In Craddick's first move of the 79th Legislature, he ignored the tradition of picking a bipartisan committee with both party caucus chairs to look into the election contests:
State law gave Craddick no choice but to name the panel, but some members say they are skeptical about his stated desire to avoid partisan bickering because of whom he appointed to it.
"This is the speaker's committee. Most of them are speaker loyalists and, as such, would not be prime candidates to study the evidence with strong, independent eyes and ears," said Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, one of Craddick's sharpest critics.
Even some of Craddick's fellow Republicans privately echo the complaints now heard from many of Craddick's Democratic foes — that he deliberately put junior lawmakers on the panel who would be less willing to resist the speaker's pressure.
[...]
Democrat Pete Laney dealt with three election challenges in the decade in which he preceded Craddick as House speaker. In each case, he consulted with Republicans and named both party caucus chairmen to the committees. None of those challenges succeeded.
Craddick's critics note the speaker has yet to communicate with Democratic Party caucus Chairman Jim Dunnam of Waco, who said that "traditionally, caucus chairs or people elected to represent their party had input" in the naming of such panels.
None of the five Republicans and four Democrats that Craddick named to his committee has more than 10 years in the House; two have just completed their first terms. Two of the Democrats were named committee chairmen by Craddick last term, making them part of his leadership team.
One of them, Rep. Helen Giddings, D-Dallas, was one of the few Democrats who did not join the exodus to Oklahoma last year, where 51 Democrats fled to delay, but ultimately not stop, the GOP redistricting effort.
All I know is that if Hubert Vo, Mark Strama and Yvonne Gonzalez-Toureilles are not seated by the 79th Legislature, any hint of bipartisanship will melt just as fast as it did two years ago.
