It was a sea of people. Capitol staffers, reporters, dozens of elected officials from both sides of the aisle, and a few tourist all mixed under the rotunda today.
Every balcony was full with camera flashes and inquisitive pointing.
I sat front and center among TV cameras from across the city and state. Constantly bumped by paper media, citizen journalist and the unfortunate souls simply at the wrong place at the right time.
Because of the size, I broke the press conference into two parts-- Straus and Straus supporters.
The reality of it was that Straus spoke, his supporters from both sides of the aisle spoke, and then he took nearly 5 minutes of questions. The Q&A was particularly interesting because Craddick has avoided cameras since November 2008. Already we see a huge departure of access and transparency in the Speakers office.
Straus has already announced 96 Representatives pledged to support him or roughly 2/3 of the entire House of Representatives. One of the few names surprisingly missing is Rep. Frank Corte who also represents San Antonio. It seems Representative Corte would want a Speaker from San Antonio in order to better serve his district.
There is a certain point at which keeping track of the new pledges will be pointless but so long as there are people that think there is a speaker's race still going on, we'd be remiss not to post the latest additions.
There were the original 85 pledges and they will be rewarded more than most. Then Turner (D), Guillen (D), and Button (R) added their support to make 88.
Then overnight there was Rep. Mike "Tuffy" Hamilton (R) and Patricia Harless (R) for 90.
And 6 more have been released for a total of 96 publicly listed. Kronberg says 98 but he's either double counting 2 votes or those two haven't been released yet. We're checking that out.
Republicans Rep. Rob Orr (withdrew support from Smithee)
Joe Driver
Wayne Smith
John Davis
Harvey Hildebran
Democrats Al Edwards
That leaves Democrat Harold Dutton as the only Democrat who has not pledged to Straus.
The likely ascendance of San Antonio moderate and two-term Republican, Joe Straus, to the Speakership signals a clear shift in leadership, tone, and overall direction not only in the House, but also the Texas Republican Party. It also signals an opportunity for Democrats to move forward with a moderate progressive agenda that is good for Texas and actually receive a fair hearing in the House.
The Tarrant County Democratic delegation signaled clear support for Straus. Talking with Representative-elect Chris Turner, he came away very impressed with a weekend meeting with Straus:
There are a number of reasons why he will be a good speaker, but the most important to me is his commitment to run the House in a fair and bipartisan manner. If we have a fair process, I am hopeful we can get some meaningful things accomplished for the people of Texas.
Representative Paula Pierson echoed some of the same sentiments on Straus:
He [Straus] is bright but he is fair. He is not a bully. I believe he wants what is best for Texas and not himself.
Representative Marc Veasey added the following in a phone call last night:
Straus is a pragmatic, down to earth, good guy who gets along with Democrats and Republicans. I'm confident the Democratic agenda will be heard, that all sides will be heard, and although we might not always agree that we will find more common ground then we have since I've been in Austin.
The Star-Telegram quoted Representative Burnam as having highly favorable opinions of the new incoming Speaker of the 81st Legislative session as well. For the first time in six years a heavy hand on the gavel will give way to a pragmatic one.
One thing is for certain, a fight for the soul of the Republican Party has boiled into the public domain with the more extreme wing versus the more moderate wing jockeying for leadership of the Texas GOP. It remains to be seen whether Straus has the backbone to withstand a withering fire from the more extreme wing or be forced to do more dealing with moderate Republicans and Democrats in order to pass legislation that is good for Texas. If the latter is the case, the more extreme wing will be boxed into an irrelevant corner. That signals a new day in politics in Texas.
Considering that Representative Straus appears to have majority support amongst the House, he deserves an opportunity to restore bi-partisanship and pragmatism to Texas politics in order to set a more constructive tone to the upcoming legislative session.
As pointed out in this comment, it's not uncommon for speakers of the Texas House to rise to that position after only a brief time in the legislature. In fact, some rather powerful and effective speakers were elected early in their terms.
Now past performance is certainly not an indicator of future success but for all those trying to make a big to do about longevity in the house an issue, I thought I'd highlight this.
