The Texas House of Representatives started the 2013 session today the same way it ended 2011 — with state Rep. Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, as speaker. This represents the third session in a row in which far-right groups like Texas Eagle Forum and Liberty Institute/Texas Values along with Tea Party activists have failed to keep […]
Joe Straus
Far Right Fails in GOP Speaker Vote
A large majority of Republicans in the Texas House have rejected demands by far-right groups by indicating that they will support the re-election of Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, as House speaker. The vote in the Republican House caucus represents a major defeat for far-right pressure groups like Texas Eagle Forum and Liberty Institute (the Texas […]
Race-Baiting E-mails
One of the state’s right-wing extremists who has been among the most vocal in demanding the replacement of Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, as speaker of the Texas House appears to have a stunningly ignorant understanding of civil rights history. In a new e-mail commentary about the speaker’s race on Friday, Peter Morrison insists that the […]
Backlash Against the Right in Speaker Fight?
The fight among Texas Republicans over who should be speaker of the state House of Representatives is getting hotter. We suggested on Tuesday that over-the-top efforts by far-right pressure groups and their extremist supporters to replace Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, may well alienate other Republicans. That point was made clearer in a letter from […]
Anti-Straus Forces Step Up Pressure
Religious-right groups are taking the highly unusual step of calling a public rally next month at the state Capitol in Austin to demand the removal of Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, as Speaker of the Texas House. This newest intimidation tactic comes after a weeks-long religious campaign against Straus in which Straus opponents have noted that […]
