House Speaker Dade Phelan wins runoff, surviving challenge by Texas GOP’s far-right forces
Business-minded Republicans spent millions trying to save Phelan, whose far-right opponent had the backing of Donald Trump, Ken Paxton and Dan Patrick. Phelan won by 366 votes, according to unofficial returns.

BY ZACH DESPART
MAY 28, 2024

BEAUMONT — Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, the top electoral target for a far-right faction of Republicans intent on controlling the Legislature, emerged victorious Tuesday over a well-funded challenger endorsed by Donald Trump and his allies.

Phelan defeated former Orange County Republican Party chairman David Covey, who also had the backing of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton and former Texas Republican Party Chairman Matt Rinaldi. In doing so, he avoided the ignominious fate of becoming the first House speaker to lose a primary in 52 years.

With all precincts reporting, Phelan was up 366 votes — within the margin that Covey can call for a recount. Covey, however, conceded in a speech to supporters at his election night party in Orange shortly after 9:30 p.m.

Phelan, 48, who has seen his popularity plummet among Republicans since he backed the impeachment of Paxton on corruption and bribery charges exactly one year and one day ago, was defiant in his victory speech at JW’s Patio in Beaumont.

“I will be your state rep for HD 21 and I will be your speaker for the Texas House in 2025,” Phelan said to a raucous crowd of more than 100 supporters. “This was a true grassroots effort — not the fake grassroots.”

Covey, a 34-year-old first-time candidate, not only forced Phelan into a runoff in March but secured more votes than the two-term House speaker. That outcome shocked many in the district, as Phelan was previously reelected four times without Republican opposition and hails from one of the most prominent families in Beaumont.

Candidates for the Texas Legislature who trail after the first round rarely win their runoffs. Phelan carried the unique advantage of being a statewide leader with a prolific roster of political donors. Through May 20, his campaign reported spending $3.8 million on the runoff, more than double Covey’s $1.6 million.Their combined hauls amounted to what was almost certainly the most expensive state House race in Texas history.

It was also an ugly contest — Phelan accused Covey of running on “lies and deceit” — where the candidates attacked each other in a flood of mailers and television advertisements.

“This was a terrible, awful knock-down, drag-out,” Phelan said. “You can now open your mailboxes again. You can watch the 6 o’clock news. It’s over. It’s done.”

Phelan’s win is a major blow to the party’s ultraconservative faction that is led ideologically by Patrick and Paxton and financed by megadonors like West Texas oil magnate Tim Dunn. It is a group that rejects compromise and bipartisanship, demonizing Democrats and the Republicans willing to work with them. This ascendant wing has supplanted the party’s traditional focus on taxes and regulations with highly divisive social issues like transgender rights and book bans.

In defeat, that group did not go quietly. Covey called Phelan an "Austin swamp creature" who only secured reelection through the support of Democrats, which he said was a "brazen act of betrayal."

Paxton, an early endorser of Covey who had campaigned for the challenger as late as Tuesday afternoon, echoed the claim. The attorney general, who had vowed revenge against Phelan for supporting his impeachment, said the speaker had "blatantly stolen an election from the hard-working people of his district" by courting Democrats. Paxton said Republicans should move to closed primaries — a priority of the far right — and he issued a warning to members of the House.

"To those considering supporting Dade Phelan as Speaker in 2025, ask your 15 colleagues who lost re-election how they feel about their decision now," Paxton said. "You will not return if you vote for Dade Phelan again."

Patrick blamed Phelan's catering to Democrats during the legislative session as the reasons so many incumbents lost. It should cost him his leadership post, the lieutenant governor said.

"He threw them under the bus, but he still wants to drive," Patrick said in a statement. "That’s not real leadership. That’s a debacle!"

The more business-oriented establishment wing of the party viewed Phelan’s campaign as a last stand to maintain influence — and civility — in the Legislature. That group, led by some of the state’s wealthiest business executives, political strategists like Karl Rove and erstwhile Republican elected officials including U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Gov. Rick Perry, poured millions of dollars into Phelan’s campaign. Phelan’s win was a victory for them, too. That well-heeled group of powerbrokers, who swept Texas Republicans into power in the 1990s, cracking a century of Democratic dominance, showed that despite recent attacks on their own reputations as RINOs, they still have sway within the state party.