Time is running out for Tom Craddick and John Smithee. Joe Straus has added three more to his list.
As KT reported earlier, Straus announced a list of 85 pledged votes. With the addition of the below mentioned Representatives, Straus is sitting on 88 or nearly 60% of the entire Texas House.
Speaker Pro-Tem Sylvester Turner
Representative Ryan Guillen
Representative-Elect Angie Chen Button
The h/t goes to Elise Hu who is doing a masterful job reporting the pre-session craziness.
List now fully updated indicating the Gang of 11 and former Craddick D's (may that name now be retired!). I'd also like to note that Burnt Orange Report was the only place that reported Doug Miller's alignment with Straus becoming one of only 4 non-Gang of 11 GOP members on Straus' list.
Here is Straus' pledged votes for speaker in full.
Republicans (15 total)
G11 indicates member of the Gang of 11 Republicans that selected Straus.
Dan Branch
Byron Cook (G11)
Rob Eissler (G11)
Gary Elkins
Charlie Geren (G11)
Delwin Jones (G11)
Jim Keffer (G11)
Edmund Kuempel (G11)
Brian McCall (G11)
Tommy Merritt (G11)
Doug Miller
Jim Pitts (G11)
Burt Solomons (G11)
Todd Smith
Joe Straus (G11)
Democrats (70 Total)
CD indicats Democrat who voted for Craddick in 2007. Some had since pulled support.
Alma Allen
Roberto Alonzo
Carol Alvarado
Rafael Anchia
Valinda Bolton
Lon Burnam
Joaquin Castro
Norma Chavez (CD)
Ellen Cohen
Garnet Coleman
Yvonne Davis
Joe Deshotel (CD)
Dawnna Dukes (CD)
Jim Dunnam
Craig Eiland
Kirk England
Joe Farias
David Farabee
Jessica Farrar
Kino Flores (CD)
Stephen Frost
Pete Gallego
Helen Giddings (CD)
Veronica Gonzalez
Yvonne Gonzalez Toureilles
Roland Gutierrez
Joe Heflin
Ana Hernandez
Abel Herrero
Scott Hochberg
Terri Hodge
Mark Homer
Chuck Hopson
Donna Howard
Carol Kent
Tracy King (CD)
David Leibowitz
Eddie Lucio (CD)
Diana Maldonado
Barbara Mallory Caraway
Marisa Marquez
Armando Martinez
Trey Martinez Fischer
Ruth Jones McClendon (CD)
Jim McReynolds
Jose Menendez
Robert Miklos
Joe Moody
Elliott Naishtat
Rene Oliveira
Dora Olivo
Solomon Ortiz
Aaron Pena (CD)
Joe Pickett
Paula Pierson
Chente Quintanilla
Richard Raymond
Tara Rios Ybarra
Allan Ritter
Eddie Rodriguez
Patrick Rose (CD)
Mark Strama
Kristi Thibaut
Senfronia Thompson
Chris Turner
Allen Vaught
Marc Veasey
Mike Villarreal
Hubert Vo
Armando Walle
Democrats Not on Straus's List: (4 Total)
Harold Dutton (CD)
Al Edwards*
Ryan Guillen (CD)
Sylvester Turner (CD)
*Note: Al Edwards was not in the lege in 2007 but had been a Craddick Supporter prior to his primary defeat by Borris Miles, who he in turn defeated in 2008 to return to the legislature.
Republicans, with an assist from disciplined and unified Democrats, appear to have successfully unseated Tom Craddick as speaker of the Texas House. Moments ago, Rep. Joe Straus of San Antonio is releasing the names of 80+ House members who have pledged their support for him in writing. It's being reported that Craddick will release his pledges shortly.
Over the last six years Craddick has led the House into an unprecedented era of corruption, special interest focus and division within the House. Texas newspapers have called for his removal. House members, who suffered Craddick's retro-extremism along with the rest of Texas, got the job done.
