held by Rep. Anna Mowery, R-Fort Worth, will be filled in a special election in November.

The last Democrat to switch was Bernard Erickson, a Cleburne Republican who jumped in 1994, prompting Arlene Wohlgemuth, who had worked on his first campaign, to run against him. She won the election — a bout so close it went to an official "contest" on the floor of the House — and beat him again (handily) in a rematch two years later, with Erickson again running as a Democrat.

House Appropriations Chairman Warren Chisum of Pampa left the Democrats for the Republicans before the 1996 elections, changing his official alignment but not his votes. He'd been siding with Republican colleagues in the House for years before changing. His last election as a Democrat and his first as a Republican had something in common: He was unopposed both times. And Rep. Billy Clemons of Groveton switched from blue to red in 1995. He'd pulled in 68.2 percent of the vote as a Democrat in 1994, but after switching, lost to Democrat Jim McReynolds of Lufkin in 1996.

And leading up to the elections in 2004, Rep. Robby Cook of Eagle Lake thought hard about leaving the Democrats for the Republicans — it went right to the eve of an announcement — then decided not to run for reelection, then reconsidered and won reelection as a Democrat. He won again last year, again as a Democrat.

Barry Smitherman, who's been on the state's Public Utility Commission since 2004, will get a full term there. Gov. Rick Perry reappointed him to the commission that regulates electric and telecommunications utilities. 

Perry named Albert "Buddy" McCaig Jr. of Waller to the newly created 506th District Court that serves Grimes and Waller counties. McCaig is a private practice lawyer.

The Guv reappointed Dr. Roberta Kalafut of Abilene to the Texas Medical Board that oversees doctors and the practice of medicine. She's the owner of SpineAbilene.

Perry picked five people for the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy and named Coalter Baker, who was already on the board, to chair it. Newbies: Carlos Barrera of Brownsville, a partner in Long Chilton LLP; David King, a partner with Ernst & Young in San Antonio; Catherine Rodewald of Dallas, managing director of Prudential Mortgage Capital Co. (and a former board member); and John Steinberg of Marion, a reappointment whose day job is director of safety and security at Little Caesar of San Antonio.

House Speaker Tom Craddick appointed Jimmy Mansour of Austin to the Advisory Board of Economic Development Stakeholders, a panel affiliated with the state's economic development and tourism office. Mansour is the chairman of Grande Communications.

Former Dallas County Judge Margaret Keliher has a new gig: executive director of Texas Business for Clean Air. She's a CPA, a former district judge and most recently, a lawyer with Locke Liddell & Sapp.

The governor reappointed Lisa Ivie Miller for another four years as Firefighters' Pension Commissioner. She got that call on 9/11.

Justin Keener — who worked in communications for House Speaker Tom Craddick during the legislative session — will open an Austin office for Cassidy & Associates, a Washington, D.C.-based government affairs consultancy.

Ailing: Former U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson, D-Lufkin, who is apparently on the list for a heart transplant. Wilson is 74.

Deaths: Thomas Abbott Bullock Sr. of Brenham, one of the founding partners and former chairman of CRS, the huge Houston-based architectural firm. He was the older brother of the late Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock, and died after a short illness. He was 84.