But whether Phelan can hold on to the speaker’s gavel is unclear. One of his own committee chairmen, Republican Rep. Tom Oliverson of Cypress, declared his candidacy for speaker in March. But no members have publicly endorsed Oliverson, and while his reelection was in doubt, Phelan was able to keep the rest of his caucus from open rebellion.

House members had also refrained from expressing public support for Phelan’s return as speaker — there was little political upside in doing so if the man was going to lose his primary — but that excuse evaporated Tuesday. Politicking for the job will begin in earnest, with Phelan eager to show he still has the confidence of the caucus and other prospective candidates mulling when to declare their intentions publicly. Among the jovial supporters at Phelan’s party were Republican Reps. Jeff Leach of Plano — who cried during the victory speech — Stan Kitzman of Pattison, Will Metcalf of Conroe, Jared Patterson of Frisco, Brooks Landgraf of Odessa and Cole Hefner of Mt. Pleasant.

Stephenville Republican Rep. Shelby Slawson, who voted against impeaching Paxton, published a column this week criticizing House leadership for bringing the charges and arguing the speaker deserved to be replaced over the debacle.

“The architects of impeachment lit the House on fire, and regardless of what happens in the runoff elections, we cannot select an arsonist as fire chief,” Slawson wrote.

Attacked by his enemies as a RINO, Phelan was also widely considered more conservative than his predecessors, Phelan secured passage of the state’s near-total ban on abortion, permitless carry of handguns and several first-in-the-nation border security bills.

Phelan was easily reelected speaker in January 2023 with all Democrats and almost all Republicans in support; conservative rumblings of dissatisfaction amounted to a paltry three votes for another candidate. And he batted away far-right criticism of the House’s longstanding practice of appointing Democratic committee chairs, appointing them to lead eight of 34 committees.

Yet the preceding twelve months were the most tumultuous of Phelan’s political career.

The speaker routinely clashed with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, whose reputation for running the Senate with an iron fist has left many House members with the impression he would prefer to run that chamber, too. (Patrick said this weekend he doesn’t want to run the House but he wants someone more conservative than Phelan to run it.) But Phelan stood up for the House’s independence — on property taxes, on border security bills — and told The Texas Tribune his relationship with Patrick deteriorated to the point that by August, the men were no longer speaking.

Phelan’s relationship with the governor was cordial but increasingly fraught, again because the speaker stuck up for his members who repeatedly failed to pass a private school voucher bill, Abbott’s top legislative priority. Phelan, who later told the Tribune he would have preferred some version of the bill to pass, did not pressure the two-dozen Republican holdouts to accept the governor’s take-it-or-leave-it proposal if they were uncomfortable with it.

They left it, gutting the governor’s preferred bill during a dramatic November session. The victory was short-lived, however, as it set Abbott on a course for payback. He supported the primary challengers to many of the Republican holdouts; seven were ousted. And the failure of vouchers in the House may have contributed to Abbott’s decision not to endorse Phelan’s reelection.

But by far the greatest contributor to Phelan’s near-defeat was his support for impeaching Paxton. The impeachment was not his idea — the Republican-led House investigating committee began the probe months before presenting it to the rest of the members. But Phelan said the evidence showing Paxton’s misconduct was far too strong to ignore.

Paxton, a bombastic figure on the far right, began attacking Phelan even before the House formally voted for impeachment. He accused Phelan of presiding over the House while drunk — Phelan has denied the accusation — and demanded he resign.

Minutes after the Republican-led Senate acquitted Paxton of 16 charges and dismissed the rest, Patrick, who had just presided over the trial as judge, gave a speech excoriating the House for even bringing the case.

The impeachment, polling showed, was unpopular among Republican primary voters. In February, a University of Houston Hobby School survey found just 23% of respondents said they’d be more likely to vote for a lawmaker because they supported impeaching Paxton, while 46% said they’d be less likely to vote for a candidate who had. Phelan’s waning influence was evident, with respondents saying they’d be less likely to support a candidate endorsed by the speaker. For all other politicians polled, endorsements had a positive impact on voters’ views of a candidate.

