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Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, was elected speaker of the Texas House on Tuesday, concluding a bitter and intense power struggle within the Republican party that came down to an extraordinary floor vote to decide who would fill one of the most powerful positions in state government.
In his acceptance speech, Burrows said he would work with each member of the House to make this a successful session.
“Whether you voted for me or not, my office door will be open to you,” he said.
Burrows’ win marks a disappointing defeat for the insurgent wing of the party, which has spent years working to wrest control of the lower chamber away from establishment Republicans. That faction, which aims to push the House further to the right, ousted more than a dozen GOP members in last year’s primaries who were aligned with Burrows and his predecessor, Rep. Dade Phelan of Beaumont, riding a wave of conservative backlash over the House’s impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton and failure to pass a private school voucher bill.
After the record turnover, hardline conservatives saw this year’s speaker race as perhaps their best chance ever to depose the current House leadership. They selected as their standard-bearer Rep. David Cook of Mansfield, who vowed to follow through on insurgent demands to strip power from Democrats — including barring them from chairing committees — and weaken the speaker’s means of controlling the chamber.
But while the insurgent crowd succeeded in forcing Phelan to give up the gavel, the elevation of his close ally signals a similar power structure will likely remain in place.
Burrows won the speaker’s race after two rounds of voting, edging out Cook by a vote of 85-55. His winning coalition was made up of 49 Democrats and 36 Republicans, drawing instant backlash from hardline members and activists who vowed revenge in next year’s primaries.
“Today, the RINO (anti-MAGA) Establishment laughed in the faces of our Republican grassroots. They chose Democrat chairs and Lobbyist buddies over their voters,” Rep. Shelley Luther, a freshman Republican who had vowed to oppose the Phelan-Burrows leadership team, wrote on social media. “I look forward to seeing if they’re still laughing after the next round of primaries. The fight starts today.”
During the first round, Rep. Ana-Maria Rodriguez-Ramos, a Richardson Democrat who also submitted her name for the speaker’s gavel, received 23 votes from fellow Democratic members — enough to keep Burrows and Cook from reaching the majority threshold of 76.
In the ensuing runoff round, twelve Democrats who had voted for Rodriguez-Ramos switched their votes to Burrows. He also netted two more GOP votes from members who defected from Cook. Nine members marked themselves present without voting for either option, and one member was marked as absent.
Burrows’ support from Democrats will likely become major ammunition for his Republican critics aligned with the party’s right wing who warned that the new speaker should be chosen by a majority of GOP votes.
It’s unlikely that Republicans will completely unite behind Burrows despite his win. Many of his critics have promised to go after Republicans who supported Burrows in the primary, and the Republican Party of Texas has vowed to censure those members who broke from Cook.
The House speaker position is a crucial legislative role. They appoint committee leaders and manage the flow of legislation through the chamber. Along with the governor and lieutenant governor, the speaker makes up a part of the “Big Three” state government leaders, who each have considerable sway in shaping and passing laws. If relationships among that group are good, legislative sessions can go fairly smoothly. But if the bonds are strained, major pieces of legislation can grind to a halt.
Last session, those relationships were strained and lawmakers had to return to Austin for a record four special sessions after disagreeing on legislation to cut property taxes, restrict immigration, boost teacher pay and enact a school voucher program.
Lawmakers are not expected to work as many overtime sessions this time. Gov. Greg Abbott, whose priority school voucher legislation was tanked last session, spent millions of his own campaign dollars in last year’s primaries to oust members of his own party who had not supported his signature bill. With Abbott now touting 79 “hardcore school choice proponents” in the House, voucher supporters are bullish that their success at the ballot box generated enough political will to get a voucher package across the finish line.
Burrows, a school voucher supporter, told the Tribune last month that he believes “the political winds have shifted, and the votes are there” for vouchers. He made clear he would not stand in the way of voucher legislation supported by “the will of the House.”
Renzo Downey contributed to this report.