The Texas Observer

If any doubt remained that Tom Craddick was about to survive an unprecedented challenge to his House speakership, it was formally vanquished at 5:57 p.m. In the legislative equivalent of tipping over one’s king to surrender a chess game lost, Democratic Rep. Jim Dunnam moved that the speaker’s election be an open record vote, with each member’s preference instantly flashed in red or green on the House tote boards.
The motion, approved without objection, effectively undid hours of tedious debate on voting procedures crafted in an effort to let members — especially fellow Republicans — oppose Craddick without fearing political payback.

And immediately thereafter, the fear of revenge coursing through the chamber was measured in the final tally. Rep. Jim Pitts, Craddick’s GOP challenger, had already withdrawn rather than ask supporters to fall on their swords. Craddick was re-elected 121-27 in a race that early this morning was too close to call.

Craddick’s opponents failed to kill the king, and three questions loomed over weary House members on adjournment:
Which members abandoned the insurgency? What were members promised for their votes? And what revenge, if any, will Craddick unleash on those who worked to oust him, most notably when he hands out committee assignments in the coming weeks?

By nature, drama in the Texas House plays out in excruciatingly small increments — a procedural vote here, a point of order there — as competitors vie to precisely shape the final vote.

Tuesday’s House session proved nothing if not excruciating for those who hoped to topple the leadership.
According to Pitts, the Waxahachie Republican, his race fell apart sometime around 10:30 in the morning when a deal with a number of Craddick Republicans fell through. So why were members and their families subjected to seven hours of choreographed tedium?

“We didn’t know the deal was truly dead until the vote,” said Pitts.

The deciding moment was a vote on whether the election for speaker would be a secret ballot. The likely winner of a secret ballot would have been Jim Pitts. In that vote, members had to show publicly whom they supported. Craddick’s side won 80 to 68, and at that point it was only a matter of time before Pitts conceded.
Craddick couldn’t have done it without the support of 11 Democrats.

After his swearing in, Craddick went out of his way to thank three of them — Aaron Pena, Patrick Rose, and Sylvester Turner — for seconding his nomination.

“I am greatly honored and humbled by your vote today,” Craddick said.

Time will tell.

by David Pasztor

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 9th, 2007 at 8:07 pm and is filed under 80th Texas Lege. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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