A lobbyist who doesn't want his name in this newsletter or anywhere else offered up a new phrase for this phase of the race for speaker: Legislative Osteoporosis. He's referring to bone loss in the spines of some lawmakers.

Have a little sympathy. They're stuck between Speaker Tom Craddick and a sea of contenders for his job. Everybody's claiming momentum, but only one list has been made public and it's only got 13 names on it.

The Democrats claim 64 signatures on the Not Craddick pledge we wrote about last week. That's a lot, if they're all there and all telling the truth, but it's not the 76 required to knock the guy off.

You can add eight to ten Republicans to that if you include those who say they want to be speaker and those who say, directly or not, that they're looking for a change.

That's not 76, either, but it's close enough to give you goose bumps.

The short list is from a letter of support for Craddick from 13 Republicans. That's the 98-pounder on this beach and it caused some nervous giggles in the House and in the lobby world, but at least they're showing their names. That's unusual at this point.

They got some clarity out of Linda Harper-Brown's apparent win in HD-105. If that holds, the Republicans are in the majority. A Democratic speaker would be unlikely, so you can halve the number of candidates for now (a recount is likely).

That helped a bit. But in fact, there's been almost no public movement in days, as members tentatively feel their way though this.

They don't like it. Nobody wants to land on the losing side, whether they like Craddick or not, and that might be the incumbent's strongest selling point at the moment.

Delay works against him, one argument goes, because this institutional hesitation underscores his weak position and gives his foes time to forge deals and work on wavering lawmakers. The other side of that: Craddick's done this before. He's good at it, and the fact that the other side hasn't closed the deal is giving him time to talk to enough people to win him a fourth term.

Go back to those numbers, though: House Democratic leader Jim Dunnam of Waco sent a memo to his colleagues saying they've got 64. They're not naming names, but that'd be a helluva bluff.

The next play might come in Bastrop County, where the Republicans hold their first post-election gathering next week at the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort. They'll get a head-count, or might get one, and Craddick will have a solid idea of whether he can survive in a chamber with 76 Republicans and 74 Democrats.

It's probably not that important at this point to get 76 signatures on the Democrat's petition. They've framed the issue — keep him or quit him — and managed to make the scramble to replace him a secondary issue. That sort of scramble, you'll recall, helped undo the challengers to Craddick two years ago.

We're sticking with that headline for another week.

The current list of challengers on the GOP side includes Byron Cook of Corsicana, Dan Gattis of Georgetown, Delwin Jones of Lubbock, Jim Keffer of Eastland, Edmund Kuempel of Seguin, Tommy Merritt of Longview, Jim Pitts of Waxahachie, and Burt Solomons of Carrollton.

Counting, Counting... Counted

Rep. Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving, won another term in the Legislature, and the Republicans hold the narrowest possible majority, with 76 House members to the Democrats' 74.

Dallas County went through the military ballots that hadn't been counted in HD-105, adding five votes to her total. Provisional ballots were lopsided in favor of her opponent, but not enough so to flip the results. She ended up with a 20-vote lead (out of 40,753 cast) over Democrat Bob Romano, who's also from Irving.

The panel inspecting the votes in that race had 231 provisional ballots to look at — ballots that had been set aside because of questions about the eligibility of the voters. Romano won 36 votes there, to Harper-Brown's 24. That wasn't enough to do the trick. He won in early voting. She won on Election Day. And with everything counted, she's the winner by a nose. James Baird, the Libertarian in that race, got 1,061 votes, keeping both of the major party candidates from crossing the 50 percent mark.

Romano's likely to seek a recount. You would probably do the same thing: Some of these are paper, or optical, ballots (the kind where you're supposed to fill in the circle with a No. 2 pencil), and there were more than 40,000 votes cast.

Harper-Brown has been in the House for three terms; she's part of the big 2002 class that gave the Republican Party its first Texas House majority since Reconstruction. And she's a backer of House Speaker Tom Craddick, who is being challenged for that position and who, like his rivals, hasn't yet amassed the votes he needs to win another term.

Support for Craddick

That skimpy letter we mentioned? It's actually two letters.

Under Rep. Wayne Christian's letterhead, the lawmakers list legislative accomplishments during Craddick's six-year tenure and say those things were done in spite of obstacles "including unprecedented efforts to disrupt the work of the House of Representatives" by parties not named in the letter. A second letter, over Leo Berman's signature, adds him to the mix. The lawmakers named (no signatures on the copy we got) are Warren Chisum of Pampa, Linda Harper-Brown of Irving, Carl Isett of Lubbock, Phil King of Weatherford, Jodie Laubenberg of Parker, Ken Paxton of McKinney, Dan Flynn of Van, Geannie Morrison of Victoria, Bryan Hughes of Mineola, Bill Callegari of Katy, Larry Taylor of Friendswood, and Christian.

What's So Special About Tuesdays?

A peculiar statistic from the unofficial returns on this year's general election: Election Day voting was virtually the same in the presidential election this year as in the gubernatorial election two years ago.

This year, 2,701,376 people turned out on E-Day, about 33.5 percent of those who voted. Two years ago, 2,704,245 showed up on Election Day, about 61.5 percent of those who voted.