Phelan skipped the biennial state Republican Party convention in San Antonio last week, where Patrick, Paxton and outgoing party chairman Matt Rinaldi used him as a punching bag in their speeches.

Despite his unpopularity statewide, Phelan had appeared flummoxed as to why District 21 voters would not want him to continue serving. The speaker’s great-grandfather made a fortune in the Texas Oil Boom, which began here, and later became a philanthropist. Phelan works for the now fourth-generation real estate business.

Signs of that lasting influence are omnipresent; the restaurant where the speaker gave his victory speech was Phelan Boulevard. Yet he downplays his patrician roots himself. He emerged from a polling place Tuesday afternoon wearing Wellington boots and a camouflage t-shirt. An alligator head adorns the desk in his downtown office.

As its representative, Phelan said he consistently secured resources to the often-overlooked and disaster-prone district, which occupies a corner of Southeast Texas that borders Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico.

“I’ve answered the call, year in and year out,” Phelan said in January.
https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/24/...speaker-runoff/

Looks like the Democrat money put Phelan over the top, unfortunately.

response of Ken Paxton

Attorney General Ken Paxton
@KenPaxtonTX
🚨Democrats just reelected
@dadephelan
.

We must close our primaries.

Now.

#txlege
@texasgop
https://x.com/KenPaxtonTX/status/1795642843354259784

But at least Phelan has become weakened

Texas speaker survives as Abbott wins big
headshot
Asher Price

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan and Gov. Greg Abbott were big winners in a Republican primary runoff Tuesday dripping with intra-party intrigue and rife with policy implications.

Why it matters: Phelan, a Republican from Beaumont, staved off a challenger backed by Attorney General Ken Paxton, eager for revenge after his impeachment in the Texas House last year, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has a running personal spat with the more moderate speaker.

Former President Trump had also endorsed Phelan's opponent, David Covey.
Meanwhile, Abbott continued his streak of victories against House Republicans who crossed him on his school voucher effort last year. Five anti-voucher Republicans lost to Abbott-backed GOP challengers in the March 5 primary.
By the numbers: At a March policy conference in Austin, Abbott had said he needed at least two more votes in favor of school vouchers — public money for private school tuition — to guarantee its passage.

Abbott had stayed out of the Phelan race but spent $2.3 million since the primary supporting pro-voucher candidates in runoffs.
Three anti-voucher Republican incumbents were ousted Tuesday night: Reps. DeWayne Burns of Cleburne, Justin Holland of Rockwall and John Kuempel of Seguin.
Only anti-voucher Republican incumbent Gary VanDeaver of New Boston prevailed over his Abbott-backed challenger Tuesday night.
Three other Republican House incumbents, Lynn Stucky of Denton, Stephanie Klick of Fort Worth and Frederick Frazier of McKinney, also lost, to challengers endorsed by Paxton.
The big picture: Phelan is now poised to retain his speakership, but Abbott likely now can rally Republicans to push his signature issue, which already has buy-in from the state Senate.

Follow the money: Through May 20, Phelan's campaign reported spending $3.8 million on the runoff, more than twice Covey's $1.6 million.

Abbott spent more than $8 million of his campaign money on the primaries and two pro-voucher groups spent roughly $6 million in the runoff, per the Texas Tribune.

What they're saying: Phelan, cigar in hand at a victory party Tuesday night, said his district "is not for sale," after winning by 366 votes in the most expensive race in Texas House history.

Abbott's campaign congratulated Phelan and the governor declared that the Legislature "now has enough votes to pass school choice."
What's next: Paxton threatened Tuesday night that lawmakers supporting Phelan for speaker when the Legislature reconvenes next year will be the next political targets.

He said Phelan had "blatantly stolen" the election because Democrats had supported him.
Texas has open primaries, which means regardless of which party voters typically favor, they can choose which party's nominees they'd like to select in a primary election.
https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2024/...runoff-election

Phelan wins his seat by a 366 vote margin but ALL of his RINO buddies lose, and he has no chance to remain speaker. I call that a pyric victory.

