Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Texas Monthly's Best and Worst state legislators for 2015

Best (those with which I heartily concur are in bold; links to selected mentions here and elsewhere):

Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock (R-Killeen; also here)
Rep. César Blanco (D-El Paso)
Rep. Dennis Bonnen (R-Angleton)
Sen. Kevin Eltife (R-Tyler)
Rep. Stephanie Klick (R-Fort Worth)
Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D-San Antonio)
Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon (D-San Antonio)
Rep. John Otto (R-Dayton)
Rep. Tan Parker (R-Flower Mound)
Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Houston)

Worst:

Rep. Cecil Bell Jr. (R-Magnolia)
Sen. Donna Campbell (R-New Braunfels)
Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston)
Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston)
Sen. Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound)
Rep. Joe Pickett (D-El Paso)
Rep. Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler)
Sen. Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown)
Rep. Jonathan Stickland (R-Bedford)
Rep. Molly White (R-Belton)

It's hard to pick a bone with any of these, but I thought Rep. Byron Cook (R-Corsicana) should have made the 'Best' list just for his perservering against the likes of most of those on the Worst list.  And I thought Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston) had a seriously bad session.  As previously posted, she blew up the craft brewers, dishonored Houston's music legacy, shot down "Mr. Tesla" and not only carried the anti-fracking ban bill but also convinced nearly all Houston Democrats in the Texas House to vote for it.

The feature also includes honorable and dishonorable mentions; Furniture; assessments of Governor Greg Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, and House Speaker Joe Straus; and a look at Representative Charlie Geren, our biennial Bull of the Brazos.

The rest of these may get feted with Texas Monthly's write-ups linked in updates to this post, but are just as likely to get follow-up postings depending on how much they (RG Ratcliffe and Erika Greider at TM) and I have to say.

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