Who Texans In Congress Are Endorsing For President

Via the good folks at Southern Political Report, we now have a pretty comprehensive list of what presidential candidates members of the Texas Congressional delegation have decided to endorse:

Hillary Clinton (64 nationally*, including11 Southerners): TX: US Reps. Henry Cuellar, Sheila Jackson Lee and Ruben Hinojosa.

Barack Obama (27 nationally; 6 Southerners): TX: US Rep. Al Green.

John Edwards (14 nationally; 9 Southerners): TX: US Reps. Charles Gonzales and Eddie Bernice Johnson.

Bill Richardson (7 nationally; 3 Southerners): TX: US Reps. Gene Green, Solomon Ortiz and Silvestre Reyes.

Republicans

Mitt Romney (31 nationally*; including 16 Southerners): TX: US Reps. Mike Conaway, Kay Granger & Lamar Smith.

John McCain (28 nationally; 10 Southerners): (no Texans)

Fred Thompson* (21 nationally; 16 Southerners): TX: US Rep. Louis Gohmert.

Rudy Giuliani (22 nationally; 3 Southerners): TX: US Rep. Pete Sessions.

Duncan Hunter (7 nationally; 4 Southerners): TX: US Reps. John Culberson & Ralph Hall.

Mike Huckabee: (2 nationally; 1 Southerner): (no Texans).

Needless to say, it’s a pretty interesting list, at least considering those who have endorsed so far.

I’m personally shocked that Mike Conaway, Kay Granger & Lamar Smith have endorsed Romney. He doesn’t exactly fit with the mold of “Texas style Conservative.” I’m somewhat surprised Granger has endorsed anyone, given that she’s vice chair of the Republican Conference in the House and has herself been mentioned as a Veep contender. As for Session’s endorsement of Giuliani, that’s another shocker, given that Giuliani isn’t, again, exactly a “Texas style Conservative.”

It does, however, come as no surprise whatsoever that no one in the Texas Congressional Delegation has endorsed fellow Texan Ron Paul (R-Surfside), who is running his own presidential campaign. Paul simply isn’t “conservative” enough for members of his own party.

On the Democratic side, the only endorsement that is surprising is Henry Cuellar’s endorsement of Hillary Rodham Clinton. I expected Cuellar (R-Laredo) to be in the Edwards or Richardson camp.

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