Outsiders are noticing the shift in Texas after the primaries.

POSTED ON MAY 29, 2024 BY JOHN HINDERAKER IN CONSERVATISM, TEXAS
TEXAS TURNS RIGHT
There are a number of states that we think of as conservative, and that are dominated politically by Republicans, but that are not, in policy terms, as much to the right as one might expect. For quite a while, Texas has been on that list. It has been effectively governed by a handful of political insiders who are not, for the most part, particularly conservative.

But that appears to be changing. This site has detailed results of yesterday’s runoff election:

We have the results of yesterdays runoff election, and it’s a mixed bag. Sitting Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan survived Dave Covey’s challenge by less than 400 votes. Evidently a ton of gambling special interest money an encouraging Democrats to vote Republican pulled him over the line. However, almost all Phelan’s political allies pulled into a runoff went down:

Results of a number of specific races follow. Governor Greg Abbott is on the side of the conservative rebels:

Texas Governor Greg Abbott is cheering the results a vindication for school choice.

“While we did not win every race we fought in, the overall message from this year’s primaries is clear: Texans want school choice,” Abbott said. “Opponents can no loner ignore the will of the people.”

The governor’s electoral crusade for school choice came to a head this week, as eleven out of the 15 Republican challengers Abbott backed this cycle defeated House incumbents in their primaries. Abbott also worked to boot seven anti-voucher Republicans off the ballot in the state’s March Republican primaries.

This means that Speaker Dade Phelan, one of the two most powerful Texans along with Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, is unlikely to be re-elected as Speaker. A friend from Texas writes:

Long and short: House Speaker Dade Phelan managed to squeak by (325 vote margin), thanks to tons of out-of-state $$$ that helped him get a couple thousand of Dems to crossover and vote in the runoff (no Dem candidate in the Fall). But while he survived, just about all of his RINO machine got massacred, and being associated with Phelan is now the kiss of death. (Paxton is already warning GOP House members that if they vote for Phelan as Speaker, “YOU’RE NEXT.”) It’s truly open season on RINOs in Texas right now.

So hopefully, the days of the Strauss/Bonnen/Phelan RINO machine are over, and we’ll start seeing some real action on things like school choice, higher ed reform, etc.

Maybe Texas will now join Florida as a state that doesn’t just vote red, but also gets solid conservative policies.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2...turns-right.php

Quote: Tinker wrote in post #4

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Phelan wins his seat by a 366 vote margin but ALL of his RINO buddies lose, and he has no chance to remain speaker. I call that a pyric victory.

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Quote: Isailedaway wrote in post #6

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Quote: Tinker wrote in post #4

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Phelan wins his seat by a 366 vote margin but ALL of his RINO buddies lose, and he has no chance to remain speaker. I call that a pyric victory.

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Any thoughts on names of legislators likely to be his replacement?

As well as who you would like to see there

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Quote: Tinker wrote in post #7

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Quote: Isailedaway wrote in post #6

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Quote: Tinker wrote in post #4

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Phelan wins his seat by a 366 vote margin but ALL of his RINO buddies lose, and he has no chance to remain speaker. I call that a pyric victory.

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Any thoughts on names of legislators likely to be his replacement?

As well as who you would like to see there

---

Tom Oliverson would be my choice hands down and he has said that he is running.

https://tomoliverson.com/about/

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Tom Oliverson Not Backing Down, Will Challenge Dade Phelan for Speaker

A good read!

Shelby Slawson Announces Run for Speaker, Slams Phelan’s Power Sharing with Democrats

Slawson said the chamber needs a leader that unites Republicans, rather than pitting them against their constituents.

Quote

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When we entered the 88th session, I was a supporter of the current Speaker, believing honestly in good faith that we would build productively on prior successes.

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48 Conservative Bills the Texas House Killed This Session

Examples of some of the legislation that died by the hands of House leadership.

Luke Macias | June 13, 2023

While Texas House Republican members are back in their districts claiming this session was “one of the most conservative sessions in Texas history,” they are met with the sad reality that their constituents are getting smarter and the scoreboard cannot be changed.

