The House Democratic Caucus released a list of 64 Democratic names who have signed a simple pledge.
I will not vote for Tom Craddick for speaker of the 81st Legislature under any circumstances.
While the House Democratic Caucus had this to say in their press release:
As Texans first, House Democrats have worked and continue to work to bring change to the Texas House of Representatives. Moving Texas forward for all Texans with policies that improve the lives of our constituents has been our overriding goal. Allowing each House Member to represent their constituents to the best of their ability, and allow ideas, bills and policy to be dictated by the merits is the best way to achieve that goal. We are eager to work with like-minded Republicans in a bipartisan manner.
Rather than listing all the people that signed the pledge, it is easier to list the familiar few who did not:
- Harold Dutton, Jr.
- Al Edwards
- Ismael (Kino) Flores
- Helen Giddings
- Dawnna Dukes
- Ryan Guillen
- Ruth Jones McClendon
- Tracy King
- Aaron Pena
- Sylvester Turner
This is a familiar list for anyone who pays attention to the legislature. All of these Democrats supported Craddick in the 80th Legislature and most received plush committee assignments in return.
However, not signing the pledge is not the same as a vote. I remain optimistic that some of these elected Democrats will vote for leadership in the Texas House. All of them represent Democratic areas with DPI's ranging from 55% in Tracy King's district to as high 76% in Dawnna Dukes' district.
These are Democratic strongholds and their values must be represented-- something Tom Craddick clearly does not do.
There are no grudges from 2007. We are all looking at 2009 as a clean slate. BOR looks forward to seeing more names added to this list before the session begins.
Quick Math Update: The following 12 Republicans have publicly stated they will not support Tom Craddick-- Reps. Dan Gattis, Rob Eissler, Joe Straus, Charlie Geren, Edmund Kuempel, Brian McCall, Jim Keffer ,Burt Solomons, Byron Cook, Delwin Jones, Tommy Merritt and Jim Pitts.
There are now 64 explicitly named Democrats and 12 explicitly named Republicans. That is a grand total of 76 actual names against Craddick. Yet Craddick still refuses to release a list of his supporters. Interesting. |
