Rep. Edmund Kuempel, R-Seguin, has been looking at the race for Speaker of the House for weeks. Now he's in it. Kuempel, elected to the House in 1982, ran for speaker in 2002 but dropped that bid when it became apparent that Tom Craddick had the votes. Now, he says, it's time for more "continuity" and "bipartisanship" in the House. "Each members' voice needs to be heard," he said. "It's important that each individual have their say." Kuempel said his filing isn't a comment on any of the others who've also thrown their hats in the ring. "I just wanted to get in and show what I have to offer," he said.

What's Bob Romano gonna do?

The Irving Democrat fell 19 votes short in his challenge of Rep. Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving, and has until early next week to decide whether he'll challenge the results.

His choice will tell you, 1) whether this is going all the way to the floor of the House, where election contests are settled, and 2) how the Texas Democratic Party proceeds with a federal lawsuit challenging Dallas County's vote-counting procedures.

That federal lawsuit is in a kind of limbo at the moment, as the lawyers on the Democratic side wait to see what Romano wants to do next. If he decides not to contest the election results, they'll try to drop the HD-105 issues and proceed with the lawsuit with 2010 in mind, according to Chad Dunn, the attorney for the Democrats. The battle, you might remember, is over the counting of so-called "emphasis votes" on electronic machines. Vote straight ticket and then for a candidate on that same ticket on a paper ballot, and Dallas County tallies that as a vote for everyone in that party including that candidate. But do the same thing on an electronic machine, and it's counted as a vote for everyone in that party except for that candidate.

The Democrats say the counting change was made without required approval from the U.S. Department of Justice.

If Romano continues his challenge to Harper-Brown, they'll proceed with him in the lawsuit, asking the court. If he doesn't want to keep counting, they will likely drop him and Harper-Brown both and ask the court for a ruling on how things should be counted in the next state elections, in 2010.

Romano has until next week to make his decision. He says he's still thinking it over: "We want to make sure all of the votes are counted, and we want to make sure all of the people are represented."

National Democrats disrespected Texas Latinos by laying out of the U.S. Senate race between Republican John Cornyn and Democrat Rick Noriega, a couple of state senators said in a strongly critical letter to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Mario Gallegos of Houston and Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio wanted until after Noriega had been trounced to send their note. And they sent it to the outgoing chairman instead of the incoming honcho. But they also sent it to everybody with a pencil and a notebook to put the DSCC on notice.

They started with the relative importance of the Hispanic vote:

"Of those in the Democratic coalition in the state, there is no emerging demography more important, with more unrealized potential, than Latino voters in Texas. Unfortunately, while we have made great strides to help ourselves, we have seen little enthusiasm toward recognizing that our efforts are worth investing in... "

Complained that Washington is more attentive to Anglos than to Latinos:

"We are offended by the lack of investment in Texas, specifically the lack of institutional support given to our colleague and friend Rick Noriega in the recent United States Senate campaign. The heat of election night had not cooled before the speculation began about DSCC support for several Anglo candidates in future races. This is not only disrespectful, it’s shameful...

Reiterated the growth of Latinos in Texas politics:

"In a statewide Democratic primary race in Texas, it is impossible to win without Latino support. A Latino candidate will always have the advantage in a low turnout race. In the future, greater numbers of viable, qualified Latino candidates will be running for statewide office in Texas. We intend to make sure of it...

And turned a timeworn complaint about money leaving the state and not coming back into a suggestion that race had something to do with the inattention to Noriega:

"Institutions such as the DSCC continually raise millions from Texas contributors for the benefit of Democrats across the country. Texas Democrats, especially Rick Noriega, did not benefit from Texans’ generosity. Yet, in the 2002 race between the Democratic nominee Ron Kirk and candidate John Cornyn, the DSCC spent $4.5 million on ads in support of Kirk. Kirk was able to garner 43% of the vote. Rick Noriega was able to garner 43% of the vote in his race against Cornyn, the incumbent, without any financial support from the DSCC. If just half of the amount spent on Kirk had been invested in the Noriega campaign, we might well be discussing the transition of the first Latino US Senator from Texas."

