While Rep. Sylvester Turner inexplicably carried forward a campaign finance-weakening bill on behalf of an anonymous colleague, twenty-five of his Republican friends were signing on to support a real campaign finance reform bill.

So far 36 House members, including nine Democrats and 27 Republicans, are backing House Bill 1348 by Reps. Craig Eiland, D-Galveston, and Todd Smith, R-Euless.

But [Fred Lewis with Campaigns for People] credits Rep. Terry Keel, R-Austin, with helping round up support among his fellow Republicans.

“We have more than a fifth of the House signed off (on the bill),” Lewis said. “And we haven’t worked the Democrats yet because we know they understand the issue after the 2002 election.”