Houston to Turner

Yesterday we asked whether Houston's Rep. Sylvester Turner could overcome his links to Speaker Tom Craddick and get his fellow Dems behind him in a speaker race.

Well, it's less than a day after his announcement, and we have an answer. And it's a big "no".

His fellow Houston Dem Rep. Jessica Farrar put out a press release saying that she and others will stand by the other Dem candidate, Senfronia Thompson. She lauds Thompson's career and makes it quite clear that it will be a cold day in Houston before she backs Craddick's buddy: "Perhaps Sylvester Turner believes his record of sticking with Tom Craddick as Tom Craddick has 'stuck it' to Texans qualifies him to carry on Craddick's tradition of disservice to Texas as our next Speaker. Or maybe he is continuing to enable Craddick with a disingenuous candidacy designed only to provide 'cover' for the few other Democrats who have supported Craddick while he has abused our democracy and damaged our state."

She finishes off with a very definite statement: "One thing is sure. Sylvester Turner will not be elected Speaker in 2009. Instead, I – and many other Democrats – will support our candidate, Rep. Senfronia Thompson to serve as the next Speaker of the House."

So that will be no, then.