House should return Straus to role as speaker

There is little doubt Joe Straus will be elected speaker of the Texas House when the Legislature convenes in January.

The majority of the House’s 98 GOP members have pledged support for the three-time speaker, although the latest reporting still shows him as being three votes shy of the 76 needed to secure the leadership post of the 150-member chamber.

The speaker holds a powerful post, capable of steering the entire representative body.

Over his last three terms as leader, Straus has developed a reputation for bipartisanship and moderation.

Those attributes should make him an appealing candidate for a fourth term.

But for some members of his own party, Straus’ establishment leanings are a weakness.

The wing of the GOP that finds Straus insufficiently conservative has put up its own candidate, Scott Turner, an African-American and a Tea Party darling from Frisco about to begin his second term.

It’s not unprecedented for challengers to emerge in the months leading up to the session. But by the time the Legislature opens, those candidates have usually dropped out — at least that’s been the case for the last four decades.

According to The Texas Tribune, in the 19 speaker races since 1975, all have been uncontested, allowing members to avoid publicly voting against a future leader.

For different reasons, both sides have expressed the desire for a recorded vote this session.

There’s nothing wrong with that. Contested elections often make for better candidates because they force those running to articulate their views.

But if the speaker’s race foretells anything about the coming session, the divide within the state GOP could be as great as that between the Democratic and Republican parties. And that could make for unprecedented gridlock.

The House still has several weeks before it convenes, and Straus’ support could broaden. But even if his margin of victory is narrow, legislators should begin this session with the spirit of compromise, seeking to serve the interests of Texans and not allow the contention of the speaker’s race to set the tone.

We can only hope.

This story was originally published December 24, 2014 at 2:35 PM with the headline "House should return Straus to role as speaker."