Posted 12:01 pm Saturday, January 03, 2009
Dissident GOP Picks Straus To Oppose Craddick
From Staff and Wire Reports
Republican dissidents selected Rep. Joe Straus of San Antonio on Friday night as their candidate to overthrow long-serving House Speaker Tom Craddick, one of the most powerful leaders in state government.
Republican dissidents selected Rep. Joe Straus of San Antonio on Friday night as their candidate to overthrow long-serving House Speaker Tom Craddick, one of the most powerful leaders in state government.
Emerging from a meeting in West Austin, Straus said he had the support of 10 other Republicans and he vowed to bring more into the coalition in the days ahead. The vote for speaker takes place on Jan. 13, opening day of the 81st Texas Legislature.
"This group is united," Straus said. "I'm going to try to bring everyone together."
Straus, a wealthy San Antonio businessman, is a relative newcomer to Texas politics. He was first elected in a 2005 special election, so the 2009 session will only be his third. Straus portrayed that as a plus, saying he isn't "scarred" by the infamous battles that have left the House bitterly divided.
Rep. Tommy Merritt, R-Longview, one of the insurgents participating in the meeting, said he was willing to give up his own candidacy for speaker if it means ending Craddick's controversial rule.
"It's a cause greater than one's self. We're going to stop the era of absolute authority," Merritt said. "We will elect a Republican speaker with a Republican majority."
Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, said Straus has filed the papers to run for speaker.
Craddick, the longest serving Republican in state elective office, won't go down without a fight. He plans to hold his own meeting Sunday, and his supporters say he has far more votes than any single candidate.
State Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler said he was shocked that the 11 liberal to moderate Republicans picked the inexperienced Straus as their man to unseat Craddick.
"He is probably the least experienced of the 11 and he is their choice for Speaker?" he said. "Tom Craddick is a conservative speaker and has done an outstanding job since 2003 and I can't imagine anyone else taking over that job."
Berman said the dissident's choice for Speaker will most likely get the full support of the 64 House Democrats which translates into 75 votes, one shy of the 76 needed to win election. He said Craddick has strong support on the Republican side.
"I don't want to go into a legislative session in which the Republicans have a majority and rely on the Democrats to elect our Speaker," he said of the dissident Republicans' need for full Democratic support.
Asked to comment on the insurgents' gathering, Craddick spokeswoman Alexis DeLee said: "We don't have a reaction to the meeting and the speaker has no plans to withdraw from the speaker's race."
Still, some of Craddick's own allies have acknowledged that he lacks a majority of the 150-member body, which has sown doubt that the Midland oilman will remain in his powerful post. One top lieutenant, Rep. Will Hartnett, R-Dallas, estimated Craddick's support at 70 members -- six shy of the magic 76, or half of the chamber plus one.
"Members are in a position for the first time in memory where some of them feel it's less dangerous to vote against the sitting speaker than vote the way they've been going," said Ross Ramsey, editor of the political newsletter Texas Weekly. "For a lot of them, the uncertainty is just unbearable."
The group meeting to overthrow the speaker is known informally as the ABCs -- Anybody But Craddick. At least 64 Democrats are also vowing to oppose Craddick "under any circumstances."
The Democrats plan to hold their own meeting to discuss the speaker's race Saturday. With Straus gathering the reform group's support, the Democratic minority could be in the position of kingmaker this weekend. Democratic leaders are just "waiting for the phone to ring," said Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine.
"We're just there to push whoever it is over the goal line at the end of the day," Gallego said. "But we're going to have a conservative Republican speaker no matter who the candidate is."
First elected to his West Texas House seat in 1968, Craddick became speaker in 2003, when Republicans had an 88-62 majority. Today, six years later, it has dwindled to 76-74, a bare two-seat margin. More recently, Republicans who once were counted among Craddick's top GOP supporters have publicly broken from the longtime speaker and are calling for new leadership.
So far ten Republicans, including Craddick, have filed the paperwork necessary to run for speaker, and even more could join the race before the saga ends. Rep. John Smithee, R-Amarillo, the speaker's hand-picked chairman of the House Insurance Committee, said he is thinking about running or getting behind another candidate in order to restore "peace and harmony" in the badly divided chamber.
Berman said Craddick supporters will meet Sunday in Austin to galvanize GOP support for the Speaker. He added that there may be a handful of Democrats that would support Craddick.