Grassroots conservatives were able to force more wins out of this session than we expected, but we still weren’t able to conserve the innocence of our children or the integrity of our elections.

If you are left feeling underwhelmed but wanting to know what exactly died, this list will provide a roadmap for the true failures of Speaker Dade Phelan and the loyal lieutenants whom he placed in leadership positions.

Culture & Sexual Revolution

HB 888 (Shelby Slawson) Detransitioner Suit Protection
Currently, children and adults who are lied to by the radical transgender religion only have two years after they are butchered to file a lawsuit against their abusers. Texas is one of the worst red states in America on this issue. This bill would have extended the time they have to sue. The Calendars Committee (Dustin Burrows) killed the legislation by placing it on the last calendar and letting the “clock run out.”

HB 3502 (Jeff Leach) Detransitioner Insurance Mandate
Currently, our health insurance companies have evil policies that pay for children to have their genitals mutilated but won’t pay when the child later regrets the abuse they were subjected to. They require the patient to pay out of their own pocket for all of the healthcare expenses to restore their body. This bill would have changed that. The Calendars Committee (Dustin Burrows) killed the legislation by placing it on the last calendar and letting the “clock run out.”

SB 1029 (Bob Hall) Destransitioner Protections
After the House killed HB 3502, they could have tried to pass SB 1029, which provided multiple pieces of the puzzle to help detransitioners. It passed the Senate on April 24. However, it never even got a hearing in the Texas House. The State Affairs Committee (Todd Hunter) killed the bill.

SB 1601 (Bryan Hughes) Defunding Drag Queen Story Hour
This bill would have cut all state funding for libraries that host drag queen story hour and other gross grooming events. This bill passed the Senate in early April, but it never got a hearing in the Texas House. The State Affairs Committee (Todd Hunter) killed the bill.

SB 162 (Charles Perry) Birth Certificate Sex Protection
This bill required a child’s sex to be listed on their birth certificate and banned it from being changed. Currently, parents can pick “male,” “female,” or “other” on a child’s birth certificate and can CHANGE it if they decide to abuse their kid with transgender transition treatment. The bill passed the Senate in March but never received a hearing in the Texas House. The Public Health Committee (Stephanie Klick) killed the bill.

SB 1446 (Bryan Hughes) ESG Ban for State Pensions
This bill would have banned Texas taxpayer-funded pensions from being used to advance radical leftists agenda policies through ESG. The bill passed the Senate on April 20 and was delayed for weeks by the Pensions Investments and Financial Services Committee (Giovanni Capriglione). The Calendars Committee (Dustin Burrows) killed the legislation by placing it on the last calendar and letting the “clock run out.”

SB 1060 (Bryan Hughes) ESG Insurance Shareholder Restriction
This bill would prohibit insurers or holding companies organized under state law from including ESG proposals in a proxy statement or implementing an ESG shareholder proposal. The Calendars Committee (Dustin Burrows) killed the legislation by placing it on the last calendar and letting the “clock run out.”

SJR 70 (Bryan Hughes) Parental Rights Constitutional Amendment
This bill would have constitutionally established additional parental rights protections. Only three Democrats were radical enough to vote against it in the Texas Senate, where they passed the bill in mid-April. But those three radical Democrats were represented well in the Texas House, where the bill never even got a hearing. The State Affairs Committee (Todd Hunter) killed the legislation.

SB 163 (Donna Campbell) Parental Consent for Sex Ed
Current law requires public school districts to notify parents of their right to opt their child into sexual education courses. This requirement expires in 2024. This bill keeps the requirement that school districts obtain written consent from a student’s parent before a student may be subjected to any graphic sex education curriculum. This bill passed the Senate on April 20. The Calendars Committee (Dustin Burrows) killed the legislation by placing it on the last calendar and letting the “clock run out.”

Public & Higher Education

SB 8 (Creighton) School Choice
The Senate passed a school choice plan that would have benefited millions of Texas students. This legislation aligned with Greg Abbott’s requested solution. The bill never made it out of the Public Education Committee (Brad Buckley) because of the power that teacher unions and Democrats have.