Total voting was higher this year, even though the Election Day numbers were flat: 8,053,036 voted in this year's election, while 4,399,068 voted two years ago.

Another note while you're looking at this chart: The raw number of voters is steadily increasing (goober years are lower than prexy years, but the trend line is up). But the turnout — as a percentage of what the Census folk call "Voting Age Population" — is slipping, or flat. In gubernatorial years starting five elections ago, the numbers were: 1990, 31.1 percent; 1994, 33.6 percent; 1998, 26.5 percent; 2002, 29.4 percent; and 2006, 26.4 percent. In presidential years, the series goes like so: 1992, 47.6 percent; 1996, 41 percent; 2000, 44.3 percent; 2004, 46.1 percent; and 2008, 45.4 percent.

This was the second presidential election in a row where early voting exceeded Election Day voting. But in 2004, when early voting accounted for 51 percent of the total, it was fairly close. This time, the early vote accounted for two of every three votes — 66.5 percent. The state hasn't done that in a gubernatorial election year. The highest in recent history was in 2000, when 38.8 percent of the voters went early.

Only 88 of the state's 254 counties had early turnouts of less than 50 percent of the total vote. In Dickens County, only 17 people voted early, out of 972 voters. That's an early turnout of 1.7 percent.

In Wichita County, 80.6 percent of the votes were in the box before Election Day. Early voting accounted for more than 70 percent of the total in some of the state's biggest counties, including Bexar, Brazoria, Collin, Denton, Fort Bend, Lubbock, Tarrant, Travis, and Williamson.

Mapping the Vote

Obama won only 28 of Texas' 254 counties, but they included some of the big ones. McCain won by nearly one million votes (946,854, to be unofficially exact). He did it by beating the Democrat in 226 counties, racking up an advantage of 1.4 million votes. Obama offset that with the 464,551 margin he amassed in 28 counties. What's interesting, though, is what counties fell where. McCain did best in suburban and large rural counties (Tarrant County being the big exception). Obama did best in urban counties and in South Texas.

Third-party candidates were a non-starter in the presidential race, getting only 64,124 of the 8.1 million votes cast.

Remember when everyone was looking at the numbers from the top 15 counties and talking about a Democratic turnout? They weren't that far off, but those counties weren't representative of the state. If only the top 15 counties had counted, Obama would have won in Texas. Those counties, taken together, voted blue; the margins there were obliterated by the rest of the state's voters. That was even more pronounced in the 10 largest counties. And the keys to the Democrat's victories there were Travis and Dallas counties, each of which gave Obama margins of more than 110,000 votes.

A few big counties didn't tip hard to one candidate or the other. In Harris County, the spread only accounted for 1.6 percent of the vote. It went to Obama, who picked up almost 19,000 votes over McCain, but that big number is, in that county, little more than a rounding error. Fort Bend County surprised a lot of watchers by almost landing at center court: Only 4,710 votes out of 102,846 separated the two candidates. Take that county out of the reliably Republican column. The difference in Bexar County was only 5.5 percent; Obama got the 29,091-vote difference, but it wasn't a landslide.

The smallest margin, in raw votes, was in Kenedy County, where Obama finished 15 votes ahead of McCain. Next in line was Hudspeth County, where McCain won by 28 votes.

Tube Tops

You'll be sitting there in the Texas House in a few months, all set for the slow drone of another legislative day, when two dozen TV cameras come out of nowhere.

We call them TV bills, and the first legislative filings have plenty of potential (this was the first week bills could be filed for the 2009 session). This stuff is sometimes serious, sometimes goofy. It grabs headlines. It sucks the air out of everything else, eats time and attention and gets more press than some of the big things, like the budget and big industry regulation. Remember the cheerleader booty bill a couple of sessions ago seeking to regulate overtly sexual dancing at high school football games? The HPV vaccine? School vouchers? TV City.

Sample bill captions — the titles on the legislation — from the early offerings for the next legislative session:

• Relating to providing Internet access in certain local public libraries.

• Relating to the determination of the appraised value of a residence homestead for ad valorem taxation.

• Relating to an offense of using a wireless communication device while operating a motor vehicle in a school crossing zone.

• Relating to prohibitions on the use of a wireless communication device while operating a motor vehicle.

• Relating to repeal of authority for the establishment and operation of the Trans-Texas Corridor.

• Relating to disclosing information to persons obtaining emergency contraception.

• Relating to the procedures for registering to vote and accepting a voter at a polling place.

• Relating to requiring a voter to present proof of identification.

• Relating to limits on political contributions and expenditures in connection with certain legislative and executive offices.

• Relating to the use of direct recording electronic voting machines.

• Relating to the limitation on increases in the appraised value of a residence homestead for ad valorem taxation.

• Relating to the election of the commissioner of insurance.

• Relating to eliminating automatic admission to certain public institutions of higher education based on high school grade point average.

• Relating to regulation of property and casualty insurance rates.

• Relating to a limitation on the amount of tuition charged by public institutions of higher education.

Mayor Strayhorn?

Maybe you remember laughing about thiscockamamie idea, or maybe thisscheme. But Carole Keeton Strayhorn wasn't kidding — she is running for mayor.

