Speaker of The House
On January 11, 2003, after thirty-four years in the House, Craddick became the first Republican Speaker in more than 130 years. He held the presiding officer's position for six years.
In December 2006, Craddick faced a credible challenge to his re-election as Speaker for the Eightieth Texas Legislature. Brian McCall (R-Plano) and Jim Pitts (R-Waxahachie), as well as Democrat Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston) all of whom announced candidacies for the speakership. In early January, McCall withdrew and endorsed Pitts. Supporters of Pitts pressed for a secret ballot in order to avoid retribution should their efforts fail, while Craddick had maintained all along that he had more than the minimum number of votes needed for re-election. When the secret ballot measure failed, Pitts withdrew, and Craddick was re-elected to a third term as Speaker on January 9, 2007, by a vote of 121-27.
In January 2009, Craddick was finally ousted as Speaker after nearly the entire Democratic Caucus and sixteen wayward Republicans broke ranks to vote for Joe Straus, a two-term Republican from San Antonio.
Craddick won reelection to his House seat in the general election on November 2, 2010. Straus then won a second term as Speaker in January 2011. Two other Republicans, Leo Berman from Tyler and Warren Chisum from Pampa unsuccessfully sought to challenge Straus for the position.
Read more about this topic: Tom Craddick
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