SB 8/HB 890 (Creighton) Classroom Grooming Ban
This legislation would have banned teachers from grooming children in the classroom with gross gender ideology and sexual orientation agendas. Florida passed similar legislation. The Senate passed it twice. The Texas House killed it both times.

SB 1515 (Phil King) Ten Commandments
This bill would have required public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom. It’s an incredible bill. It passed the Senate in late April. The Public Education Committee worked too slowly, but ultimately the Calendars Committee (Dustin Burrows) killed the legislation by placing it on the last calendar and letting the “clock run out.”

SB 16 (Bryan Hughes) Critical Race Theory Ban at Universities
This legislation would have stopped Marxist teachings from being shoved on young Texans at state universities. We are currently essentially paying to turn our young adults into Marxists. This ban on CRT passed the Texas Senate in mid-April. It never even got a hearing. The Higher Education Committee (John Kuempel) killed it.

SB 1072 (Bryan Hughes) Restrict Gender Ideology In Public Schools
This bill would have made it much harder for public schools to discuss anything regarding sex with children outside of parent-approved sex education classes. This bill passed the Senate May 2. It never even received a hearing. The Public Education Committee (Brad Buckley) killed this bill.

SB 595 (Lois Kolkhorst) Would Require Parental Consent for Mental Health Screening on Kids
This bill is simple. Stop leftist mental health professionals from privately grilling kids without parents’ permission. The Public Education Committee worked too slowly, but ultimately the Calendars Committee (Dustin Burrows) killed the legislation by placing it on the last calendar and letting the “clock run out.”

Vaccine Choice/Health Freedom

SB 177 (Mayes Middleton/Brian Harrison) Covid Vaccine Mandate Ban
This legislation would have ended COVID vaccine mandates in Texas. Right now, you can still be fired for not receiving Fauci’s vaccine. The Calendars Committee (Dustin Burrows) killed the legislation by placing it on the last calendar and letting the “clock run out.”

SB 2086 (Lois Kolkhorst) DNA Ownership
Do you own your DNA? The Senate thinks you should, but a Democrat chairman appointed by Dade Phelan thinks you shouldn’t. This bill never even got a hearing. The Business & Industry Committee (Oscar Longoria) killed it.

SB 265 (Charles Perry) State Reporting for Vaccine Injuries
This bill would have required doctors to report vaccine injuries to the VAERS system. This would have been a huge help to so many families who have been negatively affected by vaccines. The Senate passed the bill on April 20. It never even got a hearing in the Texas House. The Public Health Committee (Stephanie Klick) killed this bill.

SB 1584 (Bob Hall) Blood Donation Protection
The medical mafia is refusing to allow unvaccinated Texans the right to have someone they know who is unvaccinated donate blood to them when they need it. This bill would have fixed that. The Calendars Committee (Dustin Burrows) killed the legislation by placing it on the last calendar and letting the “clock run out.”

SB 666 (Bob Hall) Medical Board Reform
The Texas Medical Board is a weaponized agency being used to target conservative doctors. They can lose their license based on an anonymous complaint filed by someone who isn’t even a patient. This bill passed the Senate on May 12, but it never even received a hearing. The Public Health Committee (Stephanie Klick) killed this bill.

SB 389 (Bob Hall) Medical Board Transparency
The Texas Medical Board is one of the worst state agencies. They are punishing conservative doctors all across Texas and refusing to give documentation to legislators about the agency’s activities. This bill would require them to answer legislative inquiries and bring a very dark agency into the light. This bill passed the Senate on May 3. The bill never even received a hearing. The State Affairs Committee (Todd Hunter) killed this bill.

SB 301 (Bob Hall) Right to Treat
This bill prohibits licensing boards from denying, revoking, or suspending a license or taking any other disciplinary action against a licensed or certified healthcare provider or pharmacist due to the lawful dispensing, prescribing, or administering of ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine. The Senate passed the bill on April 20. It never even got a hearing in the Texas House. The Public Health Committee (Stephanie Klick) killed this bill.