Strayhorn met Wednesday evening near the Capitol with around 200 potential supporters, asked them all to write down four things they'd like the next mayor to do. She told the group that she'll be raising money — Louise Epstein will be her treasurer — and a full-blown announcement of her candidacy will come after the holidays.

The theme is "Carole for Mayor."

One attendee told us that she didn't use the word grandma at all; she's campaigned for the last few years as "One Tough Grandma." Among the attendees: Former Austin Mayor Lee Cooke, former UT Chancellor Bill Cunningham.

Strayhorn was already mayor of Austin once — after she'd been on the Austin school board and before she was a state insurance commissioner, railroad commissioner, and comptroller. She's lost three elections, including a run for Congress against former U.S. Rep. J.J. "Jake" Pickle, her initial bid for railroad commission, and her bid, as an independent in 2006, for governor against Rick Perry, Chris Bell and Kinky Friedman.

Flotsam & Jetsam

It seems like ancient history in some ways, but the scrap over the Texas Two-Step — the caucus/popular vote process for choosing presidential candidates in the Democratic primaries — is coming to a head.

The Democrats came out of the primaries, and then out of their convention in Austin a few months later, with a promise to reexamine their oddball system. Sen. Royce West of Dallas headed a panel that's been around the state hearing from Democrats. Now they're ready to talk about changes. Party officials have said they want to tweak the system without killing it; others want to nix the caucus half of the deal and are loud about it, operating under the banner of Change the Caucus.

Refresher course: Democrats in Texas vote in primaries, then go to caucus meetings to choose delegates for their candidates. Barack Obama lost to Hillary Clinton in the voting, then beat her in the caucuses. They split the delegates and the whole confusing thing managed to irk Democrats on both sides. They meet Friday of this week for the last time. Recommendations will follow.

• The Secretary of State will canvass general election votes as early as next week (11/19). Candidates who want recounts have until two days after that's done to make their requests; after that, they have to live with what they got.

• Brian Walker of Tatum hasn't yet decided whether to ask for a recount. He also lost to an incumbent, but to a Democrat — Chuck Hopson of Jacksonville. The spread in that race was 102 votes and the four counties are split in their voting systems: In two, it's paper ballots; in two others, voters can choose between voting on a paper ballot or on an electronic ballot.

• Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst hosted a fundraiser for Republican Joan Huffman this week. Coming up: A funder for Democrat Chris Bell at Sen. Kirk Watson's house in Austin. Huffman and Bell face off in a special election runoff for the SD-17 Senate seat next month. Gov. Rick Perry hasn't yet set the date for that. The canvass in that election is set for Tuesday and Perry has to pick a date between 20 and 45 days after that canvass. That would put it somewhere after the first week in December.

• Several commercial real estate trade groups have formed a super-group — the Real Estate Development Association of Texas — to handle legislative worries for all of them. The joiners include the Real Estate Council of Austin, the Real Estate Council (Dallas), Greater Fort Worth Real Estate Council, the Houston Real Estate Council, Houstonians for Responsible Growth, and the Real Estate Council of San Antonio.

Political People and Their Moves

Andrew Weber is the new First Assistant to Attorney General Greg Abbott, replacing Kent Sullivan, who got a new gig (see below). Weber was the Clerk to the Texas Supreme Court and an attorney in private practice before signing on as Deputy AG for Legal Counsel about a year ago. Jonathan Frels, now chief of the public finance division in the AG's office, will move into the job Weber is leaving.

Comal County Tax Assessor-Collector Sherman Krause joins Comptroller Susan Combs' office as head of a revamped Property Tax Assistance Division. That's the division that, among other things, oversees county appraisal district valuations of property for taxes; Combs also is moving appeals of rulings from the comptroller's office to the State Office of Administrative Hearings, so appraisal districts can go to another agency when they disagree with the comptroller's work.

Charles Cooper is the state's new banking commissioner. The former federal bank examiner and bank executive started this week. Randall James retired from that job earlier this year.

Jim Harrison will be the new head of intergovernmental relations for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. He's currently in the governor's office of homeland security.

Glenn Shankle, the recently retired executive director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, is hanging out a lobby shingle. He and a couple of former TCEQ colleagues — Sonia Ralls and Kerri Rowland — will concentrate on environmental issues at the legislative and agency level.

M. Scott Norman gets rid of the word interim, becoming executive director of the Texas Association of Builders. He's been at that trade group since 2003, when he left a staff spot in the Texas Senate.

Daniel Donohoe moved to Comerica as director of government relations from JPMorgan Chase. He'll remain based in Dallas.

Gov. Rick Perry followed the election with a bunch of postings, including several judicial appointments that will stand until the next general elections (and didn't have to weather this year's political storms):

• Kent Sullivan, the state's first assistant attorney general, to the 14th Court of Appeals in Houston. He's a former state district judge, and replaces Wanda Fowler.

• Sylvia Matthews, a Houston attorney with Andrews and Kurth, to the 281st District Court, replacing David Bernal.

• Don Hinde, an attorney with Steele Sturm in Houston, to the 269th District Court, replacing John Wooldridge.

• David Peeples of San Antonio as presiding judge of the Fourth Administrative Judicial Region; that's a reappointment.

• Stephen Ables of Kerrville as presiding judge of the Sixth Administrative Judicial Region; he presides in the 216 District Court, and is being reappointed to the admin job.