There will be a lot of analyses written about this remarkable turn of events. Since I have watched much of the effort from close-up, I hope the analysts will give credit to those House members from both parties who took great risks over a long period of time in the hopes that honor, integrity, openness and honesty could be returned to the House. It has taken a great deal of hard work, none of it glamorous but all of it critical, to get this done.
Straus' gathering of a significant majority support is not the end, of course. Members must still cast a formal ballot when they convene on Jan. 13. Some Craddick supporters may try to revive the corpse of their rule, rallying around day-late-dollar-short John Smithee. But we have reached a major turning point in the history of the Texas Legislature.
Via Laylan Copelin at the Statesman comes words of Tom Craddick's last ditch attempt to salvage his collapsing speakership. But seeing the end, it's likely that he's going to release his pledges from his iron grasp.
There was an impromptu meeting in the speaker's office this afternoon with about eight members, including Dan Gattis and John Smithee.
Gattis reportedly has dropped his speaker's bid in favor of Smithee who's trying to gather support to bloc Joe Strauss.
Craddick began considering releasing his pledges with the news that four Craddick D's, including Austin's Dawnna Dukes, has signed on with Straus.
There is some degree of sweet cold justice that Rep. Dukes is standing Craddick up and that Tom could only pull together 8 members at this office this afternoon. Assuming that the reign of Craddick is about to terminate, the only real surprise is how quietly he goes into the night and if runs for re-election in 2010 out in Midland.
It's like tumbleweeds rolling across an increasingly empty playing field.
Democratic Representatives Joaquin Castro, MALC Chair Trey Martinez Fischer, Mike Villarreal, Joe Farias, Roland Gutierrez, and David Leibowitz have all just announced their "enthusiastic support" for fellow San Antonian Republican Joe Straus.
Democratic members of the Bexar County Delegation have enthusiastically thrown their support behind Representative Joe Straus (R-San Antonio), who will be elected Speaker of the House of Representatives on January 13th.
After bipartisan discussions this weekend in Austin, Representative Straus has been selected as the consensus candidate to run the House of Representatives. He is expected to have the majority of votes from House members, including the support of most Bexar County Democrats.
Representatives Joaquin Castro, Trey Martinez Fischer, Mike Villarreal, Joe Farias, Roland Gutierrez, Jose Menendez, and David Leibowitz have all extended their full support to Representative Straus and believe his election as Speaker will be a historic victory for the Alamo City, especially in a moment when the stakes are so high.
Representative Straus will significantly help advance San Antonio's agenda in the upcoming legislative session.
During the 81st Legislative Session, lawmakers are expected to name a third top tier research university in the state, making the University of Texas at San Antonio a front runner for consideration. Straus as Speaker of the House would make up for the absence of a San Antonio member on the important Texas Transportation Commission, and a Speaker Straus will be invaluable in securing funding for critical infrastructure projects, and private sector development in Bexar County.
Democratic members of the Bexar County Delegation are excited to join Republicans and Democrats from across the state to support Representative Straus in his candidacy for Speaker of the House of Representatives, and they look forward to the opportunities this will present for San Antonio in 2009. The Delegation urges other uncommitted lawmakers to throw their support behind Representative Straus.
Representative Straus is expected to publicly identify his list of more than 76 supporters within the next 18 to 24 hours.
The most interesting part of this whole release is the very last paragraph.
Aaron Pena's twitter feed has been solid since the Speaker race started moving.
Pena points out Quorum Reports point that Rep. Senfronia Thompson has withdrawn from the race and thrown her support behind Republican Joe Straus.
Meanwhile, Speaker candidate QR Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston) has withdrawn her speaker candidacy and is contacting her supporters endorsing Straus.
Thompson told QR, "I am going to support this guy. I looked at the other candidates but he is the best. I think it might be the beginning of something different."
In addition, Pena confirms rumors that John Smithee has faxed in his paperwork to the Texas Ethics Commission to be a candidate for Speaker. However, sources are reporting Smithee's candidacy is a day late and a dollar short. It appears that Straus has locked this up. The question is who will be last to the Straus camp.