SB 426 (Angela Paxton) Right to Treat #2
This bill allows patients the right to access off-label medication and treatment from their doctor for COVID. The Senate passed the bill on April 5 but never even got a hearing in the Texas House. The Public Health Committee (Stephanie Klick) killed this bill.

Immigration

HB 20 (Matt Schaefer) Border Protection Unit Creation
This legislation would have created a force intended to return illegals to Mexico and would have challenged unconstitutional court rulings that have left our border wide open. This legislation was killed by the State Affairs Committee, who delayed as long as possible, and Speaker Phelan, who worked with Democrats to kill the bill with a point of order.

SCR 23 (Lois Kolkhorst) Border Invasion Declaration
This resolution declared an invasion at the southern border and urged Abbott to take all action necessary to stop the flooding of illegals into our state. It never even received a hearing. The State Affairs Committee (Todd Hunter) killed it.

HB 3280 (Terri Leo-Wilson) In-state Tuition Ban
This bill would end a taxpayer-funded subsidy for illegal immigrants. It never received a hearing. The Higher Education Committee (John Kuempel) killed the bill.

SB 2424 (Brian Birdwell) – Border Crossing Crime
This bill would have made it a state crime to illegally cross the southern border of Texas. The Senate passed it. Dade Phelan killed the bill with a point of order with a major assist from the State Affairs Committee, who sat on the bill for a month—which meant that if Dade Phelan ruled in Democrats’ favor, it automatically killed the bill.

HB 3846 (Steve Toth) E-Verify
This bill would make it harder for illegal aliens to steal American jobs. It didn’t pass either chamber, but the Senate got much further. The Senate heard the bill and passed it out of committee. The Texas House did neither. The State Affairs Committee (Todd Hunter) killed the bill.

HB 4743 (Tony Tinderholt) Taxing Remissions to Foreign Countries
The illegals who are flooding into Texas will show up owing cartels a massive amount of money. They get an American job and then send that money back to the cartels. This bill would tax the remissions sent back to Mexico, adding a financial penalty to the cartel income stream as well as giving Texans some tax income from many illegals in our state. This bill never even received a hearing. The Ways and Means Committee (led by Morgan Meyer) killed this bill.

Election Integrity

SB 990 (Bob Hall) Eliminates Countywide Polling
This legislation would make auditing elections much more possible. It passed the Senate in late April, but it never even got a hearing. The bill was killed by the Elections Committee (Reggie Smith).

SB 397 (Bob Hall/Brian Harrison) Requiring Early Voting Tapes be Printed
This legislation would make auditing elections much more possible. It passed the Senate in late April but never even got a hearing. The bill was killed by the Elections Committee (Reggie Smith).

SB 921 (Bryan Hughes) Bans Rank Choice Voting – This would ban a Democrat scheme to gut red states. It passed the Senate in late March; the House heard the House version but sat on it. The Senate bill was never heard. It was ultimately killed by the Elections Committee (Reggie Smith).

SB 1846 (Brandon Creighton) – Bans Voting Machines From China, North Korea, Iran, etc.
The Senate passed it in mid-April, but the Calendars Committee (Dustin Burrows) killed it by placing it on the last calendar.

SB 1910 (Paul Bettencourt) Election Transparency Act
Made local governments provide government documents related to election contest lawsuit. Passed the Senate in early April. The Calendars Committee (Dustin Burrows) killed it by placing it on the last calendar.

SB 2208 (Tan Parker) – Election Integrity AG Empowerment
The Court of Criminal Appeals wrongfully gutted Paxton’s ability to prosecute in blue counties by requiring the Democrat DAs to grant permission for him to do so after they cheat. This bill would have fixed that by allowing lawsuits in adjoining counties. The Senate passed this bill in late April. The Calendars Committee (Dustin Burrows) killed it by placing it on the last calendar.

SB 1807 (Drew Springer) Election Law Conformity
It’s illegal for local governments to make up their own election laws and procedures. But as there is no penalty for breaking the law, Democrats are doing it. This penalizes local officials. It passed the Senate in mid-April. The Calendars Committee (Dustin Burrows) killed it by placing it on the last calendar.