And they closed it with a slap:

"The DSCC’s decision is shameful and disgraceful, and we will do everything we can to prevent this disrespect from happening again. For the face of the US Senate to represent the true face of America, we must all work together to invest in quality candidates such as Rick Noriega, not take a walk when our candidate is not a member of the millionaires club. We have invested in Texas, and will continue to do so. Please consider joining us in investing in these efforts as well."

The letter was addressed to U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, head of the DSCC for this year; the incoming head, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey was copied on it.

In an email to supporters on the eve of the state's fundraising deadline, Gov. Rick Perry opened a line of attack you're sure to hear for the next two years if he's battling Washington D.C. over money, Democrats over partisan stuff, or U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison over his reelection. You know the music to the partisan fight, but the line against Washington and Hutchison is similar: They've abandoned Republican values.

Perry doesn't mention Hutchison in the fundraising missive, but the language echoes what we're hearing on the political side. Just watch and see.

Perry's opening line repeats the criticisms of the Bush Administration he was making during the primaries, when he traveled other states on behalf of Rudy Giuliani:

"While I was certainly disappointed by the recent national election results, I am not disheartened. If anything, the last two elections have confirmed one important fact: Republicans should not only campaign as conservatives, but govern as conservatives too."

He wrote about political analyses of a change in the country's political direction:

"Some think that the political pendulum will swing back now that the Democrats have total control over Washington. While I certainly see an opportunity for the re-emergence of a conservative movement focused on lunch pale issues, it won't happen if we simply offer opposition — only if we offer an alternative."

He positioned himself as an opponent of Democratic programs, and included a swipe at Republicans who've been in office for the last 12 years, which goes back to the middle of the Clinton Administration and nearly to the beginning of Hutchison's tenure in the Senate:

"We cannot merely object to socialized medicine, we must offer consumer-driven alternatives. We cannot simply say 'no' to the failed status quo in education, but provide a vision that empowers parents and educators to offer a better product that prepares more students for the jobs of a high-tech economy. And we cannot allow the true party of big government and spending deficits — the Democrat Party — to cling to the mantle of fiscal responsibility simply because Washington Republicans blew it with twelve years of exploding earmarks and spending sprees."

And near the close, there's another swipe at Democrats and at moderate Republicans:

"We're not just battling the Democrats' liberal vision for America, but some within our midst who want to chart a course that is Democrat Lite — Republican in name, Democrat in priorities."

Hutchison opened her exploratory campaign with a call for improvements in education and health care — issues often associated with Democrats: "Texans deserve a Governor who, in the context of sound budgetary policies and low taxes, works for quality schools and universities, access to health care for our families, communities safe from crime and drugs, protection of private property rights, sensible transportation and a government that listens and responds to them."

Perry's email (which could have used a proofreader, by the way) closes with a pitch for money. Saturday's the deadline for state officeholders, who won't be able to solicit campaign contributions from then until the legislative session ends in June. Hutchison and other federal officeholders aren't subject to that restriction. She can raise money while Perry and others are frozen out.

This week, bloggers are posting about people coming into and leaving various races, offices and positions, talking about House Speaker's race developments, and surveys on a variety of subjects. At the end, the opinion section.

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In and Out Bloggers

The Houston Chronicle's Texas on the Potomac posts a political cartoon about U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's 2010 challenge to Gov. Rick Perry. "Bring it on," says Perry, according to Trail Blazers. (Here's a related clip for nostalgia's sake.) Hutchison tells Trail Blazers that she'll stick around in the Senate until late '09. Texas Politics, the Houston Chronicle's blog, has a podcast featuring her view on the subject.

Capitol Annex looks at some possible replacements for Hutchison if she steps down and Perry gets to do the appointing. Trail Blazers says a certain former Democratic comptroller might be eyeing Hutchison's Senate position if she leaves.

Freshman Rep. Tim Kleinschmidt, R-Lexington, is the lowest man on the totem pole in terms of House seniority, says the Austin American-Statesman's Postcards from the Lege, meaning that if they run out of desks in the chamber, he's the one who gets to stand. KVUE's Political Junkie has the complete list of office selections. And A Capitol Blog comments on the seniority rankings and posts a photo of the House's Christmas tree.

Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center, along with a bunch of other prosecutors, got canned by new D.A. Pat Lykos. The blogger was a vocal supporter of Lykos's opponent and never had much nice to say about Lykos. No word on if a name change is in the works for the blog, but for the record, the blogger's name is Murray Newman.

Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt is quitting his job after being reelected in November. ABC13's Political Blog has his statement (released on Friday evening) and wonders if he stayed on to ensure a Republican successor.

A Trail Blazer got pzwn3d by outgoing Pres. George W. Bush, and a future neighbor of the future former president talks about the neighborhood to Tex Parte Blog. Meanwhile, mean rachel is moving into Democratic Rep. Elliott Naishtat's Austin district. Where's your website? she asks.

And the newest Texas Kaos front-page blogger is the proprietor of Left of College Station. Here's his first post.

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It's No Secret

The State Republican Executive Committee held a meeting to urge House members to pick a Republican Speaker using an open ballot, which some see as a de facto endorsement of Rep. Tom Craddick, R-Midland. Trail Blazers was present at that meeting — or more accurately, was standing in the hallway outside the meeting.

Nearly every BurkaBlog post this week is devoted to Speaker's race. He talks about splits in the GOP, the "test vote" for Speaker that will take place Jan. 13, the import of a letter by Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, and two eyewitness accounts of the SREC meeting.

A Postcards commenter posts a response to Solomons's letter allegedly by Rep. Harold Dutton , D-Houston. And Trail Blazers wonders if Rep. Ed Kuempel, R-Seguin, or Rep. Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, will throw their hats into the Speakers' race.

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Surveys Say

The Woodlands' Hill Research Consultants came out with a poll that paints a bleak picture of the Texas Republican Party. (We talk about it here.) PoliTex points to columns about the survey by pollster David Hill appearing in the Washington, D.C.-based The Hill newspaper (no relation), and Texas Politics has a presentation by Hill (the pollster). Burka folks talk about the survey in a video, while Texas Observer Blog says, "The details are stunning."

Lone Star Times blogger David Benzion, who's a senior research analyst for HRC (that's Hill, not Hillary Rodham Clinton) in real life, is seeking readers' opinions and thoughts on said survey. Read the comments for the opinions. A "series of focused conversations" will take place on the blog this week. And on a nonpolitical note, LST announces the winners of the Kosher bacon-flavored recipe contest. (Spoiler: It's "Seafood Salad a la Swine.")

Letters from Texas readers say the biggest losers of 2008 are John McCain/Sarah Palin, Wall Street, George W. Bush and Eliot Spitzer. (Incidentally, the losers of the biggest losers poll are Rush Limbaugh and Tina Fey naysayers.) And Refuse the Juice takes a look at the El Paso Times' Best of the Border awards, noting "that everything to do with EP Times won in each category for the non-food related stuff. That's fishy. Real fishy."

Whosplayin is taking submissions for Texan of the Year. A Keyboard and a .45 has a poll on firearms and parking lots. Defending People is in the mix for the American Bar Association's top 100 criminal justice blogs, says Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center. And Rightwingsparkle is the 138th-or-so top conservative tweeter. Click here to find out what that means.

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Whatchoo Talkin' 'Bout?

Potomac runs a column by U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Lake Jackson, on the auto bailout. "It won't work. It can't work," says Dr. No. Meanwhile, in a post on how to fix the American auto industry, blog maverick uses one of our favorite quotes from 1987's RoboCop: "That's life in the big city."

The Ellis County Observer has an update on the status of former Williamson County Libertarian U.S. Rep. candidate Barry Cooper, who successfully baited Odessa cops into trying to bust him for growing Christmas trees indoors. It's all part of his latest business venture called KopBusters.

Grits for Breakfast readers weigh in on various criminal justice issues in light of the upcoming session. Meanwhile, Rep. Charles "Doc" Anderson, R-Waco, has a bill aimed at reducing paperwork by school districts and teachers, says Mike Falick's Blog. And here's commentary by Campaign Legal Center Blog about former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's adverse effect on Texans' Congressional clout.

And Rhetoric & Rhythm wins Headline of the Week award for a post on a word the San Antonio Express-News sometimes doesn't think about not using, apparently: "That's bitchin'."

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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.

