A House Democrat called out the Republicans for their election efforts against incumbent House members. One called back.

If Texas Democrats pick up five statehouse seats next year, the 150-member House will be evenly divided between the two parties.

That's not a prediction — no oracles here — but an indication of how close things are and an explanation for why the warriors on both sides are fighting so hard.

The latest round started with a memo to Democrats [1] from Rep. Jim Dunnam, who heads the House Democratic Caucus. He's accusing Republican House members of campaigning against Democratic House members (that's standard election fare, as is the denial that it's standard election fare) and using that as a rallying point for Democrats.

And he went further, calling out former Rep. Arlene Wohlgemuth, who's now a lobbyist, as a leader of House Speaker Tom Craddick's effort to recruit Republicans to run against the speaker's adversaries. And he named her clients and "wondered" if they know what she's doing and whether her involvement constitutes an endorsement of her activities by those clients.

She wrote back [2], accusing him of making an implied threat against her clients and asking for a retraction. She said she's no longer a public official and said, "As a former colleague, I would not expect you to seek to damage a private citizen's business nor be injurious to her person..." She also said she has not been retained by Craddick, as Dunnam contended.

Dunnam's memo ended with a snap at Democrats who support Craddick's reelection as speaker, saying they ought to "publicly state so now." His pitch ended with a rallying cry: "... [S]tay on top of what is going on with your Democratic House colleagues. Remember that what the Republicans are trying to do to them, they are doing to you."