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| 1 |
Dustin Burrows |
| 2 |
Todd Hunter |
| 3 |
Tom Craddick |
| 4 |
David Cook |
| 5 |
Drew Darby |
| 6 |
Ryan Guillen |
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Republican State Rep.
Todd Hunter of Corpus Christi could be poised to take the torch for the current leadership team in the Texas House speaker's election on Tuesday if GOP State Rep. Dustin Burrows fails to claim the gavel on the initial ballot with a minimum of 76 votes that are required for a victory.
With some of 62 Democrats still keeping cards to the vest, Burrows has been unable to lock down the powerful position before the vote on the floor in light of his dependence on a significant show of Democratic support in an alliance that features 30 Republicans who've been publicly identified.
But Burrows remains the favorite on the eve of the leadership election nonetheless as a consequence of State Rep. David Cook's failure to score an ample number of Democrats to bridge a gap that he's faced from a lack of support within his own party as the GOP caucus nominee. Cook picked up his first Democrat during the weekend when State Rep. Richard Raymond of Laredo pledged to support him on the floor.
Cook would be lucky to land any more support from the Democrats as a direct result of a campaign that was conceived in and fueled by a promise to prohibit Democratic committee chairs for the first time in the history of the Lone Star State. An eleventh-hour surge of Democrats that Cook allies envisioned in the wake of the solo defection hasn't appeared to materialize and may not now that State Democratic Executive Committee members and other elected party leaders are outraged with Raymond and calling for him to be censured by the governing board.
Burrows' hopes for emerging triumphant in the first vote could be affected adversely by the presence of Democratic State Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos of Dallas as a candidate for speaker who could have a handful of votes from Democrats at the outset. Ramos has only been touting one pledged supporter on her X page with a pledge late last week from State Rep. Ray Lopez of San Antonio.
Burrows has had the inside lane since Speaker Dade Phelan pulled the plug on a re-election race. Burrows would only need 14 GOP votes to win in a chamber with 88 Republicans if he unanimous support from Democrats. But the Republican infighting has put the Democrats in position to decide which GOP member will be the next speaker - and the minority party's members can control the outcome of Tuesday's election if they're relatively united in the final analysis.
Capitol Inside has had Hunter in the top five in our rankings for the Texas speaker race in recent months. While Burrows still appears to be the smartest bet, Hunter has vaulted into second on the final chart as the Republican with the best shot to unite the Democrats if some refuse to back their colleague from Lubbock.
Hunter, who's chaired the powerful State Affairs Committee under Phelan, served in the House initially for eight years as a Democrat from 1989 to 1997. Hunter returned 16 years later in 2009 as a Republican - and he's been one of the House's most effective and influential members throughout that time.
Cook is squeezed between former Speaker Tom Craddick and State Rep. Drew Darby of San Angelo in the fourth spot in the rankings on the eve of the vote. Craddick has been mentioned for weeks as a possible contender if Cook falls short as widely expected in the statehouse corridors in Austin. But Craddick won the gavel initially with the help of a dozen Democrats who were rewarded with committee chairmanships without a peep of protest from conservatives outside the chamber.
There's speculation that Darby has pitched himself as a possibility to some Democrats in the event of a Burrows collapse. Darby has been perceived to be one of the least conservative Republicans in the House while Hunter and Burrows have landed failing grades on conservative scorecards as well as advertising for possible Democrat support.
more to come ...
