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Thu Dec 11, 2008 at 00:25 PM CST
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Rep. Dan Gattis declared that he is "uncommitted" in the race, moving him out of Craddick's camp to "Toss Up." That brings our new Speaker's race public tally to: Not Craddick 76, Craddick Ceiling 61, Toss-Up 13 One aspect that few have written about regarding the Speaker's race is -- where's the lobby? Normally, these few months are used by lobbyists to identify who will sit on which Committees, and which Members of the Committees they should send their legislation to. But with the Speaker's race up in the air, there are many lobbyists stuck either hedging their bets (which is annoying for them) or waiting until someone takes command of the race (which is even more annoying for them). Just something to consider. As always, official numbers and links are below the fold. |
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Add those 11 to the "64 strong" -- along with Rep. Al Edwards' declaration that he does not support Tom Craddick -- and you get the 76 "Not Craddick" block. Here are the "toss-ups": | | Representative | Source
| Comment | #1
| Rep. Dawnna Dukes (D)
| Statesman Editorial | Rep. Dukes doesn't want to lose her Chair position; every challenger to Craddick is promising to restore seniority to the Appropriations Committee, so she and Rep. Dutton would actually keep their seats
| | #2 | Rep. Harold Dutton (D)
| Statesman;
Letter
| Not committed, though said he "might support Craddick" since it may be the easiest way for Democrats to regain control of the House. Not supportive of Rep. Solomons. | | #3 | Rep.-elect Allen Fletcher (R)
| Burka Post
| Fletcher defeated Craddick supporter Van Arsdale in the primary, and has publicly aligned himself with anti-Craddick positions; supported by Dan Patrick, would probably support a strong conservative
| | #4 | Rep. Dan Gattis (R)
| Statesman | Declared he is "uncommitte" in the race, and filed legislation to create a constitutional amendment that would require 100 Members to agree to remove the Speaker.
| #4
| Rep. Helen Giddings (D)
| DMN Blog Post
| DMN post states that she's meeting with Democrat leaders about who to support for Speaker; definitely still up in the air
| #5
| Rep. Ryan Guillen (D)
| DMN story
| Stated he is undecided; had major headaches having to vote with Craddick on Appropriations last session (Source)
| #6
| Rep. Mike Hamilton (R)
| Houston Chronicle
| Stated he is "undecided" on 11/11/08
| #7
| Rep. Patricia Harless (R)
| H. Chron;
R Blog
| "Refuses to discuss the Speaker's race with anyone" though she had rescinded her pledge to Craddick two years ago when she thought he wouldn't win
| #8
| Rep. Ruth McClendon (D)
| S.A. Express-News
| Indicated she would support a Democrat if there is a Democrat majority; at least has considered other potential candidates
| #9
| Rep.-elect Doug Miller (R)
| New Braunfels
| Refused to state publicly who he supported when he defeated staunch Craddick & Leininger Republican Nathan Macias in the primary
| #10
| Rep. Aaron Pena (D)
| Pena's Blog
| Coy, as always, on his website; though he thought a new Speaker would be clear "within moments" of the polls closing, and he correctly predicted a +3 gain for Democrats
| | #11 | Rep. Sylvester Turner (D)
| Ethics Commission
| A delcared candidate for Speaker. I've argued that he would not support Craddick again, believing that (1) the numbers aren't there and (2) he wouldn't want to risk his leadership on important public policy issues by backing the wrong candidate.
| #12
| Rep. Tara Rios Ybarra (D)
| No Declaration | Strongly supported by Texans for Lawsuit Reform
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