Former Comptroller John Sharp says he'll run for Kay Bailey Hutchison's Senate seat, whether it opens up early or in 2012, when her term is up.Sharp is the first Democrat to openly express an interest in that race. He's been talking about the possibility with potential supporters for several weeks. "I've been watching some other people strain and moan with all this exploration stuff," he said. "I think that makes you look weak. I know what I'm going to do — why not just say it?" Hutchison recently announced she's formed an exploratory committee to consider whether to run or not. And she said she won't resign early to run before the end of next year, putting any question of a special election to replace her off for another 12 months. State Sen. Florence Shapiro formed an exploratory committee last summer to allow her to raise money and publicly contemplate a bid. Several other potential candidates are in the wings, waiting to see what Hutchison does, angling for a gubernatorial appointment to her position should she leave early, and scheming: Houston Mayor Bill White, Railroad Commissioners Elizabeth Ames Jones of San Antonio and Michael Williams of Austin, former Secretary of State Roger Williams of Weatherford (don't act surprised if he files papers this week or next), and U.S. Rep. Kay Granger of Fort Worth. White's a Democrat; the rest are Republicans. And there are almost certainly some schemers we're not mentioning here. Sharp said he'll file papers on January 1 and start organizing and raising money for a race. A special election, he said, will probably cost "$10 million before you get to a runoff, and there will be a runoff." That could be a real number; it could also be a caution sign he's erecting for the benefit of potential competitors. When Hutchison ran in 1993, 24 candidates were in the running and nobody got more than 30 percent of the vote. She easily defeated appointed U.S. Sen. Bob Krueger in the runoff that followed. Sharp was comptroller from 1990-98 and before that served as a Railroad Commissioner, a state senator, and a state represetative. He ran for lieutenant governor in 1998, losing to Rick Perry, and again as part of the Democrat's "dream team" in 2002, when he lost to David Dewhurst. He and Perry have mended fences, and Sharp was a key figure in the writing and passage of the state's tax on businesses passed in 2006. Sharp's press release:

JOHN SHARP TO RUN FOR U.S. SENATE (AUSTIN) — John Sharp, the former Texas Comptroller known nationally as a leading expert on economic and energy policies, said today that he will run for the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate seat currently held by Kay Bailey Hutchison. “I will be a candidate whether the election is in 2012 or any time before then,” said Sharp, who received the highest percentage of votes statewide of any Democrat during the past decade. “Texans face tough challenges that call for innovative solutions, and that’s what our campaign is all about.” Sharp, 58, said he is forgoing the step of forming an exploratory committee and will file the required papers on January 1 so that he can begin raising money and campaigning across the state with the dawn of the new year. As Texas Comptroller, Sharp earned a national reputation for innovative initiatives, including the Texas Performance Review, which saved taxpayers more than $8.5 billion, helped divert a proposed state income tax, safeguarded vital public services, and served as the model for Vice President Al Gore’s National Performance Review. A native of the South Texas farming community of Placedo, Sharp graduated from Texas A&M University, where he was elected student body president and commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserves. He earned his master’s in public administration from Texas State University in San Marcos while working fulltime as a fiscal analyst at the Legislative Budget Board in Austin. As a Texas House member, Sharp served as vice chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and was named Outstanding Freshman by Texas Monthly magazine. He later ran successfully for the Texas Senate and was appointed to the powerful Senate Finance Committee. In 1985, he was elected statewide to the Texas Railroad Commission and served as the energy agency’s chairman. Sharp worked for the Dallas-based financial management firm Ryan, Inc. after leaving the Comptroller’s Office and is currently helping the firm set up a charitable foundation. He was co-founder and treasurer of Texans to Cure Cancer, the largest anti-cancer initiative ever launched in the state. In 2006, with state lawmakers facing the prospect of shutting down public schools or advocating a state income tax, he led a bi-partisan committee to find a solution to avoid both — cutting overall taxes by more than $1 billion in the process. Sharp and his wife Charlotte have two grown children and live in Austin, where they are active in their church and a variety of community programs and humanitarian efforts. — 30 —

The number is 19. That's the margin by which Rep. Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving, held onto her seat. The other number is 150, which is — now that this is settled — the number of representatives who'll be available to vote in next month's election of a Speaker of the House.Democrat Bob Romano is now deciding whether to launch an election challenge when the House meets next month, and Texas Democrats have a federal lawsuit pending over Dallas County's ballot-counting methods.

