Newsroom Stew has linked to this Op-Ed from the Austin American Statesman:

Arguably the House speaker is as powerful as the governor and lieutenant governor -- and more important than some other offices elected statewide, like the agriculture and railroad commissioners. So why not make the speaker a statewide office? If the House is going to be led by a dictator, all Texans should be involved in the selection process.

I think Stew sees right through the intentions of this Op-Ed with his exit question:

Was the paper referencing the position or the current speaker?

I tend to agree with one of the commenter's at the AAS site:

Why don't we carry this inane logic a step further? Let the entire country vote on Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. Those are powerful positions too.