64 Democrats Publicly Signal They Won’t Vote For Craddick

Sixty-four members of the House Democratic Caucus have signed a formal pledge indicating that they will not vote to re-elect House Speaker Tom Craddick (R-Midland) when the Texas House reconvenes in January.

Absent from the list of Democrats signaling their support for “anybody but Craddick” were 10 House Democrats who have typically voted for Craddick or aligned themselves with his leadership team:  Harold Dutton (D-Galveston); Al Edwards (D-Houston); Kino Flores (D-Mission);  Helen Giddings (D-DeSoto); Dawnna Dukes (D-Austin); Ryan Guillen (D-Rio Grande City); Ruth Jones McClendon (D-San Antonio); Tracy King (D-Houston); Aaron Pena (D-Edinburg); and  Sylvester Turner (D-Houston).

Surprisingly, two incoming freshman House members who received support from Craddick allies in their campaign also signed the pledge: Marisa Marquez (D-El Paso) and Tia Rios Ybarra (D-Kingsville).

Late last night, Harvey Kronberg, the editor of the Austin-based Quorum Report noted that Craddick needed a minimum of 12 incumbent Democrats siding with him in order to prevail–that is, if, by some maricle, he was actually able to unify the Republican caucus.

At present, Craddick is short two of the minimum of 12 Democrats he needs in order to win back control of the Texas House. Assuming that no former “Craddick D’s” on the pledge list switch their votes, Craddick would have to find the votes he needs on the Republican side of the aisle. While not unlikely, it isn’t impossible, either.

Even with 12 candidates in the race and 64 Democrats signing this pledge, it is still a bit too early to write Craddick’s obituary.

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