Merritt calls for 'Speaker's Summit'

State Rep. Tommy Merritt, R-Longview and a candidate for Texas Speaker of the House of Representatives, is asking the nine other candidates for the position to meet with him for a "Speaker's Summit" to discuss the "contentious race" for the top seat in the House.

Merritt said Tuesday he hopes to hold the summit within the next two to three weeks, preferably at the University of Texas at Austin during orientation for freshman members of the House who were elected in November.

Speaker Tom Craddick, RMidland, a 40-year incumbent, has held the position since 2003.

The speaker is the presiding officer of the 150-member House and arguably one of the most powerful men in the state. His (or her, though there has never been a female in the seat) duties are to conduct meetings of the House, appoint committees and enforce House rules. He also appoints chairpersons and members to committees.

Five Democrats — Pete Gallego of Alpine, Allan Ritter of Nederland, and Senfronia Thompson, Sylvester Turner and Scott Hochberg, all of Houston — and five Republicans — Bert Solomons of Carrollton, Delwin Jones of Lubbock, Jim Keffer of Eastland, Merritt, Solomons and Craddick — have already announced their candidacies for the office.

Merritt said during Craddick's tenure, the Republican majority in the House has gone from 26 to just two as Republicans lost three seats to Democrats in 2008.

When asked if he blamed Craddick for the election losses, Merritt said rather than talk about blame he will campaign for himself as the owner of a small business and a person capable of working across party lines.

"I'm someone who is capable of working for people to work for their districts without fear of retaliation," Merritt said.

In a news release issued by his office Tuesday, Merritt stated, "It is time for us all to come together and move this process forward. We can continue talking about bi-partisanship and change and accomplish little, or we can show the people of Texas we are serious about leading this state in a new direction by actually doing something. That something is a Speaker's Summit.

"I don't expect the Summit to result in a unified choice for Speaker, but I do hope we can at least agree to a set of ground rules that each candidate will adhere to, a fair process for voting, and an agreement between the candidates that whoever wins, that person will put Texas above politics and will not punish those who entered the contest."

The East Texas rep said he feels confident he can win the Speaker's race by bringing representatives from both parties together and adopting a powersharing philosophy during the next session.

"The reality is this is basically a split House," he said. "That means power must be split. And it means partisan differences must be replaced with a system that respects the will of the House and the vote of every individual member."

Earlier, Merritt circulated a petition proposing a sealed ballot when voting for Speaker. He says a secret vote would encourage more people to run without fear of retaliation.

He said Solomon and another Speaker candidate, Delwin Jones, R-Lubbock, both support the petition.

"Other Speaker candidates have said verbally they support the sealed ballot but they have not signed on to the pledge yet," Merritt said.

In a press release from Merritt's office last week, he said during the last session the House unanimously approved House Resolution 2936 to allow members to privately vote for the next Speaker so there will be no fear of reprisal or retaliation if members choose to support a candidate who does not win. Merritt said he and Rep. Patricia Harless, R-Spring, co-authored the measure.

"This system that affords the members the same privacy as citizens who go the ballot box on Election Day worked well for more than 100 years in the House and it is needed now more than ever," he said.

Merritt said since Texas became a state in 1845 until 1972, when Rayford Price was elected Speaker to replace Gus Mutscher, who resigned after the Sharpstown scandal, every contested election for Speaker was conducted by sealed ballot.

"The heart of this entire matter is whether the will of the House will prevail or be ignored. When the members' will was ignored by Speaker Tom Craddick, irreparable harm was done to this body and this government," Merritt said. "By adopting this fairness resolution last session, it is clear that the House intends to vote for a Speaker without fear of following their conscience."