Griggs Exits the Lege

As rumors heat up about what becomes of Tom Craddick-as-speaker after the 2006 elections, one of the GOP moderates, Bob Griggs, has opted to retire. Griggs was one of the keys among the GOP delegation for standing up to Craddick's power play of ramming HB2 and HB3 down the throats of representatives it would have negatively impacted back home.

Grigg's exit ups the ante on Craddick's future as the dominant question of said future becomes: do truculant GOP members lose out in 2006 or have a change of heart and go back to supporting Craddick for Speaker in January 2007 ... or does the current dissatisfaction with Craddick hold - and more importantly, will the Craddick Dems that survive 2006 come back home and support a moderate GOP Speaker if enough GOP support is out there?

In terms of Grigg's seat in District 91 (not far from my own stomping grounds in the HEB Mid Cities), it's no more Republican than many of the Harris County GOP-held districts we need to launch an insurgency in. That it's an open seat helps a little. That it's nearby to some newfound purple in Tarrant County, I think, makes it a necessity to challenge if only for the sake of challenging. Pat Carlson, current Tarrant County Republican Party chair, and North Richland Hills school board member, Kelly Hancock are already in the race for the GOP side. A Carlson primary win is bad news as it replaces Griggs with someone seemingly more amenable to Craddick's leadership.

Beyond District 91, allow me to make the case for one more race in the Houston area that this impacts: District 146 - Al Edwards. If we're to have any shot at unseating Craddick as speaker, we need to be prepared for the possibility of going into Austin on January 07 with something just less of an outright majority. That puts an emphasis on Democrats sticking together on procedural matters (as well as matters of high principle). Al's had something of a Damascus moment late in the last year of legislating ... he's stuck with us on some key votes, as have other Craddick Dems. But the heat rises with the loss of a Republican like Griggs. Who Al Edwards would vote for as Speaker is now a major campaign issue in his expected primary race against Borris Miles.

In discussing my thoughts on all things Al (and other Craddick Dems) with others, here's how I tend to put it: If we walk into Austin after the '06 elections and the House stands even-steven at 75-75, GOP-to-Dems, I don't know that Edwards sticks with us for a vote on Speaker. By comparison, I do believe that Sylvester Turner, Harold Dutton, and Kevin Bailey stick with us. Edwards' animus with his own party just goes too far deep and, for the most part, seems to be oblivious to the fact that it's not the same ol' good ol' boys running the show within our party anymore. I might be wrong, I might be right ... but I think this campaign season in Dist 146 ought to get Al on the record. Of course, even better would be to upgrade the representation alltogether by supporting Borris Miles.