The list that was released this afternoon consisted of 50 Democrats and 48 Republicans. That means that 24 D’s and 28 R’s did not sign on with Straus. Some more pledges have been released. These include 5 R’s and 3 D’s. The updated total is now 53 R’s and 53 D’s. A cautionary note. These days, pledges are not negotiable tender. After the 2007 rebellion against Craddick, his stack of pledge cards wasn’t worth the paper the names were written on. The new rule is that pledges mean nothing if circumstances change. Circumstances changed when Craddick brought in Terry Keel and Ron Wilson to justify his claim to absolute authority. For now, Straus is in great shape, but pledges are indicative of quantity of support, not quality of support. How loyal are the Republicans? How angry are the disaffected Democrats? What will Straus do in the 2010 elections? Can the Democrats trust him to oversee redistricting? The answers to these and similar questions are a lot more important than the number of pledges. Roberto Alonzo Carol Alvarado Rafael Anchia Jimmie Don Aycock Dwayne Bohac Valinda Bolton Dennis Bonnen Dan Branch Angie Chen Button Joaquin Castro Norma Chavez Ellen Cohen Garnet Coleman Byron Cook Frank Corte, Jr. Brandon Creighton Drew Darby John Davis Joseph “Joe” Deshotel Dawnna Dukes Joe Driver Craig Eiland Rob Eissler Gary Elkins Kirk England Jessica Farrar David Farabee Stephen Frost Pete Gallego Charlie Geren Veronica Gonzales Ryan Guillen Roland Gutierrez Mike “Tuffy” Hamilton Richard “Rick” Hardcastle Patricia Harless Linda Harper-Brown Ana Hernandez Abel Herrero Scott Hochberg Mark Homer Chuck Hopson Donna Howard Bryan Hughes Todd Hunter Carl Isett Jim Jackson Delwin Jones James “Jim” Keffer Carol Kent Tracy King Tim Kleinschmidt Lois Kolkhorst Edmund Kuempel Jodie Laubenberg Ken Legler Eddie Lucio III Jerry Madden Marisa Marquez Armando “Mando” Martinez Brian McCall Ruth JonesMcClendon Jim McReynolds Jose Menendez Thomas “Tommy”Merritt Robert Miklos Doug Miller Sid Miller Joseph Moody Rene Oliveira Rob Orr Solomon Ortiz, Jr. John Otto Tan Parker Diane Patrick Ken Paxton Aaron Pena Larry Phillips Joseph “Joe” Pickett Paula Pierson Jim Pitts Chente Quintanilla Richard Pena Raymond Allan Ritter Eddie Rodriguez Patrick Rose Ralph Sheffield Mark Shelton Todd Smith John Smithee Burt Solomons Mark Strama Joe Straus David Swinford Larry Taylor Kristi Thibaut Senfronia Thompson Yvonne Gonzalez Toureilles Vicki Truitt Chris Turner Allen Vaught Marc Veasey Michael “Mike” Villarreal Randy Weber Tara Rios Ybarra John Zerwas Here is the list of 28 Republicans who have not signed. Taylor’s name is the most significant omission from the original list, but my information is that he and others have now signed on. I will update the main list. Doc Anderson Leo Berman Betty Brown Fred Brown Bill Callegari Warren Chisum Wayne Christian Joe Crabb Tom Craddick Myra Crownover Joe Driver (pledged) Dan Gattis Kelly Hancock Patricia Harless (pledged) Will Hartnett Harvey Hildebran Charlie Howard Phil King Susan King Ken Legler Tryon Lewis Sid Miller (pledged) Geanie Morrison Debbie Riddle Wayne Smith John Smithee (pledged) Larry Taylor (pledged) Beverly Woolley And the 24 Democratic holdouts–that’s probably too strong a word, because some of these will be on the updated list, Alma Allen Lon Burnam (no surprise) Yvonne Davis (ditto) Jim Dunnam (no comment) Harold Dutton (no surprise) Al Edwards David Farabee (pledged) Joe Farias Jessica Farrar (pledged) Kino Flores Helen Giddings Joe Heflin (I’m surprised) Terri Hodge Donna Howard (pledged) David Leibowitz Diana Maldonado Barbara Mallory Caraway Trey Martinez Fischer (not a shocker) Elliott Naishtat Dora Olivo Sylvester Turner (a loss for Turner and Straus) Hubert Vo Armando Walle