This came out Wednesday, but the full story will not be published till next week.
BEST:
Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock (R-Killeen)Sen. Wendy Davis (D-Fort Worth)
Sen. Robert Duncan (R-Lubbock)
Rep. Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth)
Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (D-McAllen)
Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D- San Antonio)
Rep. Jim Pitts (R-Waxahachie)
Speaker Joe Straus (R-San Antonio)
Sen. Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio)
Sen. Tommy Wiliams (R-The Woodlands)
WORST:
Rep. Lon Burnam (D-Fort Worth)Sen. John Carona (R-Dallas)
Comptroller Susan Combs (R-Austin)
Rep. Naomi Gonzalez (D-El Paso)
Sen. Kelly Hancock (R-North Richland Hills)
Rep. Harvey Hilderbran (R-Kerrville)
Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston)
Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Houston)
Rep. Ron Reynolds (D-Missouri City)
Rep. Van Taylor (R-Plano)
BULL OF THE BRAZOS:
Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Houston)
As Burka’s former running mate Patricia Kilday Hart noted, the “Bull of the Brazos” goes to “a lawmaker who demonstrates brilliance, tenacity and unpredictable temper in equal parts”. That’s close enough to a Best in my book. I must say, I did a pretty decent job guessing who would be included. I should have called Reynolds, he was a layup and I blew it. I’m a little surprised by Dan Patrick’s inclusion – for all his preening and posturing, he did get stuff done, and I can think of several worse offenders than him. I’m more than a little surprised that Sarah Davis didn’t make the cut for Ten Best; perhaps she’ll be an Honorable Mention. Susan Combs richly deserves her inclusion as a Worst – frankly, Burka should go back and edit the 2011 list to include her there retroactively. Joe Straus’ inclusion as a Best, which I did contemplate, is an illustration of how things can turn on a dime in the dying days of a session. I mean, just before Memorial Day Burka was calling Straus a choker because the budget deal was perennially close to falling apart. For them and all the others, I look forward to seeing the full writeup. In the meantime, the Trib has a video of a panel discussion with the Best & Worst authors that explore all of these and others in some detail – the discussion of Patrick was especially interesting – and it’s worth the 40 minutes of your time to watch it.