AP

Tom Craddick

AUSTIN – Rep. Jim Pitts withdrew from the race for House speaker Tuesday, saying that he would support incumbent Tom Craddick "to begin the healing."

The move followed a long, at times heated debate in the House over whether members should be able to cast their ballots in secret. When members decided to vote publicly, Mr. Craddick's likely victory was clear.

House members, who had returned to Austin on Tuesday for the start of their 140-day regular session, were expected to overwhelmingly re-elect Mr. Craddick speaker after a flurry of laudatory speeches.

"I do not want the members who are for me to have to put in a public record how they voted," said Mr. Pitts, R-Waxahachie. He added: "It's time to heal. It's time to go on with Texas' business. That's what Texans expected."

Mr. Craddick, R-Midland, faced a stiff challenge from members angry over his management style, saying that he often forced them to vote against the wishes of their constituents. But other members stood with Mr. Craddick, saying he had been a strong leader that had accomplished much as the first Republican to lead the House in modern times.

ERICH SCHLEGEL / DMN

Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie greeted Nadine Craddick, wife of House speaker Tom Craddick, Tuesday morning.

The House speaker wields extraordinary power, both over individual lawmakers and statewide. He decides which committees lawmakers sit on, and he can boost or sabotage legislation that they offer. Plus, he sets the tone for legislation in the House and, with the governor and lieutenant governor, helps make major decisions on the state budget and other policies.

Mr. Pitts and Mr. Craddick had both lobbied members intensely in recent days, hoping to gain the powerful post. Mr. Pitts' candidacy benefited from the support of many Democrats, who felt particularly marginalized under Mr. Craddick.

Mr. Pitts became the lone challenger to Mr. Craddick last week, when Plano Rep. Brian McCall, the initial lawmaker to take on the incumbent, dropped out of the race and threw his support to Mr. Pitts. But it wasn't enough.

For Mr. Pitts, the defeat is a potentially crippling blow to his career. He has been chairman of the powerful, budget-writing House Appropriations Committee, but he has said he thinks Mr. Craddick will boot him from that post -- even before he decided to take the speaker on.

House members said that the anger vented during the campaign showed that Mr. Craddick's method of running the House needs to change.

"I hope that people don't think this means that bullies win every time," said Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston. "They don't."