DALLAS – Texas Republicans are squabbling over who they want as the next speaker of the Texas House. Two lawmakers both claim they have the votes.
One of those lawmakers is State Rep. David Cook from Mansfield.
He won a majority of the votes Saturday from Republicans in a straw vote. But that was after multiple Republicans walked out.
Now Cook and Dustin Burrows from Lubbock each say they will become the next speaker.
The fallout started Friday when current Speaker Dade Phelan dropped out of the race. Burrows, a Phelan ally, then decided to run.
But after a couple of secret votes on Saturday, neither Burrows nor Cook had the magic number for the nomination.
A faction of Burrows supporters walked out, and hours later, Burrows held a news conference saying he had Democrat and Republican support.
The problem is after publishing his list of people who endorsed him, some backed out.
SMU political scientist Matthew Wilson said the winner will show how conservative the legislation will be in 2025.
“I think definitely the question is whether 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, 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 that 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,” he said.
A number of North Texas Republicans like Jeff Leach from Plano and Jared Patterson from Frisco back Burrows.
There is also outside pressure from people like Donald Trump Jr. to vote for Cook.
The official House vote is next month.