Dean said Attorney General Ken Paxton can do whatever he thinks is necessary, but Dean also noted the Republican Party of Texas has changed in recent years.
LONGVIEW, Texas — In a continuing fight over who will be the next Texas House speaker, state Rep. Jay Dean said Friday that Dustin Burrows is the best candidate because he represents rural values.
The Texas Tribune reported that Rep. David Cook, R-Mansfield, won the endorsement of the House GOP Caucus, but Burrows, R-Lubbock, said he had enough bipartisan support in the 150-member chamber to win.
“I think he understands our rural values very well. There’s there’s some serious concerns I have about electing a speaker from the metroplex area. As a mayor for 10 years, and since being in the House I have fought to protect East Texas is water sources, resources, and I’ll assure you that Dallas has the most money to spend on buying up people’s water rights, and they attempt to do that on a regular basis. So I don’t want to give them any more of an edge by having a House speaker that will be supporting the local Dallas representatives.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton visited Tyler Monday during an accountability tour, encouraging people to support the Republican Party of Texas-backed candidate, Cook.
Dean said Paxton can do whatever he thinks is necessary, but Dean also noted the Republican Party of Texas has changed in recent years.
“The attorney general is working with a number of people, large donors for the Republican Party of Texas,” Dean said. “They have their own agenda in mind, and their agenda just does not equate to what I personally feel meets the values of rural East Texas, especially House District 7.”
In a recent resolution, the Harrison County Republican Party threatened to censure Dean, who is their elected representative, if he purposefully violated the Republican Party of Texas priorities by voting for a speaker who appoints Democrats to chair committees.
Dean said there has been a lot of dysfunction in the Republican caucus, such as violating the rules and bylaws.
“We have a lot of great conservative issues we’re going to be addressing, and we need to bring people together in the party, in the House — Republicans, especially sooner than later,” Dean said.
Regardless of who wins the speakership, Dean says he wants to see someone who will be a statesman focused on what’s good for the party, the people and the Texas House. Dean said that Cook has big aspirations, but he does not have the experience like Burrows does.
“Dustin is a seasoned veteran. He’s chaired two of the most important committees in the House. He’s been super active and very aggressive on property tax relief, which, again, is going to be another big issue,” Dean said. “And I just think that at this point in time, Mr. Cook should choose to step aside. He gave it his best shot, but his numbers are not moving.”
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