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.
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.
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.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.