Here are the Texas Monthly Ten Best and Ten Worst lists for 2013

This came out Wednesday, but the full story will not be published till next week.

BEST:
Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock (R-Killeen)

Sen. Wendy Davis (D-Fort Worth)

Sen. Robert Duncan (R-Lubbock)

Rep. Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth)

Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (D-McAllen)

Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D- San Antonio)

Rep. Jim Pitts (R-Waxahachie)

Speaker Joe Straus (R-San Antonio)

Sen. Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio)

Sen. Tommy Wiliams (R-The Woodlands)

WORST:
Rep. Lon Burnam (D-Fort Worth)

Sen. John Carona (R-Dallas)

Comptroller Susan Combs (R-Austin)

Rep. Naomi Gonzalez (D-El Paso)

Sen. Kelly Hancock (R-North Richland Hills)

Rep. Harvey Hilderbran (R-Kerrville)

Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston)

Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Houston)

Rep. Ron Reynolds (D-Missouri City)

Rep. Van Taylor (R-Plano)

BULL OF THE BRAZOS:
Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Houston)

As Burka’s former running mate Patricia Kilday Hart noted, the “Bull of the Brazos” goes to “a lawmaker who demonstrates brilliance, tenacity and unpredictable temper in equal parts”. That’s close enough to a Best in my book. I must say, I did a pretty decent job guessing who would be included. I should have called Reynolds, he was a layup and I blew it. I’m a little surprised by Dan Patrick’s inclusion – for all his preening and posturing, he did get stuff done, and I can think of several worse offenders than him. I’m more than a little surprised that Sarah Davis didn’t make the cut for Ten Best; perhaps she’ll be an Honorable Mention. Susan Combs richly deserves her inclusion as a Worst – frankly, Burka should go back and edit the 2011 list to include her there retroactively. Joe Straus’ inclusion as a Best, which I did contemplate, is an illustration of how things can turn on a dime in the dying days of a session. I mean, just before Memorial Day Burka was calling Straus a choker because the budget deal was perennially close to falling apart. For them and all the others, I look forward to seeing the full writeup. In the meantime, the Trib has a video of a panel discussion with the Best & Worst authors that explore all of these and others in some detail – the discussion of Patrick was especially interesting – and it’s worth the 40 minutes of your time to watch it.

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