The feds haven't set a court date. A challenge won't impact the race for speaker — Harper-Brown would be in her seat for a vote on the speaker, though she could lose it later in the session should she lose an election contest. That's the rules so far, apparently. As it's been explained to us, the certified winner of the election — that's Harper-Brown — gets sworn in on the first day. They go through the rules, the selection of the speaker, etc., and it's only later that an election contest would be held to see whether she or Romano should serve out the term.

It fell the other way a couple of sessions ago when Democrat Hubert Vo unseated Republican Talmadge Heflin. Vo won the election, barely, and was sworn in on the first day. He voted in the speaker election. Heflin challenged him and though he dropped the contest before it went to a vote on the floor, that vote would have been the only vote from which Vo would have been barred.

A successful challenge to the Irving election result might empty the seat for a longer time, if the House were to decide another election is needed. Same thing with the feds: A new election is among the remedies the Democrats are seeking in their lawsuit, though their first choice is a recount using their preferred rules.

Early voting runs through Friday in the SD-17 runoff election. Democrat Chris Bell and Republican Joan Huffman are vying for the seat left open by Republican Kyle Janek's resignation earlier this year.

It's a contest that's important to both sides, but not as critical as it seemed a month ago. Texas Republicans are one vote shy of a two-thirds majority in the state Senate, which means they have to have at least one Democrat on board to consider legislation. But they've been able to peel one (or two) Democrats away from the opposition on some issues, and they've been able to wait until members are absent — thus changing the two-thirds numbers — on others. Democrats wanted to pick up an insurance vote for their side; Republicans wanted to hold their numbers.

Then Democrat Wendy Davis unseated Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth, taking some of the shine off of the Houston race. It put 12 Democrats and 18 Republicans in the Senate with one last desk available. Both parties are still battling for the seat, but there's a little less at stake than before.

Five counties have a piece of the district. Harris County accounted for more than half the votes in the first round of the special election, and Democrats — Bell and Stephanie Simmons — pulled 52.8 percent of that county's votes.

Fort Bend and Brazoria counties — which together accounted for over a third of the votes in Round One — went Republican. Brazoria's voters gave 61.2 percent of their votes to GOP candidates; Fort Bend's were more evenly divided, but Republicans pulled 51.4 percent of the votes there.

The remainder of the votes came from Jefferson and Galveston counties, in that order, and Democrats won handily in both, pulling 83.9 percent in Jefferson and 61.5 percent in Galveston.

Huffman's best performances in the first round came in Brazoria and Fort Bend, but she split the Republican support with three others and got just more than 36 percent of the overall vote in those counties (she got 26.1 percent overall, to Bell's 38.4 percent). She beat Bell head-to-head in Brazoria. He beat her in Fort Bend, and he clobbered her in the other three counties, including Harris, where he had almost 20,000 more votes. In raw numbers, the Democratic margins in Jefferson and Galveston more than offset the Republican margins in Brazoria and Fort Bend in the first heat; Harris County, for the Democrats, was just gravy.

Not that any of matters now. It's a turnout race and the two sides are working their lists to get their people to the polls during the early voting now and on Election Day next Tuesday; 223,295 people voted in the first round, but that Election Day coincided with the general election and the big turnout of the presidential race.

Both candidates are making last-ditch appeals for money, and both are in the million-dollar range for these last four weeks of the race. In the 8-day reports filed this week, Bell showed contributions of $895,105 and spending of $456,439, ending the period with $263,838 in his campaign accounts. Huffman raised $1,127,158, spent $970,867, and had $364,229 on hand. She also had $890,000 in loans outstanding.

Add Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones to the list of people who want to be the next U.S. Senator from Texas.She says in a short press release that she's in the hunt for the seat now held by Kay Bailey Hutchison. She's the fourth candidate to openly express an interest in the contest, and the second on the same day (Roger Williams jumped in the same morning). Hutchison has started an exploratory committee while she considers running for governor in 2010. She has said she might resign early — her term ends in 2012 — and that if she does so, it won't be until the end of next year. But Republican state Sen. Florence Shapiro announced an exploratory committee this summer and Democrat John Sharp said this month that he'll run for the position when it opens. The combination of Hutchison forming a committee and Sharp entering the race seems to have uncorked the bottle. And this isn't nearly over: There are a mess of other people in Texas who think they're seeing a future United States Senator when they look in the mirror.

