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When Republicans go looking for leaders, Texas has long been one of their first stops. The Lone Star state has served as an incubator for the GOP. One of the newest stars there is just finishing his first year as speaker of the Texas House.
NPR's Wade Goodwyn has his story in our series On the Next Generation of Republican Leaders.
WADE GOODWYN: Republicans in Texas hold every statewide office and have for years. But when Joe Straus was born, the Texas GOP could practically caucus in a phone booth. His mother, Joci, was in that phone booth from the very beginning.
Speaker JOE STRAUS (Texas House of Representatives): I came from a pioneer Republican family. My mother, in the '60s, when I was a very young child, she was the organizer of the Nixon Girls in San Antonio.
GOODWYN: Joe Straus was raised on Republican politics. Growing the party was a part of growing up. He played golf and rode. His family owned and raced prized thoroughbreds. After Vanderbilt, he went to Washington to work for Vice President George Bush in 1982. In his 40s, Straus turned to a career he'd been groomed for for much of his life. In a special election in 2005, he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives from San Antonio. Although Republicans controlled the Texas House, Senate and governor's mansion, there were deep divisions inside the party, especially in the House.
Speaker STRAUS: We became a little arrogant and a small minority in our party went on a bit of a purge, where they were looking for Republicans that didn't fit their mold. And I very strongly disagree with that approach.
GOODWYN: While some of this had to do with ideology, conservatives purging moderate Republicans, most of it had to do with raw power. Tom Craddick, the speaker of the Texas House during the last decade, had a reputation of ruling with an iron hand. So, Straus took his impeccable Republican bona fides and joined forces with the Republican opposition group called the Gang of 11.
It was a bare-knuckle political fight, but with the help of the minority Democrats, the renegade Republicans pulled off a palace coup. Tom Craddick was voted out and to nearly everyone's complete surprise, Joe Straus was elected speaker in January of last year.
Mr. PAUL BURKA (Senior Executive Editor, Texas Monthly): It was stunning when they picked Straus because he'd only been there barely two terms.
GOODWYN: Paul Burka is the senior executive editor at Texas Monthly magazine.
Mr. BURKA: He's very smart. He's very public spirited. I think that Straus is somebody who listens. He doesn't come with his own agendas, which is very refreshing for a speaker.
GOODWYN: If the previous speaker fashioned a reputation for putting the Republican Party's political interests before other considerations, Straus struck more of a balance. He let legislation bubble up from members. He included Democrats in negotiations. He played the politician, not the autocrat.
Speaker STRAUS: I haven't been up here in a while.
GOODWYN: Straus stands on the dais of one of the most beautiful public spaces in the country, the Texas House of Representatives. He says the proudest moment of his young political career came at the end of his first session as speaker.
Speaker STRAUS: I remember I was looking out at this scene. It was about 4 o'clock in the morning in May toward the end of the session. We took a final vote on our House budget and it passed a 150 to zero, 76 Republicans and 74 Democrats all voted yes to the budget.
GOODWYN: It was a singular achievement, as improbable as the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. all voting unanimously on the next budget bill. But the next session will not be so easy. Texas is looking at a $10 billion shortfall. And once again, the Legislature must redistrict the state's congressional seats. If Joe Straus can hurdle these fences, more of his mettle will be revealed. Texas Monthly editor Paul Burka.
Mr. BURKA: I think he can go wherever he wants to go because of his family connections and the fact that he gets along with Democrats and Republicans. Another thing is that he's from San Antonio, which is the action city, politically. That's where you have the mixture of Anglos and Hispanics that have learned to work together and share common ground, which is really the future of the state.
GOODWYN: Joe Straus is a Republican more in the mold of the first President George Bush than the second. Whether he can appeal and lead a Texas GOP that has been pushed further to the right by the Tea Parties remains to be seen.
Wade Goodwyn, NPR News, Dallas.