01.02.07
Today’s Speaker News
Update on the Speaker’s race from the AAS, Will third speaker’s candidate be a kingmaker? The first part is a rehash of what’s been reported elsewhere today – Burka, Kuff, Capitol Annex – with two interesting tidbits to add.
This from freshman Rep. Boris Miles on the call he received from Sylvester Turner:
Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, Craddick’s appointed speaker pro tempore, said he has called at least 30 House members, both Democratic and Republican, in an effort to expand Craddick’s support. Only two members declared their allegiance to another speaker candidate, Turner said.
Rep.-elect Borris Miles, D-Houston, said he welcomed Turner’s New Year’s greeting Monday before telling him that he favors McCall.
“I don’t believe in leadership by fear,” Miles said, adding that if Craddick backers are “calling me, a freshman legislator, that’s a call of desperation.”
Turner said he was just trying to be inclusive.
“The door is still very wide open for people to come and be a part — and to join,” Turner said.
Nice come back by Turner.
And this one about how confusing this is for the lege and the lobbyists during the run-up to the 80th:
The week before a legislative session starts is usually hectic as members make final arrangements to be in Austin for the next 140 days.
A speaker’s race distracts from everything else.
Instead of talking to lawmakers about their clients’ legislation, lobbyists are busy monitoring speculation on who will win and what impact it will have.
The speaker appoints the heads of the committees and half of the committee memberships and controls the flow of legislation. In reaching the session’s final legislative product, the speaker is the equal of the governor and lieutenant governor.
Campaign donors, who invested heavily in the election of lawmakers, now must wait to see if important committee posts will be shuffled or not.
Craddick is aligned with Houston homebuilder Bob Perry and San Antonio businessman James Leininger, the GOP’s most prolific individual donors. In the spring, Leininger was willing to spend as much as a million dollars in each of six GOP races, targeting incumbents who opposed his plan for school vouchers.
Four of them survived, but the GOP infighting has added fuel to criticism that Craddick either won’t — or can’t — protect his team of incumbents from challenges at the polls.
Did the lobbyists waster their money? Don’t think that’s not playing into this race and that’s good news for Craddick.
Eye on Williamson » Speaker Who? said,
January 3, 2007 at 11:09 pm
[...] Yesterday Craddick appeared to have a good day and now today it appears he’s gone, er, no he still has a chance. This is fun, it’s gone from day-to-day to minute-to-minute. [...]