Reply to comment
McElroy as chair of TX Bd of Ed no more
Last night, when McElroy's nomination didn't make it out of the TX Senate nominations committee, it pretty much sealed his tenure as Chairman of the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE). Without confirmation by the full Senate, he automatically is removed as chair (but not as a member) when the Lege adjourns on June 1st. But what happens next...?
The chair of the nominations committee, Mike Jackson (R-La Porte) can count votes well enough to know that McElroy's nomination would fail if sent to the floor, so he didn't send it, agreeing with Elliot Shapleigh's (D-El Paso) "motion to sever" McElroy's nomination from the dozens and dozens of others to various boards and commissions, the rest of which were approved by the Senate en masse, as a formality.
There's a lot of buzz about what will happen next. Even during the hearing on McElroy's nomination last week, Jackson asked witnesses testifying against McElroy who they'd select instead. (Most chose State Board of Education member Pat Hardy, a Republican (NOT the faction) and veteran school teacher and social studies supervisor from Weatherford (outside Ft. Worth).) But this is unlikely, as explained below.
A detour into Texas politics is required to guess at what will happen next. The Republican Governor, Rick "Good Hair" Perry, who needs to make the appointment, is seeking another term in 2010 (for a record-busting 3 and a half, as he took over when Gov. George W. Bush became President George W. Bush). He faces stiff primary competition from Kay Bailey Hutchison, Texas' U.S. Senator.
Perry's made a number of moves to align with his base on the very conservative side of the Texas GOP--his recent ambiguous (but very cunningly crafted) comments about secession are a typical example.
He's learned a lot in his 8+ years as governor--he's mastered the art of acting (and vetoing) when the Legislature is not in session, so he can't be over-ruled. In fact, McElroy was first appointed AFTER the Legislature adjourned two years ago, so this was his first opportunity to be confirmed by the Senate.
Taking all of this into account, most observers expect Perry to wait until the Legislature adjourns, and then name another extremely conservative member to be chair, either David Bradley of (R-The Faction, Beaumont) or Terri Leo (R-The Faction, Spring), so they won't face a nomination hearing for another two years, when the Legislature returns. But this is Texas, and anything can happen!
