May 2, 2007

Powerful House Members Not Playing
Along with Speculation on Retirement

By Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside Editor

Several Texas House Republicans who chair powerful committees dismissed speculation Tuesday that they might not seek re-election when voters go the polls next year.

State Reps. David Swinford of Dumas and Beverly Woolley of Houston - two of the veteran legislators at the center of early conversations about the possibility of House members retiring - told Capitol Inside that they plan at this point in time to be on the ballot in 2008. Two others - State Reps. Dianne Delisi of Temple and John Smithee of Amarillo - indicated that they wouldn't be making decisions about their political futures until after the regular session ends late this month.

There's also speculation that State Rep. Charlie Howard, a Sugar Land Republican who's also a committee chair, might forego a re-election bid in 2008 in favor of a race for the state Senate or Congress. Republican State Rep. Robert Talton of Pasadena also has been mentioned as a possible candidate for a congressional seat that Tom DeLay gave up last year after being forced out of his position as the U.S. House majority leader.

The speculation about the possible exodus of veteran Republican House members comes near the end of a session in which there have been ongoing questions about whether Speaker Tom Craddick will be back to seek a fourth term as House leader when the Legislature convenes in 2009. Some legislators predict that Craddick won't seek re-election - based on his seemingly relaxed and laid-back demeanor throughout the first four months of a regular session that began with a bruising fight for the chamber's top leadership post. But other House members including some of the top lieutenants on the leadership team speculate that Craddick will try to hang on to the speaker's job until he's served a record six terms.

The speaker has substantial experience when it comes to filling vacancies on the leadership team. After winning a third term in early January, Craddick had to find replacements for 10 former committee chairs who were either defeated in re-election bids or left the House voluntarily when they chose not to seek new terms last year.

The House members whose names have been mentioned as lawmakers who might be contemplating retirement all seemed surprised by the speculation that they might be in the midst of their last regular sessions. All agree that they're too focused on the business at hand in the regular session's final four weeks to be worrying now about the campaign season.

Woolley has a full plate that's overflowing with a record number of bills stacked up in the Calendars Committee, which she's chaired since Craddick's election as speaker in 2003. A record number of bills were filed this year - and committee chairs in the House appear to be putting the brakes on legislation less this time around than they did during the past two regular sessions. Woolley has been a House member for the past 10 years.

A 16-year House veteran, Delisi has been one of the Legislature's most popular and most effective members - and she's one of the busiest as well as the House Public Health Committee chair for the past two years. One of Delisi's biggest tasks in the closing weeks of the session will be shepherding a major Medicaid reform plan through the lower chamber.

Swinford has tackled an array of controversial issues including immigration and abortion in his job as the State Affairs Committee chairman - and Smithee has had his hands full this session as well as the Insurance Committee chair. Smithee's persuasive powers were on display Tuesday when he talked an overwhelming number of colleagues into supporting an amendment that would penalize Sprint Nextel for charging wireless customers for a percentage of the money they will owe the state under the new margins tax. Smithee entered the House in 1985 - and he's chaired the Insurance Committee for the past 12 years. Swinford joined the lower chamber in 1991 - and he's led the State Affairs Committee for the past two years after chairing the Government Reform Committee for two years before that.

Howard is in his first session as the chairman of the Local & Consent Calendars Committee. Talton led the Urban Affairs Committee as its chairman during the regular sessions in 2003 and 2005, but he lost the post this year after siding with the Republican challenger who attempted to unseat Craddick as speaker.

Of all the lawmakers on the retirement rumor list, Swinford is the only one who faced a competitive challenge in 2006. But Swinford still won the Republican nomination in his bid for re-election when he defeated former Amarillo School Board President Anette Carlisle with 57 percent of the primary vote.

Swinford, Smithee, Woolley, Delisi and Howard will all qualify for legislative pensions whenever they decide to step down.

Talton and Howard are on the list of names that come up in conversations about the future of the Southeast Texas congressional seat that Democratic U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson won after DeLay resigned midway through 2006. Former Houston City Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs held the Congressional District 22 seat for two months after winning a special election that Lampson chose to skip late last year. Lampson is on thin ice in CD 22, a district that's still decidedly Republican, but it may not matter if he decides to run for the U.S. Senate in 2008 as some Democrats predict.

The list of potential contenders for DeLay's old seat in 2008 include Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace, Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt and Tom Campbell, a lawyer who ran against Delay in the GOP primary last year.