Beware of Phelan 2.0
Republican activists visited the Texas capitol on January 12, 2023, to lobby against appointing Democrats as committee chairs.
December 6, 2024 | Media Inquiries: press@mctxgop.org
by Jon Bouché, Montgomery County Republican Party Vice Chairman
Because of a vigorous and sustained campaign against House Speaker Dade Phelan by local Republican parties and grassroots activists, Phelan has abandoned his effort to form a coalition with Democrats and a handful of Republicans to regain the Speaker’s gavel for the 89th Legislative Session.
While this does appear to pave the way for the Republicans in the House to come together and elect their speaker, Republicans across the state must continue to engage with their legislators to ensure that whoever is elected Speaker will not appoint Democrat Chairs or orchestrate Democrat Majority Committees.
Republicans across the state must continue to engage with their legislators to ensure that whoever is elected Speaker will not appoint Democrat Chairs or orchestrate Democrat Majority Committees.
The Process of Selecting a Speaker
Phelan stepping down may be a sign that big changes are happening which could help pass conservative legislation this session. The way the Texas House Speaker has been chosen in the recent past is for all of the Democrats to stick together and support the most liberal Republican candidate and then a handful of Republicans would vote with them. With Conservative Republicans picking up seats in the House and with mounting pressure on those few remaining who were still supporting Phelan, the numbers were just not there for Phelan to regain the gavel.
Conservatives are firmly aligned behind HD 96 Rep. David Cook, who has promised that he will not appoint Democrat Chairs, and will also ensure that the Republican Party Priorities are not log jammed and killed this legislative session without a vote.
However, with Phelan’s departure, there are now rumors that one of Phelan’s chief lieutenants, HD 83 Rep. Dustin Burrows, will be throwing his hat into the ring for Speaker.
Revenge of the RINOs
Burrows caught the attention of grassroots Republicans last session as he sponsored and introduced HB 1635 which would have taken away the freedom of association of political parties in Texas.
If Burrows’ HB 1635 would have passed, any Democrat could have just filled out an application to be on the ballot as a Republican—and the Republican Party rules could not have prevented this. And if that Democrat candidate was denied the ability to run as a Republican because they were not eligible under the Republican Party rules, HB 1635 would have stripped funding from the Republican Party for the Primary election.
Thankfully, a large contingency from Montgomery County showed up in Austin to oppose this bill and continued to contact our legislators to ensure that HB 1635 was defeated.
Pastel Republicans
When Ronald Reagan mentioned that we needed bold colors and not pastels, he was warning us about “Republicans” like Burrows. We don’t need Phelan 2.0. We need a House Speaker who understands that he works for Republicans in Texas and not a handful of bureaucrats and special interest groups in Austin who wine and dine him.
