Burnt Orange Report

Texas Monthly Best / Worst

By Byron LaMasters

After every legislative session, Texas Monthly puts out a list of the top ten best and worst legislators, and will give a few other prizes in between, including "furniture" for legislators that accomplish little. You can read the entire article here (requires free account). Here is this year's list:

The Best of 2003 Sen. Teel Bivins (R-Amarillo) Rep. Dianne Delisi (R-Temple) Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (R) Sen. Robert Duncan (R-Lubbock) Rep. Craig Eiland (D-Galveston) Rep. Irma Rangel (D-Kingsville) Sen. Bill Ratliff (R-Mount Pleasant) Sen. John Whitmire (D-Houston) Rep. Arlene Wohlgemuth (R-Burleson) Rep. Steve Wolens (D-Dallas)

Rookie Of The Year
Rep. Patrick Rose (D-Dripping Springs)

Honorable Mention
Rep. John Smithee (R-Amarillo)
Rep. Joe Deshotel (D-Beaumont)
Rep. Scott Hochberg (D-Houston)
Sen. Steve Ogdem (R-Bryan)
Rep. Jim Pitts (R-Waxahachie
Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo)

The Worst of 2003
Rep. Lon Burnam (D-Fort Worth)
Rep. Gabi Canales (D-Alice)
Rep. Yvonne Davis (D-Dallas)
US Rep. Tom Delay (R-Sugarland)
House Democratic Leader Jim Dunnam (D-Waco)
Sen. Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay)
Sen. Eddie Lucio (D-Brownsville)
Rep. Joe Nixon (R-Houston)
Rep. Robert Talton (R-Pasadena)
Rep. Beverly Woolley (R-Houston)

The Joseph McCarthy Award
Rep. Debbie Riddle (R-Houston)

Dishonorable Mention
Speaker Tom Craddick (R-Midland)

Furniture
Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos (D-Austin)
Rep. Dwayne Bohac (R-Houston)
Rep. Ryan Guillen (D-Rio Grande City)
Rep. John Davis (R-Houston)
Rep. Gary Elkins (R-Houston)
Rep. Al Edwards (D-Houston)
Rep. Sen. Jon Lindsay (R-Houston).
Rep. Sid Miller (R-Stephenville).

My thoughts? I don't disagree too much with the top ten list. After all, there weren't too many Democrats with too many noteworthy accomplishments, and as much as a despise Arlene Wohlgemuth, I have to admit that she was a big player in this year's session.

As for Rookie of the Year, I'm not sure what to say about Patrick Rose. About every Democrat in the state considered him worthless, until Ardmore that is (he went.. his district includes Lockhart, a small town that would have been divided 3 ways under the King plan), and now, we have to reexamine him. I'll support him for reelection, but I won't invest too much time or money into it. He's a good guy, and hopefully, if and when he gets a few reelection victories under his belt, he'll begin to vote more like a real Democrat.

I like Lon Burnam's politics (he's the most liberal Democrat in the state house), and I wish that all the Democrats would have joined him in opposing Craddick, but they didn't and from a pragmatic point of view, his vote was stupid. Still, I was proud of him, and thanked him for it when I invited him to speak at an anti-war rally at UT in March. Still, practically speaking, it was a dumb move. Good to see Tom DeLay on the list. It's supposed to just be for legislators, but Tom DeLay likely had more impact on the legislature than almost anyone else, but the fat cats. Dunnam shouldn't be on the list. He, along with Garnett Coleman and Pete Gallegos were the brains behind the Ardmore escape. Dunnam did about as good of a job as any Democratic leader could, considering the circumstances. He fought the good fight, lost most of the time, but ask most any Democrat in the House (minus Craddick's committee chairs), and they'll say they're happy with Dunnam's leadership. Nixon, Lucio and Talton are all especially worthy of the list. Nixon carried a draconian "tort reform" bill, Lucio is a sell-out, and Talton is a hatemonger. Craddick ought to be on the worst list... he get a "dishonerable mention", but that's not enough. This session was the most partisan in memory, and if Texas Monthly gives some of the blame to Jim Dunnam for it, then they ought to give at least equal (and I'd say more... a lot more) blame to Craddick.

Texas Monthly gave Debbie Riddle a category of her own based on her statement in a committee hearing:

She received "The Joseph McCarthy 'Have You No Sense Of Decency?' Award". How appropriate.

The furnature is pretty accurate. Sen. Barrientos is my senator in the legislature, and he's a great senator, but he had little opportunity to get much accomplished this session with the Republican leadership.