It might be a stretch to call Bill Ratliff a Houstonian, but his district includes some of our northern exurbs, and you can't argue that the dude deserves a pat on the back. He's a solid Texas Republican through and through, but he — like so many other Republicans — was utterly embarrassed by the rightwing-nut zoo that the State Board of Education had become (our words, not his). He took on Don McElroy, one of the key ringleaders in that zoo, ran against him on his politicization of the SBOE and squeaked out a victory in the GOP primary.
READERS' CHOICE: Ted Poe