Texas House speaker candidates

A map detailing the declared candidates for Texas state House speaker, including the incumbent speaker, Tom Craddick, and his challengers from both parties - each candidate is a balloon, red or blue, depending on their party. We also look at two influential House members who aren’t running for speaker but who could play key roles in who will win: Democrat Jim Dunnam and GOP Rep. Warren Chisum. They’re represented by push pins.


The candidates are:
Incumbent Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland
Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana
Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine
Rep. Dan Gattis, R-Georgetown
Rep. Scott Hochberg, D-Houston
Rep. Delwin Jones, R-Lubbock
Rep. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland
Rep. Edmund Kuempel, R-Seguin
Rep. Tommy Merritt, R-Longview
Rep. Allan Ritter, D-Longview
Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton
Rep. Joe Straus, R-San Antonio
Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston
Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston

And two key players who aren't actually candidates for speaker, but who could wield enormous influence over who is picked:
Rep. Jim Dunnam, D-Moody
Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa

UPDATE, 8:30 p.m. Jan. 5: We're continuing to update our map as the speaker's race progresses: With support solidifying behind Rep. Joe Straus, and many candidates dropping out of the race, we've changed the dropouts' icons to a cloudy sky drawing. We've also added one more push pin, Rep. Charlie Geren, a key member of the "ABC" Republicans, who are backing Straus.



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