Who Runs Texas?

As The Power of the Texas Governor lays out, [Ann Richards]' tenure proved how limiting the governor's position can be if you don't have an ally in the lieutenant governor. Richards had the misfortune of being elected governor at the same time 16-year State Comptroller Bob Bullock was elected lieutenant governor. Though they had been hearty drinking buddies before they both went to what Bullock called "drunk school," to say Richards' relationship with the cantankerous, dominating Senate presiding officer was rocky is a vast understatement. Richards lost re-election to Republican presidential son George W. Bush in 1994. Though Bush was from the opposing party, he was just what Bullock was looking for. Bush had a limited agenda and was content to let Bullock and House Speaker Pete Laney, a Democrat, run things. Meanwhile, Bush's political guru Karl Rove greased the skids for Bush's 2000 presidential run. Bush fed Bullock all the information he wanted. Democrat Bullock developed a deep affection for Republican Bush, and wound up endorsing him for re-election as governor in 1998 over Land Commissioner Carry Mauro- a Bullock protégé, a fellow Democrat and a former deputy comptroller under Bullock, who was the godfather to two of Mauro's kids. Then Bullock endorsed Bush for president. A different relationship, indeed. [Ben Barnes], like [John Connally], was an activist. He wanted to make things happen. As Patrick L. Cox and Michael Phillips point out in The House Will Come to Order, Barnes sought to put the speaker and the House on more equal footing with the lieutenant governor and the Senate. "We are not going to come down this trail but one time," Barnes said he told his troops in the House. "Let's get out there. Let's not just sit over here and react. Let's go act. The Senate gets all the credit for what good legislation passes. The House has always kind of been a second place to the governor and the Senate. So let's change it. Let's get out there and be proactive. Let's make some changes."