• Kelly Moore of Brownfield as presiding judge of the Ninth Administrative Judicial Region; that's a reappointment, and Moore is the judge in the 121st District Court.

The non-judicial wheel was turning, too. Perry appointed:

• David Baucom of Sulphur Springs to the Texas Medical Board. He's president of an insurance agency.

• Jose Cuevas Jr., founder and president of JumBurrito in Midland, to the chairmanship of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, and Melinda Fredricks of Conroe to a spot on that same board. She's a former teacher and community volunteer.

• Mike Allen, Claudell Kercheville, and Scott Parker to the Upper Guadalupe River Authority Board. All three are from Kerrville. Allen is chairman of Union State Bank. Kercheville is retired from Frost Bank San Antonio. Parker is a retired attorney.

• Bryan Shaw, Barry Smitherman, and Michael Williams to the new Texas Advisory Panel on Federal Environmental Regulations, which will report back on the impact of federal greenhouse gas regulations. Shaw is on the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Smitherman is chairman of the Public Utility Commission. And Williams was just reelected to the Texas Railroad Commission.

• Dr. Lloyd Garland of Lubbock and former Rep. Ruben Hope of Montgomery to the State Office of Risk Management.

• Kathleen Hill of Hutto to the Texas Board of Occupational Therapy Examiners. She works at Seton Children's Therapy Gym at Cedar Park.

• Raymond "Tripp" Davenport III of Southlake to another term on the Texas Ethics Commission. He's an investment banker and veep at Banc of America Securities.

• A.W. "Whit" Riter III of Tyler and Fred Heldenfels IV of Austin to the top spots on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Riter's the new chair, is president of Riter Management Co. and the A.W. Riter Jr. Family Foundation. Heldenfels, now the vice chair, is president and CEO of Heldenfels Enterprises Inc.

Quotes of the Week

Rep. Joe Straus III, R-San Antonio, in the San Antonio Express-News: I'm deeply concerned about the Republican Party, and I'm concerned about the Texas House. There are a lot of Republicans who feel the way I do — this goes deeper than the speakership of Tom Craddick. There is a feeling that the status quo is not acceptable."

Rep. Mike Hamilton, R-Mauriceville, asked by the Associated Press who he'll support for speaker of the House: "Undecided."

Dallas County GOP Chairman Jonathan Neerman, talking with The Dallas Morning News about his party's weak showing there on Election Day: "The top of the ticket dictates the fortunes of down-ballot candidates. We knew we were running uphill in mud."

Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson, quoted in the Houston Chronicle: "This is a strange way to select those who guard our legal rights. It is time to decide whether partisan election is the best means to ensure judicial competence. It has become clear that in judicial elections, the public (particularly in urban areas) cannot cast informed votes due to the sheer number of candidates on the ballot."

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, telling the Associated Press she never asked anyone to buy her a new wardrobe for the vice presidential campaign: "I never asked for anything more than a Diet Dr Pepper once in a while."

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Texas Weekly: Volume 25, Issue 44, 17 November 2008. Ross Ramsey, Editor. Copyright 2008 by Printing Production Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher is prohibited. One-year online subscription: $250. For information about your subscription, call (512) 302-5703 or email biz@texasweekly.com. For news, email ramsey@texasweekly.com, or call (512) 288-6598.

Republican Joan Huffman will go into her runoff for SD-17 with the endorsement of the Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC. That PAC endorsed her in round one, and also endorsed Democrat Stephanie Simmons. The remaining candidates are Huffman and Democrat Chris Bell, whose supporters include a gaggle of trial lawyers who don't get Christmas cards from TLR.

Jim Mattox, the former Texas attorney general and congressman, died at home of unknown causes. He was 65.Mattox served in the Texas House and then as a congressman from East Dallas. He won statewide office in 1982, the last time Democrats won all of the statewide offices on the ballot. After two terms as attorney general, he lost a famously negative race for governor in 1990, running against Ann Richards and Mark White, and losing the runoff against Richards. He lost two races for U.S. Senate. In 1994, Mattox lost a Democratic primary fight against Richard Fisher of Dallas, who went on to lose to Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison. The last time he was on the ballot, in 1998, Mattox lost the race for attorney general to Republican John Cornyn, who's now in the U.S. Senate. Mattox and his wife Marta were raising two school-age children in Dripping Springs. He remained active in Democratic politics to the end, recently working to change the party's "Texas Two-Step," which combined popular voting and caucuses to select presidential delegates.

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Texas AFL-CIO President Becky Moeller: "Jim Mattox had a gruff exterior and a golden heart. His mission in public service was not to go along to get along or even to make friends, though he still made many. Instead, Jim believed in opportunity and justice for all as the highest priority. He stood in the great populist tradition that even a conservative state like Texas builds a loyal opposition that fights like hell for the downtrodden. His heroes were people like James Allred and Ralph Yarborough. "Like those populists, Mattox won some, took his lumps and maybe even occasionally stepped over lines of propriety. But he never wavered. There was never any doubt about Jim Mattox's love and support for Texas and the working families of this state, nor about his skeptical eye toward the powers-that-be. "The Texas AFL-CIO has lost a great, lifelong friend and we will miss him mightily. We take comfort in knowing how much Jim enjoyed the 2008 elections after the long trek in the wilderness by his beloved Democratic Party. We offer our heartfelt condolences to the Mattox family. Jim Mattox was one of a kind."

