The signs of a dysfunctional Texas House were on full display over the last several weeks as the Republican Caucus sparred over who should be the speaker of the House for the 89th Legislative Session. Gone are the days of the “Vote your district” mantra in the Texas Capitol. This new wave of extreme freshmen legislators have ushered in a new age of “Vote Wilks and Dunn.” The losers are the citizens of Texas.
If there even was any chance of the Texas House holding onto its integrity, it is now mostly gone, as former Speaker Dade Phelan dropped out of the speaker’s race on Friday.
Look at the facts and ignore the lies: Phelan led the two most conservative sessions in Texas history. It was an honor to help pass “constitutional carry,” pro-life bills, property tax relief, critical border security and anti-woke legislation in the 87th and 88th legislative sessions under the leadership of Speaker Phelan.
The far-right rage machine, financed by megadonors Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, spent the last few years smearing Phelan as a liberal simply because he refused to kiss their rings. Political consultants, searching to cash in on tough, and expensive, political campaigns, made the 2024 primary season one of the nastiest elections Texas has ever seen. Grifters lied about Republican representatives’ records, used artificial intelligence to generate deceitful images for political ads and spent millions of dollars to manipulate the voting public and defeat the legislators who served their districts and not the interests of theo-oligarch kingmakers. Again, the losers are the citizens of Texas.
The Wilks-and-Dunn camp continues to stifle open debate and conscience-based voting, the very cornerstones of democracy. They wear down anyone with integrity by launching nonstop barrages of hate and misinformation towards them. It looks as if Phelan did not want to keep putting his family and himself through that chaos and meanness. Who can blame him?
The shrillest voices in the House Republican Caucus were very clear in their intentions to remove Phelan as speaker of the House and install their own handpicked candidate. Follow the money and find the common denominator among them. Dunn and Wilks donated millions to political campaigns and to “dark money” supporting organizations. Their looming threat of a well-funded primary opponent sways the minds of many Texas legislators.
But while it may look like two billionaires control the Texas Legislature this session, Texans should not be completely dismayed. There are those who will get down to Austin and realize that the people of their districts are more important than two megadonors.
For the sake of all Texans, let’s hope they will decide to remember the words of Sam Houston: “Do right, and risk the consequences.”
Rep. Glenn Rogers, R-Graford, represents District 60 in the Texas House of Representatives. His service in the Texas House will end in January.
We welcome your thoughts in a letter to the editor. See the guidelines and submit your letter here. If you have problems with the form, you can submit via email at letters@dallasnews.com