The End is Near??
We have less than 3 weeks to go until the airwaves are clear again, no more being bombarded by endless campaign commercials, debates, the 24 hour election newscycle, no more polls, and no more yard signs. Back to normal, maybe?
The outcome of November’s elections doesn’t really matter both the Texas House and Senate will still be heavily controlled by the Republicans. The primary and runoff elections set the ballot for November, but theoretically most of the Texas House and Senate races are over.
TEXAS SENATE
There are 31 seats in the Senate, 16 of these seats are up for election but there is really just one Senate race on the November ballot – Fort Worth’s SD-10 contest between Democratic Senator Wendy Davis and Republican State Representative Mark Shelton.
This is one of the most contentious and bitter campaigns for a Senate seat in quite some time, when Senator Davis won her election over then Senator Kim Brimer some of the same tactics were used against her.
Representative Mark Shelton, was elected to the Texas House in November 2008, is one of only four physicians in the Texas Legislature. Representative Shelton was also the sponsor of HB 1998, relating to county authority to enforce minimum infrastructure standards for manufactured home rental communities; providing penalties. HB 1998 died in committee, failing to receive enough affirmative votes to pass out of the House County Affairs Committee.
If you’d like to read the language in HB 1998, please click on the link below:
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/82R/billtext/html/HB01998I.htm
One more note of interest involving the Senate, On October 5, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst named many of his new Senate Chairmanships to some of the most powerful committees in the Senate. He also eliminated Senator Eddie Lucio’s Committee on International Relations and Trade.
Historically, the Lieutenant Governor does not announce committee chair appointments until after the Legislature has convened. With Governor Dewhurst being defeated in the primary by Ted Cruz for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, many observers believe the Lieutenant Governor is making a conciliatory gesture to many of his critics in the Republican party that he is not conservative enough.
The list of the new Senate Chairmanships are as follows:
Senator Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo) is appointed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Higher Education to maximize the benefits of his interest in education. He recently served as Chair of the Senate Committee on Redistricting.
Senator Robert Nichols (R-Jacksonville) is appointed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Transportation, succeeding Senator Tommy Williams (R-The Woodlands) who was recently appointed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance. Senator Nichols has a background in Texas transportation, having served as a Commissioner of the Texas Department of Transportation.
Senator Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo), whose leadership of the Senate Committee on Higher Education has benefitted Texas students, is appointed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Government Organization.
Senator Rodney Ellis (D-Houston), former Chair of the Senate Committee on Government Organization, is appointed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Open Government to work on rewriting appropriate sections of the Open Government laws and increase transparency in state government operations in this age of modern communications.
Senator Craig Estes (R-Wichita Falls) is appointed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Rural Affairs and Homeland Security, with the important responsibility of Homeland Security transferred to his Committee.
Senator Dan Patrick (R-Houston) has been appointed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Education, due to his strong interest in improving public education for children, instituting innovative change and providing for more school choice by parents. Senator Patrick succeeds Senator Florence Shapiro (R-Plano) who announced her retirement from the Texas Senate in September 2011.
Senator Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa (D-McAllen) is appointed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations, which deals with local government issues.
Senator Glenn Hegar (R-Katy) is appointed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Nominations, which handles the important job of considering Gubernatorial appointments.
Senator Royce West (D-Dallas), who served as Chair of the Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations, is appointed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Jurisprudence where his strong legal background will benefit the Senate as well as the Judiciary.
Senator Bob Deuell (R-Greenville) is appointed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Economic Development to help grow the Texas economy and create new jobs. This position was formerly filled by Senator Mike Jackson (R-La Porte).
Senator Tommy Williams (R-The Woodlands) will serve as Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, succeeding Senator Steve Ogden (R-Bryan) who announced his retirement following the 82nd Legislature.
Senator Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound) has been reappointed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services to help the Senate address federal healthcare and Obamacare challenges.
Senator Robert Duncan (R-Lubbock) has been reappointed as Chair of the Senate Committee on State Affairs.
Senator John Carona (R-Dallas) is reappointed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Business and Commerce after previously serving as Chair of the Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security.
Senator Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay) is reappointed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources after previously serving as Chair of the Senate Committee on Business and Commerce.
Senator Kevin Eltife (R-Tyler) is reappointed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Administration.
Senator John Whitmire (D-Houston) is reappointed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice.
Senator Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio) is reappointed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Veteran Affairs and Military Installations.
TEXAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Never a dull moment in the Texas House, this session will be no different. Always viewed by many as the most exciting body of the Legislature, this session there are numerous items that will contribute to that reputation.
Some of these include: a possible speaker’s race, the largest class of freshmen representatives in over 30 years, a large sophomore class – couple that with the freshman class and almost half of the House has very little if no legislative experience, the exiting of many long time members and there will be a significant experience void and the loss of 14 chairs to retirement or running for another office.
Representative Bryan Hughes – (R) Mineola, has already filed to challenge Speaker Strauss for to be the Speaker of the next Legislature. Rep. Hughes is a fiscal and social conservative, but he is not an outspoken leader in the Republican controlled House. He is however, a Tea-Party favorite.
The race for Speaker is a political as a race can get, only the members of the House can vote and obtaining those votes or (pledges) starts well before the session begins.
Hughes said his chances of defeating Straus this year are better than the speaker’s opponents in 2011 because he started campaigning early. It also helps, he said, that in 2013 there will be many new legislators who share his conservative values.
The November 2010 elections brought a huge backlash from the voters and swept in a huge freshman class of 2011 elected on (a) an anti-Obama midterm backlash, (b) a Tea Party wave or (c) all of the above. This election cycle may be no different.
Over 40 incumbents are not coming back, either because they wanted to retire, running for a higher office or the voters made that decision for them. Those that will replace them will now be part of the system many were campaigning against “Government” on the campaign trail.
These freshman added along with the sophomores to be make up more than half of the House, this will not only create a huge void of legislative experience but major loss of experienced leadership. Campaigning is one thing, but learning the ropes of the political process takes years to master.
The biggest leadership void in the house will be the loss of over a dozen Chairmen and their almost two centuries of legislative and leadership knowledge, these chairmen include: Rick Hardcastle (Agriculture and Livestock); Jerry Madden (Corrections); Pete Gallego (Criminal Jurisprudence); Larry Taylor (Elections); Jim Dunnam (Select Committee on Federal Stimulus); Chuck Hopson ( General Investigating); Sid Miller (Homeland Security); Jim Jackson (Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence); Mike Hamilton (Licensing and Administrative Procedures; Vicki Truitt (Pensions and Financial Services); Rob Eissler (Public Education); Burt Solomons (Redistricting) and Aaron Pena (Technology).
While most of the above are extremely supportive of the manufactured housing industry, two of these are former authors of TMHA legislation (Hardcastle and Hamilton) and two are the chairs of committees that much of the industries legislation must go through to pass the Legislature (Hamilton and Truitt).
RACES TO WATCH
HD 23 - Representative Craig Eiland (D) vs Wayne Faircloth (R), Representative was elected to the House out of Galveston County in 1994. Since Hurricane Ike in 2008 he has worked on Hurricane recovery projects for Galveston and Chambers county. Speaker Stauss appointed him as Chair of the Hurricane subcommittee in 2009. Faircloth is a lifelong resident of Galveston county, former teacher and currently owns his own business. He has served on the Galveston City Council, County Waterboard and as a Commissioner on the Galveston/Texas City Pilot Commission. Most political insider’s think Eiland will win this race by a close margin.
HD 34 – Representative Connie Scott (R) vs Abel Herrero (D), both of these candidates have held this seat at one time or another, Representative Scott has held this seat since 2010, most believe she will continue to hold this seat, particularly after redistricting helped her out considerably in the district.
HD 43(formerly HD 35) – Representative Jose Manuel Lozano (R) vs Yvonne Gonzalez Toureilles (D). Another contest in South Texas where both candidates have held this seat currently or in the past. Gonzales Tourreilles represented the district for three terms before being ousted in 2010. Representative Lozano a Kingsville Republican switched parties in March of 2012. This race is a toss-up.
HD 78 – Representative Dee Margo (R) vs Former Representative Joe Moody (D), this is Margo’s third race against Moody, a Democrat who defeated Margo in 2008 by 3200 votes. Moody then lost to Margo in 2010 by 1400 votes. Too close to call but fun to watch.
A very interesting campaign season, the key to most of these and other races even down ballot and turn out is what counts. This being a presidential election year turnout is expected to be very high. On the morning of November 7 we will know the answers to all of these races.
Keep an eye on your mailbox, immediately after the elections we will be sending out a special election/pre-session edition of our TMHA Magazine.