We've added Rep. Joe Straus to our interactive map of the "who's who" in the race for Texas Speaker of the House.

We'll be adding to the map about the race for Texas House Speaker as the weekend continues.

The map is chock-full of information about the people running for Speaker, as well as some key players in the race. Readers can use the map to quickly see biographical data about the candidates, access links to their ethics forms and campaign finance data, and view their contact information. In addition, we've added ratings from various interest groups, including Americans for Prosperity, Empower Texans, Environment Texas and TexPIRG.

Joe Straus, a San Antonio Republican and a relatively new member of the Texas House of Representatives, is the latest contender in the effort to topple House Speaker Tom Craddick.

There's lots of chatter in the blogosphere about the race... some of the best is at Paul Burka's blog at Texas Monthly's website.

Let us know who else should be on our map. (E-mail us at trent@texaswatchdog.org or jennifer@texaswatchdog.org)

And, as always, check out by clicking here he personal financial disclosures of any member running for House Speaker, or of any member of the Texas House (and the Texas Senate, for that matter) which we've published on the Texas Watchdog website.

Also, a quick wrap-up of the news reports about the Speaker's race as of Saturday evening:

The Houston Chronicle's take, via the AP's Jay Root is here.

Here's the latest from the San Antonio Express-News, Straus' hometown paper.

From the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.

And here's a piece from the Austin American-Statesman.

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