Struas lives to gerrymander another day.

[CatoMinor]

The Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives is being challenged from the right for his job. Ken Paxton and Warren Chisum are both gonna try and take the Speakers gavel from Straus. Not helping his case is several reps have decided to no longer support Straus after his threats of gerrymandering the districts of the reps that don't support him.

Straus was elected Speaker in 2009 when the Democrats sided with 11 Republicans to unseat the current Speaker Craddick. In return Straus appointed Dems to chair 16/34 committees and have supported a few dems in their re-election.

I'm not sure what the current count is but Straus claimed to have more than the 76 votes needed, but since then at least a couple have broken from his column.  

[Capitan Zapp Brannigan]

When's the vote? The farther away it's going to be I think the better shot the challengers have of taking away his support.

[CatoMinor]

When's the vote? The farther away it's going to be I think the better shot the challengers have of taking away his support.

I don't know, I've been trying to look it up.

[Skill and Chance]

Now this is exactly the type of politician that strong partisans should focus their efforts on.  I would imagine either party would be ticked if their legislative leader cut a deal of this magnitude with the opposition.

[Mjh]

Well, with the majorities the GOP now enjoys in Texas, they don't need to entertain a liberal Republican as speaker.

[CatoMinor]

Here is one the the websites campaigning against him

http://no2joestraus.com/

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

In this case I can actually feel very sympathetic with the teabag cause.

[CatoMinor]

Here is a video his opposition made, informative while having catchy music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFKOp6fOFPM&feature=player_embedded#!

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

If Warren Chisum wins, Texas is doomed...

[CatoMinor]

This site has some info on who is backing who so far.

[Joe Republic]

Straus' opponents have done a pretty good job of showing us what this is really about.

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Ten points if you can guess Joe Straus' faith.

[Magic 8-Ball]

Straus' opponents have done a pretty good job of showing us what this is really about.

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Ten points if you can guess Joe Straus' faith.

With a name like that he's got to be Sikh.

[Mjh]

Joe Straus problem is that he is too liberal for much of the Republican caucus, not that he's a jew.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Joe Straus problem is that he is too liberal for much of the Republican caucus, not that he's a jew.

Apparently Texas Republicans don't share your view.

[Brittain33]

Joe Straus problem is that he is too liberal for much of the Republican caucus, not that he's a jew.

Then why are they saying that their problem with him is that he's not Christian?

[Mjh]

You have a quote from a single Texas Republican named John Cook. Nothing more. That is hardly enough to claim that the intra-party opposition to Straus is based on his religion. Maybe John Cook has a problem with jews, but that doesn’t mean that he is representative for all the people trying to oust Straus.

Especially when it is clear that Straus actually is far more liberal than a large portion of his caucus. He has a 100% NARAL rating and he supported a bunch of Democrats as commitee chairs.

I know you people like to dismiss Conservatives as racists, but isn't this taking it a bit far?

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

Straus is an idiot and needs to be canned

[CatoMinor]

This is the south, your bound to find a few anti-semitic idiots, but this challenge is against Straus the politician not Straus the the person. Its his actions as Speaker that got him into this.

[Mechaman]

This is the south, your bound to find a few anti-semitic idiots, but this challenge is against Straus the politician not Straus the the person. Its his actions as Speaker that got him into this.

Agreed.
The words of one Protestant Supremacist isn't enough to delegitimatize the movement.  To conclude that since one person in the body is a Protestant Supremacist that the whole of the body is would be to stoop down to the level of the idiot who made such a conclusion.

[CatoMinor]

I'm not sure when the vote for speaker is, but Straus should start getting worried if it isn't soon.

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http://www.quorumreport.com/buzz/Buzz_Print_List.cfm

[Dgov]

I'm not sure what the current count is but Straus claimed to have more than the 76 votes needed, but since then at least a couple have broken from his column. 

How many of those 76 are Democrats?  I assume they're inclined to help prop him up again.

[CatoMinor]

Not sure how current this is, but I saw a list of the States reps who support ousting Straus, so far the number is at 22

[CatoMinor]

Woolley has endorsed Straus

http://www.texasinsider.org/?p=39664

[CatoMinor]

I'm not sure what the current count is but Straus claimed to have more than the 76 votes needed, but since then at least a couple have broken from his column. 

How many of those 76 are Democrats?  I assume they're inclined to help prop him up again.

I think some in the GOP are pushing to have it decided within their caucus so the dems don't pull that again.

[Dgov]

I'm not sure what the current count is but Straus claimed to have more than the 76 votes needed, but since then at least a couple have broken from his column. 

How many of those 76 are Democrats?  I assume they're inclined to help prop him up again.

I think some in the GOP are pushing to have it decided within their caucus so the dems don't pull that again.

Isn't that what happened last time though?  I thought Craddick won the inter-republican vote, but Straus won in the actual vote (where Republicans were supposed to vote unanimously for the Republican-chosen candidate) because of Unanimous Democratic support.