FLASH--TX Senate votes McLeroy out as Board Chair

This afternoon, the Texas Senate finally held its debate on McLeroy's nomination to chair the Texas Board of Education. Because a 2/3 majority is required, he lost on a 19-11 party line vote, amid much discussion about whether he was being punished for his faith or for being a divisive leader. Speculation about who the governor will appoint next to chair the board is rampant at the Texas Education Agency and the state Capitol...

Democrat Eddie Lucio of Brownsville abstained from voting on the nomination, but the other 11 Democrats were sufficient to block it. By my count, this is the third of the governor's nominations to be blocked by the Senate which is highly unusual, given the control of both chambers by the governor's party.

Because the Senate is likely to be adjourned when the Governor, Rick "Most Likely to Secede" Perry, announces his pick, the nominee will serve as chair without having a confirmation vote in the Senate until Spring of 2011. (This was the pattern used with McElroy, who was chair for almost two years before his nomination made it to the Senate floor.)

The newspapers are blogging that Cynthia Dunbar (R-The Faction, Richmond) is the likeliest choice. (She made headlines in late October with a column suggesting that Obama was in league with terrorists to attack the country soon after inauguration. Then, she wound up bolting from the rest of her fellow members of The Faction in proposing and pushing compromise language on the science TEKS, language that The Faction voted against, but proclaimed themselves thrilled with immediately after...)

I still think Terri Leo (R-The Faction, Spring), the current Board secretary, will get the nod. She spent many years as an organizer and worker on the Houston-area end of some of Perry's campaigns before he became governor, and she's had a much longer tenure on the Board than Dunbar. (In addition, unlike Leo, Dunbar is up for re-election in 2010, and will be facing stiff, well-funded election fights: both from within her party, and from a Democratic challenger as well--two situations she didn't face last time when her sole opposition was a Libertarian candidate.)

Opponents of McElroy wish that Perry would appoint a Republican not aligned with The Faction like Bob Craig (R-Lubbock) or Pat Hardy (R-Weatherford). And that's exactly why Perry will do no such thing. Fasten your seatbelts, there's likely to be just as much turbulence now as before!