We’ve seen this sad story before.
A conservative Texas speaker of the House is forced out or decides to call it quits because he has somehow run afoul of the most rigid party orthodoxies.
First, Joe Straus and now Dade Phelan.
Phelan’s original, but hardly only, sin was his decision to stand up to an attorney general credibly accused of abusing his office by his own top lieutenants.
He might have withstood that. But his insistence on being independent not only of Ken Paxton but of Gov. Greg Abbott likely spelled his fall from the speakership.
As he gives up his post, we want to say that the Beaumont Republican served honorably in a political environment that has devolved from nauseating to toxic.
Under Phelan, the Texas House was staunchly conservative. He presided over one of the most successful sessions conservatives have seen in the last legislative session.
But he also upheld the traditions of a Texas Legislature that has worked across the aisle for solutions to benefit the entire state. And he respected members who had differences of opinion on critical state issues like vouchers.
The big three of Texas power, Abbott, Paxton and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, are ever more emboldened to upend those traditions. And voters have given them cause to press their advantage.
Under Phelan and with the help of many rural Republicans, the House resisted Abbott’s push for a sweeping education savings account program in the last session. Abbott wasn’t about to let his biggest priority be hamstrung again. So he joined with Paxton in running GOP primary candidates that would oppose Phelan.
Across the state, longtime loyal Republican representatives lost their seats, often as a result of false and malicious ads that tore them down.
Even as Republican leaders and top donors turned on their own, they demonstrated that a different sort of loyalty had become more important.
Patrick’s decision that the state Senate would protect Paxton from conviction in an impeachment trial marked a dark turn for the power brokers of the Texas GOP.
Phelan appropriately looked at the evidence and chose a path of truth, permitting the assembly of a powerful and successful impeachment case. That’s spelled his political fate.
We are doubtful that the next speaker will demonstrate the same level of independence Phelan did.
We offer that person a word of caution. Guard what independence you have. Because the price for giving it away may be your personal honor.
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