After months of pressure from his own party, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan announced Friday that he’s abandoning his bid for a third term in the leadership post.
His move comes after criticism from fellow Republicans for being insufficiently right-wing, despite the fact that Phelan helped to ban abortion, DEI initiatives at state universities, and medical care for transgender kids.
That’s how messed up our state is, right now.
In a statement, the Beaumont Republican said: “Out of deep respect for this institution and its members, and after careful consideration and private consultation with colleagues, I have made the difficult decision to withdraw from the race for Speaker of the Texas House.”
Phelan added: “By stepping aside, I believe we create the best opportunity for our members to rally around a new candidate who will uphold the principles that make our House one of the most exceptional, deliberative legislative bodies in the country — a place where honor, integrity, and the right of every member to vote their district takes utmost precedent.”
Phelan’s departure comes after he ran afoul of his own party. That was partly due to his support for the impeachment of state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who was ultimately acquitted in the Texas Senate.
Phelan also was criticized by pro-voucher Republicans after rural House Republicans teamed up with Democrats last session to strip vouchers from the school funding bill. Vouchers are a pet issue of Gov. Greg Abbott’s and he’s vowed to pass them this upcoming session.
Between Paxton’s impeachment and the voucher issue, Phelan was a marked man.
During the last election cycle, Abbott invested millions to unseat Republicans opposed to school vouchers. While Phelan barely held onto his seat (despite future president Donald Trump endorsing his opponent), 15 other House Republicans, many of whom supported Phelan, were defeated by challengers who pledged to oppose Phelan as speaker.
To sum up, Phelan was out of allies – which is why he isn’t running for speaker again.
Still, he managed to get a ton of right-wing stuff done in his two terms as speaker, despite being tarred as a dreaded “Republican In Name Only” by some in the GOP.
That didn’t stop lots of state Democrats from supporting Phelan’s speaker bids. Last session, he rankled his own party by appointing nine Dems as committee chairs.
As for the next speaker, Republicans are set to pick their nominee on Saturday. The front runner on the right is state Rep. David Cook of Mansfield.
Democrats appeared to be looking for someone else to support, now that Phelan is out.
On Friday morning, the Texas House Democratic Caucus said in a statement that “For any Speaker candidate interested in serving the House, the Democratic Caucus is available to listen, and hear their plans to finally give Texans a legislative session that puts people over politics.”
One option could be state Rep. Dustin Burrows, a Lubbock Republican and an ally of Phelan, who has filed to run for speaker. The Texas Tribune reported that on Thursday evening, Burrows was courting Democratic support.
Not all Democrats are in agreement on Burrows, though. State Representative Ana-María Ramos, a Richardson Democrat who is also running for speaker, firmly opposed Burrows’ bid for the gavel.
“Working Texans deserve a leader in the House who will stand up for them, and not do the bidding of corporate donors,” Ramos posted on X.
She also reposted a post on BlueSky which called Burrows a “fascist.”
Meanwhile Texas GOP chairman Abraham George appeared to warn any Republicans who worked with Democrats that they could face primary challengers.
He posted on X that “It’s time for every Republican representative who has yet to back a reformer to answer a straightforward question: Will you stand with your constituents and @texasgop or will you continue to enable Democrats to hold power? Keep in mind, the primary is just 452 days away!”
For his part, Paxton savaged both Phelan and Burrows as a possible replacement speaker. In a statement on X, he wrote: “Phelan’s legacy is one of betrayal: prioritizing Democrat interests over his own caucus, leaving Republican members exposed, attempting a shameful impeachment stunt and consistently failing to deliver for the voters who sent him to Austin. His so-called ‘leadership’ disqualified him long before this moment.”
He called Burrows “a politician handpicked by Phelan and the Austin Establishment to continue their reign of weak leadership and backroom deals.”
Paxton said “Burrows is Dade 2.0 and can only become Speaker by being elected by more Democrats than Republicans.”
