ROOKE: Insurgent GOP Reps Launch Effort To Replace Liberal Republican Speaker In Texas

Table Of Content

• Texans need truth. Help us report it.
• h Texas Legislature convened on Jan. 10, will run 140 days until May 29.
• Texas House selects Rep. Dade Phelan as speaker for another legislative session
• To debate or not debate? Dade Phelan, David Covey trade blame over lack of political forum
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It remains unclear whether the two candidates will participate in a public debate ahead of the election. While Phelan has accused Covey of "ducking" the debate, Covey has returned fire in kind, saying Phelan is "dodging" an opportunity to address voters' concerns ahead of the May 28 runoff election. "Another day, another completely unsubstantiated lie from David Covey," Cait Wittman, Phelan's communications director, told the American-Statesman. "Covey’s lies are as baseless as they are tiresome, and about the only thing voters can reliably expect from him if elected."

Texans need truth. Help us report it.

With Democrats vastly outnumbered and few procedural rules to slow the GOP agenda, Republican lawmakers will have relatively easy glide paths for their legislation during the session. Patrick has given a rough outline of his legislative priorities that include reducing property taxes, securing the border and increasing the resiliency of the electric grid by increasing the production of natural gas in the state. But conservative grassroots activists said the House had not gone far enough on conservative priorities like banning gender-affirming care for transgender children and have often butted heads with Phelan. Critics attacked him for appointing Democrats to leadership positions in the chamber, following a long-held chamber tradition to appoint members of the minority party as committee chairs.

h Texas Legislature convened on Jan. 10, will run 140 days until May 29.

Phelan has not budged on the issue, indicating he once again plans to allow some Democratic chairs and arguing that the Texas House operates better on a bipartisan basis and eschewing the divisiveness seen in Washington, D.C. Phelan began the 2023 legislative session batting away criticism from a small but vocal faction of Republicans who routinely nag him for appointing Democrats to committee leadership positions, which they feel is a slap in the face to voters who elected a conservative majority. It was easy enough to ignore, as Phelan still overwhelmingly had the confidence of his House membership. Phelan guided the House through the 2021 legislative sessions, which some observers called “the most conservative” in state history. Lawmakers passed new laws banning almost all abortions and allowing permitless carry of handguns. Although the Legislature eventually passed a bill addressing property taxes and introduced into law a sweeping border security package, Patrick and Phelan have remained on bad terms as the Senate's boss has actively campaigned against Phelan and his allies.

Texas House selects Rep. Dade Phelan as speaker for another legislative session

And it embodied the reputation he’s built inside the chamber during his relatively short tenure in office. Another intraparty dispute widened in November when the House sank a school voucher bill, the governor’s top legislative priority and a longtime pet issue for Patrick. Months of talks proved useless when Abbott refused to accept a scaled-back bill House negotiators pitched. Phelan didn’t cast a vote on the amendment that ultimately killed the voucher program. But he was criticized by Patrick and other voucher advocates as not having done enough to help pass them. In his nominating speech for Tinderholt, Slaton said the tradition in the House of selecting some minority party members — in Texas, Democrats — for committee chair positions is an overly generous “consolation prize” for losing an election.

House Republicans issue demands for next Texas House speaker - Spectrum News

House Republicans issue demands for next Texas House speaker.

Posted: Thu, 11 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

To debate or not debate? Dade Phelan, David Covey trade blame over lack of political forum

The Texas House on Tuesday re-elected State Rep. Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) to a second term as House Speaker. “The barrage aimed at our campaign over the past year was meant to be my undoing, and yet here I am, emerging from the most contentious and expensive primary in state history still fighting and more determined than ever,” Phelan said. Covey, Phelan believes, is an opportunist willing to do the bidding of Paxton and out-of-district donors who don’t like the speaker.

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Phelan’s opponents have coalesced around Covey, an oil and gas consultant and former chairman of the Orange County Republican Party. Daniel Whitton, vice president of the Jasper County Republican Club, said the sheer volume of anti-Phelan messaging from his opponents, especially about the Paxton impeachment, threatens to drown out the facts. For months, Phelan opponents have bombarded voters in District 21 with attack ads via television, radio and mailers. If Phelan comes out ahead in the runoff, he'll likely face a separate challenge to his speakership from Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress, who announced last monththat he would seek the House's top spot in 2025. "He simply cannot defend his liberal record to the people of Southeast Texas."

