A group of 57 Republicans who had backed House Speaker Tom Craddick agreed after a dinner meeting to support John Smithee of Amarillo to succeed him.

They didn't release the list of names, but said they considered five candidates before voting to support Smithee, including Reps. Warren Chisum, Dan Gattis, John Otto, and Vicki Truitt.

It came down to Smithee and Gattis and the group voted unanimously, according to several members.

Craddick told the group he got out of the race when he realized he couldn't win. And he realized he couldn't win, he told them, when he lost the support of a handful of Democrats who had supported him in the past.

His press office issued a brief statement when it was over: "Tonight, Tom Craddick released his pledges for speaker."

Afterwards, Smithee repeated his argument that members who have committed their support to Joe Straus should reconsider now that Craddick is out of the race and Smithee has taken his place as the competition. He and others in the Craddick group said they were concerned that most of Straus' initial support comes from Democrats. Their fear is that he'll be beholden to them rather than to Republicans.

Smithee said he'll release the list of people who voted to support him on Monday; no copy was available for public consumption after the Sunday night dinner meeting, he said. Straus, meanwhile, plans to release copies of signed pledges from his supporters on Monday. He claims 88 votes to Smithee's 57. That leaves five members unaccounted for, but if the numbers hold until January 13, Straus is well past the 76 votes it takes to win the job.