In the Texas Legislature, it’s Republican vs. Republican for speaker of the House | Opinion
Texas is about to choose a speaker of the House, and from there it gets weird.
For the last 16 years, the Texas House’s small but stubborn faction of hard-line conservatives has refused to get along with business conservatives, or House leaders, or anyone else.
So:
▪ They make lots of noise, and
▪ They never win.
This year, that faction is just as stubborn as ever. When the House convenes Jan. 14 and 76 members choose the next speaker, it will come after weeks of mini-MAGA rampage.
The other House Republicans have been bullied, threatened, harassed and doxxed.
Including by the Texas lieutenant governor and attorney general.
Obviously, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton would rather have somebody who will run the House for their own selfish benefit. That’s why their pathetic whining for speaker candidate Rep. David Cook, R-Mansfield, hurts him more than helps.
Another candidate — and the future speaker — may have surfaced by the time this hits the mailbox.
But for weeks, the frontrunner taking all this heat from the right flank has been state Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, a dominant House committee chairman, champion of Texas Tech expansion and the general favorite of the Anybody But MAGA coalition.
If you don’t understand Texas politics, it doesn’t work like the U.S. House.
We’ve had speakers elected by bipartisan coalitions since 2009. That’s when enough House members rebelled against the hard-line faction to lead an overthrow.
When Republican Speaker Joe Straus was elected by 11 Republicans joining House Democrats, he said, “Let there be no walls in this House. .... Collaboration is the key to success in this session.”
Now, walls are back in style. Collaboration is out.
Burrows is only 46. But even he talks about those good old days.
“I came into the House during a time when all the members would break bread together and get to know each other,” he said by phone the other day. “Everybody would have a seat at the table. And you know, I think that is the best way.”
That is not the way hard-line Republicans want it.
State Party Chairman Abraham George of Collin County has promised to enforce a rule passed by the puny group of Republican hobbyists who attend party meetings.
The rule allows the party to reject candidates as it chooses. But a party that wants to operate like a private club probably won’t be allowed to do that using public resources.
Burrows offered to comment.
“I believe candidates should have to face the voters based on the records, and I’m not afraid to do that,” he said.
He compared the idea of Texas Republicans picking candidates to the way the Communist Party in the Soviet Union picked the ruling Politburo.
“It’s nothing more than a threat,” Burrows said. “They cannot legally do it.”
By this weekend, he may be just a former decoy, or he may be the odds-on House speaker.
But for the moment, Burrows was planning for the session.
“We’re focusing on public education, teacher pay raises, parental empowerment, infrastructure funding, water issues, lowering property taxes and many other issues that help every Texas county,” he said.
“Parental empowerment” means private school vouchers or grants.
“I want to be very clear,” he said. “I do think school choice will pass this session.”
Or there’ll be another new speaker of the House.
This story was originally published January 9, 2025 at 9:53 AM.
