Texas Speaker of the House Race Heats Up: Warren Chisum Will Run

Texas Republican State Representative, Warren Chisum, formally announced today his intent to run for Texas Speaker of the House.  State Represenative, Joe Straus, also a Republican, is the current Texas Speaker of the House and it is expected that he would run declare again to continue in this position. 

The Texas House members elect the Speaker of the House at the beginning of the Texas Legislative Session, which begins in January 2011.  Click here to see Duties and Responsibilities of the Texas Speaker of the House. Texas Speaker of the HousePDF

Rep. Chisum circulated a letter today, describing his intentions and reasons for running for Texas Speaker of the House.

Rep. Chisum contends he has more experience with budget and redistricting matters, huge issues for the upcoming Texas Legislative session, experience he believes is needed for the Speaker of the House role. 

Rep. Chisum also believes that the Speaker of the House should be supported by a majority of  the Speaker’s own political party.  This seems to be a clear effort to remind people that Speaker Straus, a Republican, was supported by a majority of Democrats as the Speaker, but not by a majority of Republicans at the time when “support” was being counted, before an official vote was taken.

See Rep. Chisum’s letter here.Rep. Chisum Speaker Announcment