From Reps. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, and Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, who asked for Abbott's opinion last June:
"In football terms, the Attorney General's advisory opinion has punted this issue to the courts and has fumbled in its attempted summary. Craddick is elected from his Midland district which is only 1/150th of the people of Texas.
"Based on this, we strongly disagree with the unprecedented contention that the office of Speaker is a statewide officer. Furthermore, it is unprecedented to contend that the House Speaker is subject to removal by a vote of the Texas Senate. Sadly, the Attorney General's advisory opinion only reaffirms the adage: 'Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.' Tom Craddick's declaration of 'absolute authority' is an abuse of power and undermines the basic premise of democracy in Texas government.
"We firmly believe Craddick's application of 'absolute authority' has violated constitutional rights of members of the legislature and the constituents they serve. We firmly believe our state constitution did not create the Texas House Speaker post as a dictatorial position. It is our understanding of the state constitution that the Speaker is a legislative post constructed to serve the members of the Texas House of Representatives as a presiding officer over its operation.
"Because of the Attorney General's own admission of a lack of clarity by past Court cases, it now appears that the integrity of Texas Government is still at a critical crossroads. Enough is enough. The people of Texas need to let their local representatives know that they've had enough of Tom Craddick's one-man dictatorship."
From Alexis DeLee, spokeswoman for House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland:
"The speaker welcomes the attorney general's opinion and his acknowledgement that the rules of the House, as well as the interpretation of those rules, are matters to be determined solely by the members of the House. The attorney general's opinion affirms the speaker's position on all issues, including that the speaker is an officer of the state, who serves a two-year term of office.
"Now that the attorney general has rendered his opinion, the speaker looks forward to continuing to work with legislators on the important business of the state."
From Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie:
"I am glad to see the Attorney General agrees that there is no clear statutory or constitutional prohibition against removing a Speaker by means other than impeachment, and that the Speaker's authority to recognize a member is not absolute. Rather, this is a matter to be appropriately decided by the members of the House of Representatives.
"I respect the Attorney General's decision to leave the business of interpreting legislative rules of procedure to the Legislative branch, and in this case, the House of Representatives. Many of the issues raised last session remain valid. It is up to the members of the Texas House to decide how the election and removal of a Speaker should be handled, and I feel confident we will find a consensus on these issues next session."
From Rep. Jim Dunnam, D-Waco, head of the House Democratic Caucus::
"No one should be surprised by Greg Abbott's ruling. From the start, many other Texans and I expressed concern that the financial ties between Abbott and Craddick raise serious doubts about the fairness and independence of the opinion process. They are wed at the hip by the same donors, and the public record makes that clear (according to the Ethics Commission, they have taken more than $13.6 million in combined contributions from sources that gave $2,500 or more to each man). Unfortunately, Texas’ current Republican leadership puts allegiance to one another over the fundamentals of democracy. The result is what anyone would expect from the legacy of Tom DeLay politics.
"Beneath the tortured legal reasoning is this fundamental fact: Greg Abbott threw a lifeline to his ally Tom Craddick. Craddick's lawyers concocted the notion that the Speaker serves a fixed two-year term and the Speaker that House members elect cannot be removed without Senate permission—what a joke. Now, his political partner Greg Abbott has backed up that ridiculous claim. They hope this AG Opinion will prevent any honest debate of the dictatorial and undemocratic methods we have come to expect. In that hope, they are wrong.
"No person with a common sense understanding of the fundamentals in our country, much less a trained lawyer, can condone Abbott’s opinion that Craddick should have the absolute power of a Tito, Mussolini or Stalin. If Greg Abbott really believes that, then we need a new Attorney General.
"Tom Craddick’s refusal to let members vote on his removal was the ultimate in political cowardice. Abbott's silence regarding Craddick's refusal to recognize members for that debate shows an equal lack of spine. As many work to ensure the rights of free men and women are available around the world, and as Texans are fighting and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan right now for those rights, it is regrettable that those same rights are absent in the Texas House, and that Greg Abbott condones that.
"The ruling means one thing: Texans must vote for representatives who will elect new leadership for the Texas House in January 2009."
From Republican Reps. Geanie Morrison of Victoria, Dan Flynn of Van, Phil King of Weatherford, Jim Murphy of Houston, Diane Patrick of Arlington, David Swinford of Dumas, and John Zerwas of Houston:
"The attorney general's opinion is a strong confirmation that the speaker respected the constitution and the rules, and that a speaker's contest should end, not begin, on the first day of session. During the 140 days legislators are in Austin, the focus must be on addressing the business of the people and not political agendas. While we support a member's right to inquire about the rules and the democratic process spelled out in the constitution, with this opinion now issued we hope our most vigorous debates will be focused on the matters that most directly impact Texans, such as border security, property rights, education reform and fiscal discipline."