SB 1600 (Bryan Hughes) Proof of Citizenship to Vote
In Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc., 570 U.S. 1 (2013), the United States Supreme Court discussed the circumstance under which a state could require proof of citizenship in order to register to vote in that state. This bill requires the secretary of state to coordinate with the federal Election Assistance Commission. It would establish rules to require a person to provide evidence of citizenship to vote. It passed the Senate in mid-April but never even got a hearing. The Elections Committee (Reggie Smith) killed it.

SB 260 (Lois Kolkhorst) Cleaning Inactive Voters From the Rolls
We have a lot of inactive voters who should be cleaned from the voter rolls. This bill followed Ohio legislation that would give us mechanisms for doing that. It passed the Senate in mid-April but never even got a hearing. The Elections Committee (Reggie Smith) killed it.

SB 1938 (Paul Bettencourt) Voter Registrar Accountability
This bill would have given the secretary of state more tools to financially punish Democrat counties that are disregarding Texas law. It passed the Senate in mid-April but never even got a hearing. The Elections Committee (Reggie Smith) killed it.

SB 1039 (Paul Bettencourt) Voter Irregularity Audit
This bill would have established a process by which a county could obtain an explanation for voter irregularities. This would give counties the ability to obtain an additional audit from the secretary of state, if the local explanation for the irregularity was unsatisfactory. It passed the Senate in mid-April but was severely delayed in the Elections Committee (Reggie Smith). The Calendars Committee (Dustin Burrows) killed the legislation by placing it on the last calendar and letting the “clock run out.”

SB 1911 (Paul Bettencourt) Election Supply Mandate
One of the ways that Democrats in Harris County, the largest county in Texas, stole their local elections was by intentionally under-supplying red precincts. This literally led to voters waiting in lines for hours and going home because their precinct was out of paper. This bill would have penalized those malicious actions. This bill passed the Senate in mid-April, was heard in the House Committee on Elections in early May, and then the committee sat on it and never voted it out. The Elections Committee (Reggie Smith) killed this bill.

Guns

HB 1894 (Briscoe Cain) Ban on Red-flag Laws
The bill was sent to a committee designed to pass mostly gun control legislation. Justin Holland and Sam Harless, two of Dade Phelan’s most loyal lieutenants, walked the vote to kill this bill. They have both been consistently rewarded for their loyalty with powerful positions in the Texas House.

HB 2705 (Richard Hayes) Protect Short Barrel Firearms
This bill would protect gun owners who possess short barrel firearms. The Calendars Committee (Dustin Burrows) killed the legislation by placing it on the last calendar and letting the “clock run out.”

HB 5153 (Tony Tinderholt) Federal Gun Control Opposition
This bill would have put teeth into a prohibition of federal law enforcement officers who try to enforce gun control. The bill never even received a hearing. The State Affairs Committee (Todd Hunter) killed this bill.

HB 4663 (Mark Dorazio) Adult Gun Right Protection
This would bring us in line with the federal ruling that Texas’ attempt to restrict some adults from their Second Amendment rights was unconstitutional. The bill never even got a hearing. It was killed by the Community Safety Committee (Ryan Guillen).

Other Conservative Policy

SB 147 (Lois Kolkhorst) China Land Ban
This bill would have banned Chinese nationalists from purchasing farm land, minerals, water, and timber. The bill passed the Senate; the House version was given a hearing in State Affairs but was never voted out. The State Affairs Committee (Todd Hunter) killed both versions.

SB 175 (Mayes Middleton) Taxpayer-funded Lobbying Ban
This legislation simply prevents your taxpayer dollars from being used to hire lobbyists who work to advance liberal legislation and kill conservative bills. The bill passed the Senate and was never even given a hearing in the Texas House. The State Affairs Committee (Todd Hunter) killed this bill.

It is clear that the Texas House does not realize what time it is. Conservative Republicans are rightfully upset that obvious layups were missed. Either the Legislature is inept, or they are willfully thwarting the will of voters and intentionally killing conservative policy due to cowardice and fear of liberal politics and leftist activists who are given undue influence in a chamber run by weak men.