Tom Craddick - Speaker of The House

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.