Haggerty Makes His Case For Speaker
December 27th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
Just before Christmas I spoke with Rep. Pat Haggerty (R-El Paso), the most recent candidate to announce for speaker of the Texas House. Haggerty represents HD 78 and says the number-one reason members should put him in the big chair is that he will honor the “process” of the lower body.
“I have a strong belief in process,” Haggerty said as the reason why members might support him. He said the kinds of problems that have cropped up lately would never have surfaced “when the process is allowed to function the way it is supposed to function.”
What exactly Haggerty means by process is not completely clear, but he did mention the calendar — the sometimes arcane process by which a bill gets heard, and one that Speaker Craddick has manipulated to reward friends and punish enemies. The House Rules (3.86 MB) are full of such ‘processes,’ but observers will note that in the 80th Session (like previous sessions), the rules were suspended almost as often as they were in force.
“This is a process that is designed by geniuses to be run by idiots,” Haggerty said. He said that Speaker Tom Craddick demonstrated last session that “he can just put a bill on the calendar, or not…” That, Haggerty said, represents “a total corruption of the system.”
Behind Haggerty’s talk of process lies the implicit promise that as speaker he would not let partisan impulses get the better of a member’s right to vote his or her district — the mantra of former Speaker Pete Laney.
“Every member should have a right to represent their district,” Haggerty said.
Asked why he decided to run — and why he is announcing in December 2007 — Haggerty pointed to Democrat Dan Barrett’s victory in a runoff in an erstwhile-solid-GOP district in southwest Fort Worth on Dec. 18. The Republicans in that race found themselves in disarray, thanks, chiefly, to disputes over whether or not Craddick should continue as speaker (as well as a couple of dirty tricks). Barrett also ran as an anti-Craddick Democrat and by all accounts benefited from that message.
“After the fiasco in House District 97 the other night, I thought the only way to offer an alternative is to run for speaker,” Haggerty told me. “It was pretty much just a referendum on Tom Craddick… It was a real slap in his face…”
I pointed out that the folks over at the Burnt Orange 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 was.
“Tell ‘em not to hold their breath,” Haggerty said.
As the El Paso Times mentioned when it reported Haggerty’s filing, he is the only Republican representative of a district along the Texas-Mexico border. And for those Democrats who hoped Haggerty’s proximity to the Rio Grande would soften his stance on illegal immigration, don’t get your hopes up.
“We’ve got to close our borders,” Haggerty said, admitting that immigration will probably be the number-one issue in his re-election effort in the GOP primary in his northwestern El Paso district. He faces El Paso businessman Dee Margo. The winner of the HD 78 GOP primary will likely face Democrat Louis Irwin, a University of Texas at El Paso biology professor — although Irwin had not yet filed with the Texas Democratic Party as of Dec. 27. Chances are Irwin is really teeing up in case the opportunity arises to face Margo. It’s thought the district trends Democrat but voters would give Haggerty a pass because he has represented them for so long.
“We’ve got to do everything we can to stop the flow [of immigrants],” Haggerty said. “To stop any further bleeding… It is the law. It’s wrong. I think there is a problem of national security. If this comes down the way it should, it’s going to result in some sort of guest-worker program.”
Haggerty says the proposed “fence” along the border is a federal initiative and he says it’s a federal issue, but he says he has no illusions. He does expect the immigration issue to play heavily in his district as well as nationally in 2008.
According to the Texas Ethics Commission, Haggerty now joins five others who have officially announced for Texas Speaker for the 81st Legislature: Delwin Jones (R-Lubbock), Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston), Sylvester Turner (D-Houston), Jim Keffer (R-Eastland), and Tom Craddick (R-Midland). Both Reps. Brian McCall (R-Plano) and Jim Pitts (R-Waxahachie) had filed for speaker in the last session, but have not updated their forms at the commission indicating the intent to run in January 2009.
Of course, the speaker’s race now, more than ever, vitally depends on which party controls the Texas House when the chips fall in November.
