And Then There Were 71

Corte: But who will author all that anti-choice legislation now? (Photo by Richard Whittaker)

Farewell, Frank the Fetus. After almost two decades in the Texas House of Representatives, Rep. Frank Corte, R-San Antonio, announced this morning that he won't be running again for his seat.

One of the most conservative voices in the House, and a long-time adversary of reproductive rights, Corte told the press assembled in the Speaker's conference room this afternoon that he'll be working through to the end of his term. He refused to be drawn on whether he'll even consider endorsing his replacement (so far, only realtor Denise Barnhill has filed in the GOP primary in House District 122, but Corte said he expected others would be considering a run).

The nine-term San Antonio Republican said he was standing down to concentrate on his career and family. A colonel in the Marine Reserve, he only has two years to go before he maxes out his 30 years enlistment. While he said he does not know if he will be redeployed, he also said he is not ruling anything out for his future career. He merely quoted his hero Fred Thompson who, when leaving the US Senate, explained, "Public service should be a break from your occupation, and should not be your occupation."

Corte may have underestimated the importance of the announcement when he said, "There's no great news here except for the fact that I'm going back to San Antonio." This is the latest veteran Republican to announce that he won't be coming back for the 2011 session. With the already-announced departures of Reps. Brian McCall, R-Plano, Carl Isett, R-Lubbock, Dan Gattis, R-Georgetown, and David Swinford, R-Dumas, it may cause an experience gap.

While it seems highly unlikely that the GOP will lose any of those seats, that's a total of nearly 70 years of legislative experience walking out the door. It may seem trite, but that means the GOP could be looking at a bunch of new and unknown faces on the floor next session, and knowing where the bathrooms are around the dome (actually and metaphorically) really helps distinguish the rookie freshmen from the drowning amateurs.