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Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie: "Both Betty and I were deeply saddened to learn that our good friend Jim Mattox passed away yesterday evening. A tough public servant, Jim's life was spent working for the interests of all Texans. His legacy of service and dedication to our great state will endure, and he will be dearly missed. "Through his decades of service in our Texas State House, U.S. Congress and as Texas Attorney General, Jim was known as a tenacious advocate for the people of Texas. As Attorney General, Jim prioritized child support enforcement, benefitting hard-working parents and children across our state. He also won accolades for his aggressive support of consumer protection initiatives and acted as a tough corporate watchdog. Jim truly represented the best interests of Texans and will not soon be forgotten. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Mattox family and friends as they face this difficult loss."

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U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison: "Ray and I were saddened to learn of the passing of Jim Mattox. Jim was a proud Democrat and he rendered public service in the state legislature, the U.S. Congress and as Attorney General of Texas. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Marta and their children."

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Gov. Rick Perry: "Texans today mourn the loss of a genuine leader with the passing of Jim Mattox. His leadership, passion for and service to the state of Texas have left a lasting legacy. Anita and I extend our sincere condolences and prayers to his family and his friends all over the state."

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Attorney General Greg Abbott: "Jim Mattox was a passionate public servant whose larger-than-life persona left an indelible impression on the Texas Capitol. He will long be remembered for his dedicated service in the Texas Legislature, the U.S. Congress and as the 47th Attorney General of Texas. Cecilia and I extend our deepest sympathies to the Mattox family."

The balance has shifted. House Speaker Tom Craddick is still in the race for his job next year, but he's lost the sheen of invincibility.

Did you watch the Olympics? The part in women's gymnastics when the favorite on the balance beam leaned way out and looked like she'd surely fall? She didn't fall, but the wobble removed her advantage over the competition and put the gold medal at risk.

Wobbling support has done the same thing to Craddick.

He doesn't have the 76 votes he needs to win, and the longer he goes without a majority, the weaker he looks to his enemies and to his friends.

It's one thing to have the usual suspects running against him. Not to diminish their importance, but the so-called ABC Republicans (Anybody But Craddick) have never been counted in Craddick's column.

It's the defections from his core supporters that put him off balance. Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, has always been in the Craddick camp. Now he's decided to run for speaker, talking openly about the need for change and about how Craddick's management style has failed.

Add in people like Joe Straus III of San Antonio and Dan Gattis of Georgetown, two young Republicans who have likewise left the fold, preaching the need for change. Others — names like Tuffy Hamilton and Patricia Harless go here — have shared doubts about Craddick with reporters, among others. Reporters are the last people most politicians confide in — by which we mean that they confide in a lot of others, like their colleagues and supporters, before they start yakking with the papers. Maybe they're with Craddick, maybe not. But it's weird that they're talking about his weaknesses.

And there's another list of members, those who have been loyal to Craddick and who are not yet putting their names on the record, who are talking to their confidants about their anxieties and their wishes for something new.

By our count, two of Craddick's 40 chairman were defeated this year (Democrat Kevin Bailey and Republican Tony Goolsby). Another three (Dianne White Delisi, Fred Hill, and Mike Krusee, all Republicans) decided not to come back. Five of the remaining 35 have changed sides, saying they'll run for speaker themselves, that they won't vote again for Craddick, or both. That group includes Byron Cook, Joe Deshotel, Jim Keffer, Patrick Rose, and now, Burt Solomons.

Add in others who've jumped ship to run for speaker, some of them ABCs, all of them Craddick supporters at one point or another: Delwin Jones of Lubbock, Jim Keffer of Eastland, Edmund Kuempel of Seguin, Brian McCall of Plano, Tommy Merritt of Longview, Jim Pitts of Waxahachie.

As far as we can tell, nobody in the running has as many supporters as Craddick has. But it's clear that he doesn't have the 76 he needs to win. And it's starting to appear that the opposition has enough votes to knock him off.

You hear this line a lot: "You can't beat somebody with nobody." That's generally used to mean Craddick can't be beat until the other side settles on an opponent.

The formula only works if the question is "Who will run against Craddick?" That's no longer the question. Now it's "Which of these people is going to be the next speaker?"

And Craddick's is just one of several names in the hat.

Bloggers are looking at the first bills submitted by state legislators for the '09 session, discussing the House Speaker race, relaying testimonies, and talking about themselves. Wrapping it up are some miscellaneous posts.

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Bills, Bills, Bills

The University of North Texas wants a law school in downtown Dallas, says Tex Parte Blog. If it happens, the city's already donated a building. Also from Tex Parte, the University of Texas at Brownsville wants a law school, too. And A Capitol Blog's Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg, is asking for a medical school in the Valley.

Capitol Annex has the greatest number of entries about pre-filed legislation, including bills related to transportation, election law and redistricting, higher ed, school vouchers, education, criminal justice, the English language, injection wells and more! Meanwhile, Code Red, formerly Joshua's Political Blog, says the sheer number of bills argues for the implementation of annual state Lege sessions.

