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Battle to become Texas House Speaker
Dade Phelan has dropped out of the race to be Texas House Speaker and factions of the state's GOP are battling for control of the gavel. FOX 4's Steven Dial breaks down the race with political scientist Matthew Wilson.
The race to name the next Speaker of the House for the Texas Legislature is heating up.
A floor vote is about a month away and top Republicans are once again threatening to primary incumbents if they do not vote for Mansfield Republican David Cook. This comes after Republican Dustin Burrows declared victory earlier this month, saying the Speaker's race is "over."
76 votes are needed to become the Speaker of the Texas House.
Burrows claimed he had enough Republican and Democrat support to win the Speaker's gavel, but moments later some removed their names from his endorsement list.
Cook secured the House Republican Caucus endorsement for Speaker, but it was a vote taken without all members present.
Neither candidate has 76 public endorsements ahead of the floor vote next month.
READ MORE: Inside the race to become Texas Speaker of the House
FOX 4's Steven Dial spoke with SMU political scientist Matthew Wilson about the race.
Matthew Wilson: "It's a fascinating strategic political situation, and it reflects the ongoing division among Republicans in the Texas House between a conservative faction and a more establishment moderate faction, and that is a battle that has been going on among Texas Republicans for more than a decade now over House leadership.
I think the huge question is how many more moderate establishment Republicans are willing to vote with the Democrats to elect a Speaker because if they do, they will be susceptible to primary challenges, and we've seen primary challenges succeed in the recent past. In the most recent round a lot of the Republicans who voted to impeach Ken Paxton or who voted against school choice, or both, lost their seats."
Steven Dial: "Isn't two years a long way away from here? Won't voters just not even remember this?"
Matthew Wilson: "Activists will remember and activists are the ones who fund the primary challenges. Activists are the ones who disproportionately vote in primaries, so they have long memories and I think it's something that people at least have to take into account."
Steven Dial: "Whoever becomes Speaker, will that set the tone for the type of legislation that possibly is able to reach Governor Abbott's desk? Is it saying, if it's Burrows we will have Phelan 2.0 or if it's Cook will Dan Patrick get more of what he wants and we'll see even more red meat reach Governor Abbott's desk?"
Matthew Wilson: "I think definitely the question is whether the the House is going to operate more or less the way the Senate does and whether it's going to have a decidedly conservative flavor to it, as we've seen in the Texas Senate. I would expect that if Cook prevails that you will probably see the end of Democratic Party chairmanships in the House and you will see an easier path for conservative legislation to the governor's desk. If Burrows prevails I think then once again the House is going to be in some ways a check on, or a roadblock to, what the Senate wants to see done.
Steven Dial: "You have Donald Trump Jr. who recently posted on Twitter supporting David Cook. Will outside voices make pressure on Republicans or do you think the Republicans who are against Cook will keep their feet dug into the ground?
Matthew Wilson: "Well, I think outside pressure does play a role and, as we've already seen, some people who initially were supportive of Burrows are saying, 'well now, let's let's wait a second. I'm not sure. I want to keep my options open. I don't want my name used to cement his speakership.' So I think people really are reevaluating because it's 2024. This round of primaries in the state legislature showed that it's a new ballgame. It showed that Republican forces and Republican leaders will come after Republican incumbents who are perceived as insufficiently conservative and not only will they come after them, but they can succeed. That's what the 2024 cycle showed, and so I think people are going to be a lot more cautious about throwing their lot in across party lines with the Democrats than has been true in the past."
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