Party switchers claim 2 more Texas House seats for GOP

Republicans will have at least 100 votes, could act without Democrats.

Jay Janner/AMERICAN-STATESMAN Aaron Peña of Edinburg made his announcement at Republican Party of Texas headquarters on Tuesday, surrounded by, from left, Attorney General Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, Gov. Rick Perry and Rep. Allan Ritter of Nederland, who also announced that he was joining the GOP ranks.

Jay Janner/AMERICAN-STATESMAN State Rep. Allan Ritter listens during a news conference where he announced his switch from the Democratic to the Republican Party at the Republican Party of Texas Headquarters on Tuesday Dec. 14, 2010.

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Published: 9:25 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010

Flanked by Gov. Rick Perry and other top state GOP leaders, Democratic state Reps. Aaron Peña of Edinburg and Allan Ritter of Nederland became Republicans on Tuesday.

The move gave the GOP its coveted "supermajority" of 100 Republicans in the 150-seat Texas House, meaning that they can pass bills and push through their legislative agenda without Democrats' votes.

That majority — the first time that one party has held that many House seats since 1983, when Democrats were in control — was expected to grow to 101 when voting was complete late Tuesday in a special election in Seguin to replace the late GOP Rep. Edmund Kuempel, in a strong Republican district.

"If you don't have a seat at the table, you may be on the menu," Peña joked as he announced his change in party affiliation, which had been rumored since last weekend. The conservative-voting, five-term lawmaker said he switched because Democrats had strayed from the core values he learned as a child.

"When I first came here, I thought all Republicans had horns, but they don't."

The conservative Ritter, who joined the House in 1999, told much the same story. He said he has been increasingly isolated by the Democratic Party platform.

Ritter and Peña represent legislative districts that were considered strongholds for Democrats a few years ago. But in the Nov. 2 election, Republicans ousted 22 House Democrats to close in on the supermajority.

Just two years ago, the House was nearly evenly divided with 76 Republicans and 74 Democrats. State Rep. Chuck Hopson, a longtime Democrat, became the first to switch to the GOP a year ago.

Perry, a party-switcher himself two decades ago when he became a Republican to run for agriculture commissioner, welcomed the new Republicans with open arms.

"They're doing what's right for the people who elected them," he told a cheering, hugging crowd at Republican Party headquarters in Austin, where the switches were formally announced.

Ritter and Peña said they do not fear reprisals, and they dismissed calls by some Democratic leaders to resign and run again as Republicans. Both said state Democrats had not helped them in recent elections, noting their conservative views.

"That's part of the problem," Peña said, drawing laughter from the Republican leaders assembled around him.

Asked how he will justify the strong GOP positions on immigration, social services and other issues to his constituents, many of whom have not supported those positions in the past, Peña said his re-election in two years may be "a tough road."

Within hours of Tuesday's announcement, Boyd Richie, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, blasted Peña as he had earlier criticized Ritter, when Ritter confirmed several days ago that he would switch.

"Just weeks after the men and women of his district elected him as a Democrat, Rep. Peña is turning his back on them and pledging his support to a Republican agenda that is harmful to his constituents.

"Aaron Peña is joining a Republican Party that is hostile to the hardworking families of Hidalgo County, a Republican Party whose leaders are proposing larger class sizes, laying off thousands of teachers and cutting access to higher education promises to deliver a crushing blow to economic opportunity for families in Peña's district."

mward@statesman.com; 445-1712