— Tom Crad , the iron-fisted 38-year House veteran from Midland, won re-election Tuesday to a third term as speaker of the Texas House after fending off a bitter challenge from a fellow conservative Republican who once was part of his leadership team.
Crad emerged victorious after his opponent, Rep. Jim Pitts, of Waxahachie, abruptly withdrew from the race as the nominations for speaker were to begin.
By then, it was evident Pitts did not have the majority he needed. After a lengthy debate, his House colleagues killed a resolution that would have kept the vote for speaker secret until after the speaker made committee assignments.
That vote was a sign of Crad 's strength. The vote to re-elect him was 121 to 27.
But the contentious race showed a House deeply divided in the first public feud that's split Republicans since they gained control of the chamber four years ago.
While he easily won re-election, the "test vote" beforehand to hold the election by record vote was much more divisive, with 68 of the 148 House members backing the anti-Crad resolution.
Addressing the House after the vote, Crad appeared eager to reach out to the critics in the House who accused him of ruling as an autocrat.
"Take your talents where they lead you, and I will help you succeed. ... If in some way I fall short of your expectations or needs, please tell me, and I will do my best to correct that shortcoming," Crad said in his acceptance speech.
By the end of the day, Pitts seemed just as eager to bury the hatchet.
Announcing his withdrawal from the race, Pitts told his fellow House members that he would cast his vote for Crad , "to begin the healing."
Pitts, a 14-year House veteran, said there was no point in bringing a floor vote. The day he announced his bid for speaker, he had promised to protect his colleagues from potential retaliation, but with the voting for speaker to be made public, he said he could not honor that commitment.
Of the 27 House members who voted against Crad , Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Laredo, was among them. Taking the podium, he challenged Crad to govern with greater fairness.
"Prove me wrong, Mr. Speaker. Prove me wrong because I intend to vote (against you)," he said. "Let us not intimidate and coerce."
All along, the battle for speaker had been about style, not ideology. Pitts and Crad were both committed conservative Republicans.
Crad has earned a reputation for his somber demeanor and for ruling with an iron fist. Pitts, who Crad named in 2004 to chair appropriations, is known for his friendly, aw-shucks personality.
In the end, the House went for the leader they served under and knew over one who'd never held the post.
One thing was clear about this bitter race: Neither Crad nor Pitts could win without significant support from Democrats. Forty-two Democrats — committee chairs and non-committee chairs — voted to keep Crad in office.
Rep. Aaron Peña, of Edinburg, was one of them. He said his vote was a vote for "pragmatic politics."
"The people I represent do not have the luxury to tilt at windmills," Peña said, adding that the House should not go to war over "questions of style."
"We come looking for a seat at the table," he said. "Not as adversaries, but as brothers and sisters."
Surrounded by family, Crad watched the daylong debates intently from a chair directly in front of the media tables. He was, by then, just another House member, his term having expired when the gavel opened the 80th legislative session.
His mood seemed to shift with the afternoon. At times he joked with reporters and balanced his 8-month-old grandson, Thomas Russell Crad III, on his lap. Other times he looked tense, his hands clasped in his lap.
Few Capitol observers appeared surprised by the race's outcome.
When lawmakers took their seats at noon Tuesday, Pitts was believed to be trailing. Two hours earlier, he attended a private Democratic caucus meeting, presumably desperate for last-minute votes. The night before, he failed to make an appearance at a publicized reception organized for supporters from his district.
"I was working," Pitts explained to a reporter afterward.
For the past week or so, Crad 's camp has insisted it had 80 plus supporters and released a list of backers. Pitts, who jumped into the race less than two weeks ago, insisted he had the votes but said he couldn't name names because doing so would jeopardize his supporters (resulting in bad committee assignments) if the attempted coup was squashed.
As the House adjourned for the night, some Crad critics wondered aloud whether their new speaker would be more open, and more forgiving.
But some things clearly hadn't changed.
After the House adjourned, prominent lobbyists Bill Messer and Bill Miller rushed to the floor to congratulate Crad on his victory. Messer has vacationed with Crad , and Miller once helped the devoutly Catholic politician get an audience with the pope.
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