AUSTIN — Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones confirmed Friday that she will be a candidate for the U.S. Senate position currently held by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Her confirmation followed media reports that she had filed a statement of candidacy for the office last month with the Federal Election Commission. "I will be making a formal announcement at a later date" she said, "I am enthused about the prospect of serving the state I love and the best people in the county in the US Senate. Obviously, my experience, including my service in the Legislature and in statewide elected office will serve me well as I fight for issues important to Texans. I am very honored by the many friends and supporters who have urged me to take this step."

Two-thirds of the general election voters in Texas have a favorable impression of U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, according to a poll done at her behest.

Gov. Rick Perry gets favorable ratings from 51 percent of those voters, followed by former U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm, 48 percent; Houston Mayor Bill White, 28 percent; former Comptroller John Sharp, 27 percent; and U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, 17 percent.

Her pollsters also say she'd win a GOP primary against Perry if it were held today, getting 55 percent of the vote to his 31 percent of the vote. Only 14 percent were undecided, with 15 months to go before the next such primary.

They didn't release numbers for it, but said in a two-page memo that Hutchison would beat either John Sharp or Bill White in a general election. And they say Perry wouldn't break 50 percent against either Democrat.

The poll was done by Jan van Lohuisen of The Woodlands-based Voter/Consumer Research, a Republican outfit whose clients include President George W. Bush. They telephoned 601 general election voters and 466 Republican primary voters and got margins of error, respectively, of +/ -4.1 percent, and +/- 4.6 percent. The survey was done December 7-9.

They didn't release all of the numbers, but the two-page summary is available here.

Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, filed papers to run for speaker of the House.Cook didn't have a bad thing to say about his opponents for the job. He said he's interested in putting the power back in the members' hands. "I just have so much confidence in the talent and skills of this House," he said. "I hope to be a positive proponent of what this House can be in the future." The race to overthrow House Speaker Tom Craddick has attracted nine candidates in addition to Craddick and now, to Cook. There are a slew of others in the wings, if you believe the scuttlebutt, and Cook apparently does: "I think there are some great candidates," he said. "I think there are going to be some other candidates who appear in the next week's time." Think of this formula: 64 + X. The House Democrats claim (we haven't seen it) they have signatures from 64 of their party who pledged not to vote for Craddick's reelection. If that's so, a dozen more members could topple the incumbent. There's a pool of ten Democrats and 76 Republicans who haven't signed the pledge, but everybody who files to run for Speaker is, at least on the surface, against Craddick's reelection. The list of official opponents includes Democrats Pete Gallego of Alpine, Scott Hochberg of Houston, Allan Ritter of Nederland, and Senfronia Thompson and Sylvester Turner of Houston, and Republicans Delwin Jones of Lubbock, Jim Keffer of Eastland, Tommy Merritt of Longview, and Burt Solomons of Carrollton. There's an "unofficial list," too, but that's the people who've filed. And since the House is narrowly Republican, that's the party of all the people on the not-filed-but-mentioned-regularly roster: Warren Chisum of Pampa, Dan Gattis of Georgetown, Edmund Kuempel of Seguin, Bryan McCall of Plano, and Jim Pitts of Waxahachie. Cook doesn't have a platform at this point, and said he doesn't have a nose count because he just filed "and I don't want to get one thing in front of the other." He did say he wants to "empower members to take advantage of their talents", to see "fairness in how you handle things", "how you maintain decorum in the House", and "a members'-driven process, as opposed to special-interest driven." Cook, you'll remember, delivered a personal privilege speech in the last days of the 2007 session detailing his problems with current management and making his argument for a new speaker. Here's a link.

Kay Bailey Hutchison isn't leaving her federal job any time soon, but she's losing her chief of staff. Marc Short will take a gig as chief of staff for the House Republican Conference.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn will take Rob Jesmer and Brian Walsh along to his new gig as head of the Senate Republican Campaign Committee. They're new to that gig, but not to Cornyn.