Thinking outside the region, the Austin Chronicle's newsdesk is interested in legislation written by state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston. And Blue Dot Blues says the worst bills thus far are HB 105 by Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin, which would create campaign contribution limits, and HB 100 by Rep. Fred Brown, R-Bryan, lowering requirements for history and civics courses at state colleges.

Grits for Breakfast relays a Texas Department of Criminal Justice fact sheet on an inmate re-entry bill by Rep. Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande City. Here's a look other legislation related to criminal justice, via Grits.

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Nobody Has The Votes Yet

We're not sure if Travis Monitor had Tom Craddick in mind when posting this Quote of the Day, but we sure thought of the Speaker's race when reading it.

Flashing back to the jockeying for Speaker in January 2007, Burnt Orange relates a tale of daring and woe starring Rep. Will Hartnett, R-Dallas. "Other than the fact that I spoke with [Rep.] Garnet [Coleman, D-Houston], your story is dramatic, but completely fictional," Hartnett comments. Burnt Orange takes umbrage.

In the present tense, Burnt Orange analyzes public statements from each House member, concluding that, on the Craddick question, 75 are opposed; 63 are in favor; and, 13 are unknown. (Here's an update concerning Rep. Al Edwards, D-Houston, who told Burnt Orange that he's a Sylvester Turner kind of guy. But here's some evidence from mcblogger to the contrary.) BurkaBlog's take: "They did a great job. But they're wrong." A discussion ensues in the comments. "Duck and cover!" is the advice from Letters from Texas.

Remember back in August when we told you about the brand-new sensation called ooVoo? Well, the Texas Monthly folks are using it, finally, to post discussions amongst themselves. Follow these links for three videos on the Speaker's race: here, here and here.

After reading the letter wherein a baker's dozen of lawmakers pledge allegiance to Craddick, Trail Blazers, the Dallas Morning News's blog, asks, "Where's the love for tort reform?" Musings calls the Craddick supporters "Toadies," which, depending on your taste in music, might not be an insult. And A Capitol Blog uses a video by the company Ross Perot founded to illustrate the Speaker selection process.

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What'd They Say?

Grits links to five Sunset reports on criminal justice agencies and weighs in on the recommendation to get rid of the Texas Youth Commission. Meanwhile, Mike Falick's Blog provides the testimony he gave in opposition to proposed Pre-K grant rules. And Robert Shapiro, whom you may remember from such presidential administrations as Bill Clinton's, argues on the Houston Chronicle's Texas on the Potomac that 2008 U.S. politics are more like 1980 than 1932.

On Williamson Republic, Americans for Prosperity Director Peggy Venable argues in favor of spending limits for state budgets. And political demographer (and former Austin American-Statesman reporter) Bill Bishop, who's also coeditor of The Daily Yonder , tells Trail Blazers how Barack Obama's performance in Texas compares with John Kerry's.

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Bloggers Are People, Too

The following bloggers admit to suffering from post-election ennui: In the Pink Texas , Refuse the Juice and KVUE's Political Junkie (who also got in a car wreck on Veterans Day, with a veteran). The El Paso Times's Vaqueros & Wonkeros, meanwhile, has been in North Carolina.

In the department of shameless pandering, Burnt Orange's David Mauro is canvassing online votes to win a $10,000 blogging scholarship. With a bit of help from the likes of Daily Kos, Mauro's in the lead (as of Sunday). In second place is a guy named David Cameron (no relation to the British politician), who has a North Carolina-based blog about baseball and the Seattle Mariners. On a related, but more discreet note, Sprittibee tells readers that she's in the running for a "Homeschool Blog Award."

After some deliberation, TexasSparkle says she will no longer write for the Houston Chronicle, because she wants to concentrate on her two other blogs. In nearby news, the HoustonPress is looking to hire a political blogger. (Via blogHOUSTON.)

Given the Democratic Party's momentum, is it time for Half Empty to rename the blog "Half Full" No! says Half Empty, not as long as Americans are willing to take advantage of Nebraska. As we mentioned earlier, Joshua's Political Blog is now Code Red . And Bexar County Justice of the Peace-Elect Steve Walker sends a virtual thank you card to voters on his Walker Report blog.

No word yet on if PatriotWriter is following through on her relocation vow. Meanwhile, Ellis County Observer reminds readers about his other blog called District 22 Blog, wherein Sen. Kip Averitt, R-Waco, is called imaginative things such as "RINO," "Anti-Taxpayer" and "Too Liberal."

Headline of the Week Award goes to Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban for a blog maverick entry that could apply to either party, titled "I Hate to Lose." (Just replace "Mavs" with "Harris County Democrats" or "national GOP.")

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Loose Ends

Newsdesk debuts the Strayhorn Mayoral Declaration Alert System. Here are maps of elections results by Eye on Williamson and Greg's Opinion (here and here). Plus non-pictorial analysis by Greg here and here.

If we handed out Lede of the Week awards, mcblogger would get one for this one: "Apparently, UT has decided that it 'can't' offer domestic benefits because of state law. Which is pretty funny since the City of Austin and my employer do."

And, Ellis County Observer predicts that Rep. Ron Paul, R-Lake Jackson, will run for President of the United States in 2012.

