Cyndi Krier, the former Bexar County Judge and state senator, and former Rep. Clyde Alexander will apparently be helping Joe Straus III with his transition into the speaker's office.

Rep. Joe Straus has more than two-thirds of the House supporting his bid for speaker. That's well beyond the 76 he needs, and now that John Smithee is out of the contest, it's likely Straus will be the only candidate when the legislative session starts next week.

John Smithee dropped his day-old bid for speaker, citing insurmountable support for his fellow Republican, Joe Straus.

Joe Straus showed off signatures from members who've endorsed him, all but claimed victory, and said he plans to meet with his last remaining rival — John Smithee to try to wrap up the race for House speaker.

The signatures of ten House Democrats were missing from the list of Democrats who vowed not to vote for Tom Craddick reelection under any circumstances.

Rep. Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, says he's got enough names to be the next House Speaker. (We have the list here and more stuff here and here.) Bloggers are also talking about the fall of Rep. Tom Craddick, R-Midland. There's more stuff on the House Speaker race in general and even a bit on unrelated matters, too.

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.

Rep. Joe Straus of San Antonio added three names to the list of state representatives supporting his bid for speaker of the House.

Rep. Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, published a list of 85 members who've pledged to vote for him for speaker of the Texas House.