From Politico: Jeanne Lambrew, an associate professor at UT's LBJ School of Public Affairs, will be deputy director of the new White House Office of Health Reform, reporting to former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle.

Rep. Trey Martinez-Fischer, D-San Antonio, takes over as head of the Mexican-American Legislative Caucus. His vice chairman will be Abel Herrero of Corpus Christi. Diana Maldonado of Round Rock is the new secretary. Solomon Ortiz Jr. of Corpus Christi is treasurer. And Veronica Gonzales of McAllen is that caucus' new legal counsel.

Never mind: Paul Bettencourt, who won reelection as Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector last month, plans to resign before Christmas to take a job in the private sector. County commissioners will pick a successor to serve for the next two years. Bettencourt's on the radar of several statewide officeholders and contenders who think he's got statewide ambitions.

Speaking of statewides, Comptroller Susan Combs claims to have raised $950,000 at one event in Austin this week. Reports come out next month.

Hector Nieto — communications director at the Texas Democratic Party — will return to the Pink Building next month as chief of staff to Sen.-elect Wendy Davis of Fort Worth. He worked in the House before joining the TDP.

Alan Burrow left the Pink Building (is this some kind of exchange program?) to open a lobby practice. He worked for Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, most recently, after gigs with several House members and the Department of Insurance.

Deece Eckstein is Travis County's first intergovernmental relations coordinator, a job that'll have him working with folks in the Pink Building, City Hall, and in other places where government types do their thing. Eckstein had a variety of jobs in the Pink Building, was a state insurance commissioner, and regional director of People for the American Way.

After a dozen years at the Texas Hospital Association,

Dinah Welsh joins the (relatively new) Texas EMS, Trauma and Acute Care Foundation, as CEO. Denise Rose will take over her government affairs job at THA.

Deaths: Bill Patman, the former congressman and state senator who served for 24 years in those two institutions, of stomach cancer. He was 81. He served in the statehouse for 20 years, starting in 1961, before serving two terms in the U.S. House. A Democrat, he lost a reelection bid in 1984 — a big year for the GOP. And he was the son of a congressman; Wright Patman served in Congress for 47 years.

Bill Stinson, a freelance lobbyist who worked for the Texas Association of Realtors and its affiliates for most of his career, starting in Lubbock and working in El Paso before finally landing in Austin. Stinson, who lost to cancer, was 60.

Former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams is officially in the race to replace U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.Hutchison's still in office and says she will be for at least a year. But she's filed state papers "exploring" the 2010 governor's race. Williams, a Weatherford car dealer and Republican fundraiser, is the third candidate to get in. State Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, formed an exploratory committee last summer. And former Comptroller John Sharp, a Democrat, announced his plans to file on January 1. Williams made his announcement via email and on his new campaign website, rogerforsenate.com. His press release:

Friday, December 12, 2008 Weatherford, Texas — Former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams today announced that he has formed a U.S. Senate exploratory committee. Texas senior Senator, Kay Bailey Hutchison, has let it be known that she will not run for re-election and might leave her seat before her term expires. Williams, a former professional baseball player and former college head coach is best known for his 35 years as a successful businessman and as Texas' 105th Secretary of State. Williams is a Republican with a passion for freedom and free markets. "The United States now faces its most difficult challenge in decades. How we respond to this challenge will determine if we lead the world into another century of prosperity," said Williams. "We will succeed with determination, hard work and by renewing our confidence in the free enterprise system that made our nation what it is." Williams will use his exploratory committee to activate his statewide organization as Senator Hutchison makes her final decision. As Secretary of State, Williams worked tirelessly to promote economic development, investment and job creation across Texas. He also served as the state's Chief Liaison for Texas Border and Mexican Affairs as well as Chair of the state's 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Response Strike Force. Williams' civic activities include serving on the Board of Trustees for the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University where he co-chairs the school's capital fundraising campaign. Williams is also a member of the Texas Christian University Board of Trustees, his alma mater. He also serves on the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame Board of Directors as well as serving on the Admiral Nimitz Foundation Board of Directors in Fredericksburg, Texas. Williams and his wife, Patty, reside in Weatherford and have two daughters. ###