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This edition of Out There was compiled and written by Patrick Brendel, who hails from Victoria but is semi-settled in Austin. We cherry-pick the state's political blogs each week, looking for news, info, gossip, and new jokes. The opinions here belong (mostly) to the bloggers, and we're including their links so you can hunt them down if you wish. Our blogroll — the list of Texas blogs we watch — is on our links page, and if you know of a Texas political blog that ought to be on it, just shoot us a note. Please send comments, suggestions, gripes or retorts to Texas Weekly editor Ross Ramsey.

The Republican Caucus meets this week at a luxury resort near Austin, and they appear to be selling time with legislators to $10,000 and $25,000 donors. The invitations offer big donors a chance to play golf with "Preferred House member" or "Preferred House Leader." Frank Corte, the San Antonio representative who heads the Republican Caucus, says the golf tournament and the policy conference were combined this year, but have been going on for some time. And he defends the fundraiser, saying it's no different than similar golf tournaments held by other groups, like the Mexican American Legislative Caucus. "I don't think it means a lot," he says about the wording of the invitations. "Some folks that have played golf in the past... just want to play golf with each other. "It's not in any way inferring that there's some favor involved," he says. The event is closed to the public, but Corte says everything they do will be reported as required by the Texas Ethics Commission. "Everything we do is transparent," he says. See the invitation, below. And the Associated Press has a full story on the invites at this link.

Premiums for storm insurance on the coast will rise 12.3 percent for residential and 15.6 percent for commercial customers.The rates for the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association will go up on February 1. The usual limit on such increases is 10 percent, but Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin, citing catastrophic losses, let them go up more than that. With this increase, will have risen 30.5 percent from the beginning of 2006 for residential customers, and 43.3 percent for commercial insureds.

The last empty office on the legislative ballot will be filled in a runoff between Democrat Chris Bell and Republican Joan Huffman next month. The date, set by Gov. Rick Perry: Tuesday, December 16.

Early voting will run from December 8-12 (that's a Monday-through-Friday deal). The term they're seeking lasts until January 2011. Add some names to the guest list for Bell's Austin fundraiser: Every Democrat in the Texas Senate, including Sen.-elect Wendy Davis of Fort Worth.

• Two House members elected this month will take office before their fellow newbies: Ralph Sheffield in HD-55 and Tryon Lewis in HD-81 will take their oaths this week. Sheffield is serving out what's left of Dianne White Delisi's term. Lewis will serve the last weeks of the late Buddy West's term. Both candidates are Republicans, replacing Republicans, and both won their general elections for full two-year terms starting in January.

Burt Solomons is official. He filed papers to run for speaker of the Texas House this morning. Solomons, R-Carrollton, isn't shooting at House Speaker Tom Craddick or at any of the other real and potential speaker candidates. Craddick put him in the chairmanship of the House Committee on Financial Institutions. "I'm not running against Tom," he says. "I'm running not so much against them as for how we govern. "I'm a pretty conservative Republican. I'm not off the reservation. We need to change how we're governed. "It doesn't have to be this hard." He's not sharing his list, but says he's already got "several commitments" from other members who'll support him. Solomons says members are "timid and uncertain" about change, because that's how politicians are. But he said their public silence differs from their private conversations. "Everybody's talking about it... somebody's got to say, 'It's been three sessions — why can't we try something else?'" What would members get from a Speaker Solomons? "I have a totally different management style," he says. "The body always has philosophical disagreements... but there's a hole to fill — people need to feel they can have their say. "I like Tom personally. He was a great first choice as a Republican speaker, and he's a historic figure. "After last session, I really think we need to try a different approach. The end result is important, but it's important how you get there." Here's his press release announcing the filing:

For Immediate Press Release Burt Solomons Formally Files For Speaker Of The Texas House of Representatives Austin, Texas (November 18, 2008) ? "I want to restore the public and legislators' confidence in the legislative process," said State Representative Burt Solomons (R-Carrollton). "This is all about how we are going to govern the Texas House and it's time for this change. Legislators need to be able to disagree respectfully and still end up passing good legislation for their districts and our state, which is why I have now filed and am running for Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. I plan to offer both Republican and Democrat colleagues new stewardship and fair treatment." Solomons, a past supporter of Speaker Tom Craddick for the past three sessions, said he filed for Speaker on Tuesday morning in order that new Republican leadership have the opportunity to tackle the tough issues of our state with a less controversial approach to the House Rules and process. A 58 year-old attorney with experience as a City Attorney, Municipal Court Judge and a Fellow of the University of Texas Center for Public Policy Dispute Resolution, Solomons is one of the House's most respected members for his knowledge of the House Rules and parliamentarian procedure. Raised in Dallas, Solomons is a 1972 graduate of Texas Tech University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Government. He also earned a Masters of Public Administration from Southern Methodist University, and his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Tulsa. Solomons' House District 65, includes the cities of Carrollton, Coppell, Dallas Frisco, Hebron, Lewisville, Plano, and The Colony. Preparing to begin his eighth term representing Denton County, Solomons has authored and passed some of Texas' most sweeping legislation including the state's very popular "Texas No-Call List" legislation to prevent telemarketing abuse; the state's new Workers' Compensation Reform Act; the state's first countywide transit bill; and legislation which now allows Texans to borrow money using home equity loans. Known as a bridge builder, Solomons recently brought divergent groups such as organized labor unions, business associations, insurance, patient groups and healthcare providers together who all ultimately agreed on the state's new consensus Workers' Compensation Reform Act. Solomons not only talks a bipartisan game, during legislative sessions he shares an Austin apartment with El Paso Democrat State Representative Joe Pickett. "We are like the Odd Couple movie" Solomons mused. "I'm Republican, Joe is a Democrat, I'm a North Texas conservative and Joe is an El Paso moderate--- I like boats and Joe likes cars. We get along great because we respect each other and the legislative process affords plenty of common ground for bipartisan accomplishment," offered Solomons. Solomons currently serves as Chairman of the Texas House Financial Institutions Committee and is past Chairman of the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission. Solomons also serves on the Texas House Committee on Business and Industry. In 2001, the American Association of Retired Persons named him as an "Outstanding Legislator." In 2005, Rep. Solomons was honored by the Texas Chapter of the American College of Cardiology which gave him the "Heroes of the Heart Award" for legislation he championed as a heart bypass survivor. That same year the Texas Hospital Association honored him with the "Texas Hospital Advocacy Award." Rep. Solomons resides in Carrollton with his wife, Jamie, and their daughter, Haley. His family attends Prestonwood Baptist Church.

