Williamson County State Representative Dan Gattis will be running for the open State Senate seat being vacated by retiring Republican Senator Steve Ogden of Bryan, Texas. He's launched a new website with announcement video which can be viewed here. Gattis has served in the house for four terms, since 2003 when he was first elected to represent the eastern half of Williamson County. This announcement will create an opening in HD-20 and along with Democrat Diana Maldonado's re-election bid is sure to make the area just north of Austin a hotbed of electoral activity in 2010.
Dan Gattis (R - Georgetown) has announced that he has three Republican supporters: Mike Hamilton (R - Mauriceville), Patricia Harless (R - Spring), and Lois Kolkhorst (R - Brenham).
This is three more Republicans on top of the original 11 that had announced their intent to vote against Tom Craddick's reelection. That brings the count to 64 Democrats and 15 Republicans declared against Craddick: a total of 79 members of the House. The numbers keep on rising against him, yet he still remains defiant.
Craddick's spokeswoman, Alexis DeLee, said the speaker's opponents are just trying to create the impression of momentum.
"It's an inaccurate list," she said. "We continue to have the largest and most-solid support of the House."
Such defiance until the end will not only look bad for the current speaker, but it might lose him even more power than if he simply gives up. Who is he still trying to coerce? Does he really think that representatives would back off their public announcements or signatures to vote against him? Maybe.
There's still some talk, though, that Rep. Gattis may be a "stalking horse" for Tom Craddick. He refutes those claims. From Karen Brooks:
Me: So, are you a Craddick stalking horse?
Gattis: (cracking up laughing).
Me: So, that's a no, then?
Gattis: That's a Neigh.
He went on to say that, no, he's not in the race to determine for Craddick who's getting ready to vote against him, or to distract and confuse people, or any of that stalking-horse behavior that some people are gossiping about - mainly because Gattis has been seen as a Craddick lieutenant until the last year or two.
"if this is how the stalking horse is treated, I don't want to be the stalking horse," he said. "I've been threatened and cajoled and everything else. I'm not doing this for Tom Craddick, I'm doing this for the Texas House."
Time will probably tell. Perhaps Craddick is waiting for a lieutenant to succeed in gaining support before he steps back from his claims that he has majority support. Will any of the 10 Democrats who did not pledge to vote against Craddick announce support for Rep. Gattis. If so, that could be telling in several ways.
The Statesman has pointed out that Gattis was one of Craddick's lieutenants during the 2007 session but has been uncommitted since the November election.
Staying with the non-filers, what about Gattis? He is one of the most talented members of the House. He didn't have a good meeting with the Democrats-he stuck up for Keel-and some of them see him as a stalking horse for Craddick. I worry that Gattis doesn't have enough seasoning to assume a leadership responsibility, or whether he is willing to smooth the rough edges of his ideology. Some members regard him as brash and abrupt. So what? Talent covers a multitude of shortcomings.
One of two things is happening: 1) Republicans smell blood in the water and are leaving Craddick to create their own political power, or 2) Craddick is playing a game. He could be getting his lieutenants to run for Speaker so he can have some sort of control in the 81st Session or at the very least be a king maker to a more conservative speaker.
Regardless of why Gattis is in, it is becoming clear Craddick doesn't have the votes. He is either creating a safety net for himself or can't even keep his most vocal supports from challenging him.
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
Previous Tally: Not Craddick 76, Craddick Ceiling 62, Toss-Up 12
The SREC adopted a motion for public ballot for Speaker. But, as Kronberg noted, they use secret ballots in their own elections. No one is surprised by the motion, or the hypocrisy.
Rep. Byron Cook and Rep. Ed Kuempel -- two Republicans -- filed for Speaker. Each of them were outspoken critics of Craddick before. There are now 12 announced Speaker candidates and 13 announced supporters for Tom Craddick for Speaker.
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.
