Surprise Moves In The Texas House
September 21st, 2007 at 8:48 am
With the announcement by Representative Kirk England of Grand Prairie that he will be switching parties and running for re-election as a Democrat, the week’s news has gotten that much worse for the Texas GOP and for House Speaker Tom Craddick (R-Midland).
House heavyweights Dianne Delisi (R-Temple) and Fred Hill (R-Dallas) both said they would not seek another term this week, leaving seats wide open in what have always been solidly conservative districts. Without an incumbent, they could turn into races to watch.
Hill is a former candidate for Speaker (one of eight who filed papers). The remaining candidates for speaker include, of course, Craddick, as well as his erstwhile opponents Jim Pitts (R-Waxahachie) and Brian McCall (R-Plano), and other GOP leaders like Jim Keffer (R-Eastland), and Delwin Jones (R-Lubbock). Two Democrats have filed papers in the race: Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston) and Speaker Pro Tempore Sylvester Turner (D-Houston).
With England’s switch, the balance in the Texas House becomes 79 Republicans to 70 Democrats. (A special election to fill Fort Worth Republican Anna Mowery’s seat will be held in November.) Five seats have to switch parties to tie. It would take six changing hands for Democrats to take over — still a stretch in this reddest of red states.
Says Rep. Garnet Coleman (D-Houston): “Since 2003, when Craddick became Speaker, it was 88-62… There are two different things going on here: clearly, we would prefer to have a majority. But as Texans, we would prefer to have a new speaker… People are not ashamed to be Democrats… Now, people perceive the Republicans have moved way too far to the right.”
Garnet’s point is well taken. Whether or not the Democrats can regain the Texas House is secondary. Conceivably, if Craddick continues to lose his staunchest supporters (like Delisi), combined with enough Democratic victories to punch a hole in the speaker’s already weak pledge list, a more moderate Republican speaker could take the dais in 2009.
For more on Turner’s entry into the speaker’s race and Craddick’s woes during and since the raucous 2007 Regular Session, take a look at what’s been posted here.
As late as 5 p.m. on Thursday, congratulations were still pouring in from Democrats for Kirk England. It’s been a long time since Texas Democrats have had such a good news day.
England’s statement is pretty straightforward:
I made a promise to the hardworking families in our community to fight for our public schools, fight for affordable health care and to fight for us on pocketbook issues. After one session in the House, I found that the Republican leadership in Austin had no tolerance for the values and priorities of the folks I represent.
Look for more news on House races and the speaker’s marathon here soon.
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:29 am
I can see six seats changing, depending on who’s at the top of the national ticket, but that’s about the outside max I could count. I’m pretty sure that many can flip by 2010, which is going to be a pure bloodbath of a general election heading into the next redistricting.
All of this, btw, is self-inflicted damage; the Dems aren’t winning that many seats, but the Rs are doing their best to lose a bunch of them.
October 1st, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Right next door to Fred Hill, in District 108 (Downtown Dallas, Uptown), Democrat Emil Reichstadt will be running against Dan Branch. This will prove to be one of the more exciting races, as the area has long been thought to be staunchly conservative. With Hill leaving and Emil’s race in 108 heating up, the Metroplex finally will have a chance to be represented in Austin by people who care about the air we breath and the education our community’s children.
December 27th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
[…] Report were floating a notion that Haggerty should change parties and join Texas Democrats, a la Kirk England, but Haggerty dismissed the idea, after asking what exactly BOR […]