A Willacy County grand jury indicted Vice President Dick Cheney, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, and state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr.The indictments are not yet public, according to the Willacy County Clerk's office. Lucio's lawyer, Michael Cowan, said the indictments were among several issued by "a crazy D.A. who's been voted out of office and has decided to leave in a blaze of glory. He's created havoc, closed two courts, and this is gonna take a while to sort out. "He indicted Sen. Lucio on something that's a misdemeanor, that shouldn't have been in an indictment, and the senator didn't commit any crime," Cowan said. "It's just crazy." In a written statement, he said they'll fight: "Senator Lucio is completely innocent and has done nothing wrong. We will file a motion to quash the indictment this week. We look forward to having the opportunity to have an independent, competent prosecutor review the facts, and are confident that once that happens these baseless charges will be dismissed." The district attorney, Juan Angel Guerra, wasn't immediately available for comment. A grand jury had previously indicted Guerra, but those charges were dropped earlier this month after a special prosecutor decided they lacked merit. He'd been accused (with others on his staff) of using county property for personal use, tampering with records, and perjury. And he was the target of a removal petition from three other county officials — the sheriff, the district and county clerks — in mid-2007. They went to court to try to remove him from office, an effort that failed. He lost his bid for a fourth term earlier in the March Democratic primary, and his term ends in January. A local TV station — KGRV-TV — has a brief story posted here. And here's a report from the Brownsville Herald.

There oughta be a "Speaker Summit" where all of the candidates for the House's top job could get together on how to conduct their warfare. That's the brainchild of Rep. Tommy Merritt, R-Longview, one of those candidates. "I don’t expect the Summit to result in a unified choice for Speaker." he said in a press release. "But I do hope we can at least agree to a set of ground rules that each candidate will adhere too, a fair process for voting, and an agreement between the candidates that whoever wins, that person will put Texas above politics and will not punish those who entered the contest." He says he'll call others in the race this week to see if they're interested.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas is the new head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee — the guy raising money and standing over the political war maps in anticipation of the 2010 Senate elections. His rise was made possible by U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's decision not to seek reelection as head of the Senate Republican Conference. She's clearing the decks for an expected gubernatorial run in 2010.

And U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions of Dallas won the top spot at the National Republican Congressional Committee, where he'll try to pull the Republicans out of their minority status in the lower chamber.

Anne Heiligenstein will be the next commissioner at the state's Department of Family and Protective Services. She's currently the deputy commission at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, worked in the White House, for the governor's office, and for what was then the Texas Department of Human Services.

Trent Townsend, the legislative director for Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth, is moving on; he's the new chief of staff to Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin. Brimer lost his reelection bid. Townsend replaces Celinda Provost, who left Watson a few months back for the private sector.

Shannon Dick Ghangurde is the new director of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services. She's been Sen. Jane Nelson's general counsel for four years and will replace Amy Herzog, who is retiring.

Amber Moon signed on as communications director for the Chris Bell campaign, with Adrienne Fischer as her deputy. Fischer was already with the campaign in another role; Moon was most recently the spokeswoman for the Harris County Coordinated Campaign.

President George W. Bush is appointing R. Bruce LaBoon to the board of the Mickey Leland National Urban Air Toxics Research Center. LaBoon's an attorney with Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell and a former chairman of the Greater Houston Partnership.

Carmen Fenton is leaving her position as communications director for U.S. Rep. John Carter, R-Georgetown, to become the director of public affairs for the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association in Austin. She'll be wrangling press and have other duties as well.

Abel Torres moves to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to work on federal health care issues; he's been at the federal Administration on Aging.

Dropped, for lack of evidence: April DWI charges against Rep. Mike Krusee, R-Round Rock. He said he was stopped after having one glass of wine, refused a blood and breath test, and had to spend that first night in jail.