Texas House of Representatives

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The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. It is composed of 150 members, each representing one of 150 districts and each serving two-year terms.

Affiliation		Members
	Republican Party	79
	Democratic Party	71
Total		150

At the beginning of the regular session, the Republican Party held an 80-69 advantage with one vacancy that was later filled by the GOP, creating an 81-69 Republican majority. After the Regular Session, one Representative left the GOP and joined the Democratic Party. On December 18, 2007, Democrat Dan Barrett won a special election, creating the current 79-71 total.

[edit] Current controversy

Chaos erupted in the Texas House of Representatives on Friday, May 25, 2007, when Rep. Fred Hill, R-Richardson, attempted to make a motion to vacate Speaker of the House Tom Craddick's office, but Craddick (also a Republican) refused to allow him to make the motion.^[1] The attempts to oust Craddick continued through the weekend as other Republicans made additional motions, which were also disallowed.

The last time a Texas House speaker was thrown out of office by the members, it was Ira Evans was in 1871. The Republican House majority threw Ira Evans out for cooperating too much with Democrats on an elections bill.^[1]

While Craddick's close allies say this is just an effort by Democrats to gain greater control of the Legislature before the legislative and congressional redistricting process of 2011,^[1] Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, says the fight is about Craddick consolidating power with lobbyists and using campaign contributions to maintain control in the House: "This is about the convergence of money and power and influence," Cook said."^[1]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Texas House of Representatives

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