We Are Taking This Vote to the Floor
In order to advance Republican priorities in the Texas House, we need a Republican speaker—not one who openly courts Democrats and then uses their support to bully conservative Republican lawmakers into supporting him.

Tony Tinderholt | November 14, 2022

https://texasscorecard.com/commentary/we-are-taking-this-vote-to-the-floor/

In 2017, I was one of five state representatives who participated in writing a rule that established a process for the Texas Republican Caucus to select the speaker of the House prior to the first day of session. This was an effort led by conservatives in order to end the practice of Democrats being courted to help Republicans gain the majority necessary to win the speaker’s election.

The passage of this rule is one of the many reasons credited with ending the speakership of Joe Straus, who opted against running for re-election after it was passed.

Unfortunately, less than two years later, Dennis Bonnen, prior to the GOP caucus vote, announced to Texas that the “speaker’s race was over.” How did he do this? He garnered the support of Democrats before the caucus ever voted.

Two years later, Dade Phelan declared the “race is over.” He also did this by courting the support of some liberal Democrats, many of whom were later rewarded with powerful chairmanships they used to kill Republican legislation.

So, now we have the third session in which this caucus rule is in place, and probably the first time Dade Phelan and his allies will want it followed. Why? Because it would keep legislators from having to take a public vote on what kind of leadership they want in Texas, and it would then protect Phelan’s lieutenants from having to take ownership, in the event Phelan wins, of the mountain of Republican policy he kills.

I’m sorry, but until our sitting speaker will renounce the liberal Democrats who elevated him to power, fled to Washington D.C., and used their leadership positions to kill GOP policy, then we don’t actually have a Republican speaker dedicated to respecting our caucus rules—rules designed specifically to decrease Democrats’ influence in the Republican-led House.


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