David Covey forces runoff with Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, who led AG Ken Paxton’s impeachment

Phelan retains the support of local establishment Republicans, including the Jefferson and Orange party chairs and Beaumont Mayor Roy West, and also is endorsed by former Gov. Rick Perry. Jefferson County Republican Party Chair Joe Evans praised Phelan’s commitment to protecting the oil and gas industry and funding local colleges like Lamar University. Last year, with Republican voters citing border security as their top issue, the Phelan-led House approved $1.5 billion for walls and fencing along the Rio Grande and made illegally crossing the boundary a state crime.

“At some point, we need to realize we’re settling for just enough wins to get reelected,” Slaton said. He defeated state Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington, who was nominated by ultraconservative members who say Phelan is unreasonably accommodating of Democrats in the chamber. Tinderholt cast a ballot for himself, as did two Republican members who nominated him, Nate Schatzline of Tarrant County and Bryan Slaton of Royce City. Phelan advanced to the runoff with rival David Covey, a former chairman of the Orange County Republican Party who has been endorsed by Attorney General Ken Paxton, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and former President Donald Trump. Phelan was neck and neck with GOP challenger David Covey with votes still being counted.

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Senators lauded him as a “man of faith” and a workhorse legislator with expertise in various subjects, including veterans affairs, energy and business. Patrick embraced Hancock in a hug after he took the oath as president pro tem. In a speech, Hancock thanked his son-in-law, Greg Cox, for donating his kidney to him. Kelly Hancock, a North Richland Hills Republican who appeared to be on the outs with Patrick last session after refusing to go along with his push to claw back billions of dollars made by energy providers during the 2021 winter freeze, was elected president pro tem of the Senate.

” Phelan said, alluding to the details of Paxton’s extramarital affair, which became public during the trial. Despite the calls on Phelan to vacate the speakership, Torres said it would be somewhat challenging for lawmakers to force him out. This friction culminated in May when Paxton called on Phelan to resign, accusing him of being drunk at work.

Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, at a press conference at the Capitol on Nov. 4, 2020. Phelan was the first sitting Texas House speaker forced into a runoff for his House seat in more than 50 years. The Beaumont Republican’s foes are trying to paint him as soft on the border, even after last year’s passage of far-reaching laws and record border funding.

Last session, in 2021, Phelan appointed 14 Democrats and 21 Republicans as committee chairs. In the final weeks he enjoyed the support of former Gov. Rick Perry, who boasted to supporters that Phelan gave his district a seat at the table in every major decision the Legislature makes. Phelan, who declined to be interviewed for this story, is described among colleagues and other Capitol observers as a straight-shooter who knows the legislative process inside and out and who has a track record of being hardworking and accommodating.

But the Senate passed a version to remove nondiscrimination protections, leading to worries among LGBTQ advocates that it would nullify city rules that banned discrimination against workers based on their sexual orientation. After being elected speaker for the first time at the start of the 2019 session, Bonnen tapped Phelan to chair the powerful State Affairs Committee, which often oversees some of the state’s most hot-button issues. Phelan was a part of Bonnen’s leadership team during that session and has told members he plans, like Bonnen, to run the House by letting members drive the chamber’s business. His reputation and seemingly different personality has some feeling optimistic he can help the House reach the finish line without jeopardizing trust to get there.

His great-grandfather, John Henry Phelan, made a fortune at Spindletop and spent it on philanthropy and land; Dade Phelan works for the now fourth-generation real estate business. But a tumultuous 2023 exposed deep fissures within the Republican Party, exacerbated by the House’s impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton and refusal to pass a school voucher program favored by Gov. Greg Abbott. Regardless of the outcomes in the upcoming runoff election and potential speakership battle, Phelan has already made a reluctant piece of House history in being forced into a runoff. Nick Maddux, a general consultant for Covey, in a statement Thursday reiterated the campaign's frustration with Phelan over the debate and took issue with the arrangements for the April 1 offer from the news stations and over its potential moderator.