AUSTIN — It took three rounds of voting, but two-term Rep. David Cook emerged Saturday as the choice of most House Republicans for speaker when the Texas Legislature convenes in January.
It may not be enough.
Shortly after the closed-door meeting at the Capitol ended with Cook’s selection, his opponent — Rep. Dustin Burrows of Lubbock — announced that with support from Democrats, he had the votes needed to become speaker.
“I have secured the votes of enough of my colleagues,” Burrows said. “It is bipartisan.”
Burrows declined to answer questions from reporters but later released a list of 76 supporters with 38 Republicans and 38 Democrats.
All 150 representatives will select a speaker as one of the first orders of business when the Legislature’s regular session begins Jan. 14. It takes a majority, or 76 votes, to be chosen as House leader.
Speaking after the meeting, Cook acknowledged the race for the gavel is not over.
“I’ll continue working between now and Jan. 14 to earn [the vote] of every member of the Texas Republican caucus — as well as any Democrat,” Cook said.
Rep. Nate Schatzline, a Cook supporter, called Burrows’ announcement a declaration of war on the state Republican Party and a betrayal of Texas “for power.”
”Ask your rep where they stand,” he said on social media.
The Texas Republican Party’s executive committee responded with a resolution urging House Republicans to unite behind Cook and calling on Burrows to end his campaign for speaker.
The resolution also condemned “any effort by Republican Representatives to ally with Democrats to elect a Speaker.”
All 88 House Republicans, including incumbents and incoming freshmen, participated in Saturday’s meeting, which was called to choose a consensus GOP candidate for speaker, a powerful position long coveted by the party’s right wing.
The secret-ballot votes came a little more than 24 hours after Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, announced he would not seek a third term leading the House.
Phelan’s return as speaker was opposed by the right wing of his party, including lawmakers and activists who blamed him for the failure of conservative priorities in the House, and he couldn’t muster the support for a third term in leadership.
Saturday’s meeting began with two votes, with the winning candidate needing support from at least 59 Republicans.
In the first round, Cook led Burrows 48-40. Cook lost a supporter in the second round, which ended with him ahead 47-41. Two 30-minute breaks followed as many Burrows supporters left the meeting room and Cook met with colleagues in an effort to increase his lead.
In the third and final vote, Cook topping Burrows, 48-14, after 26 Republicans left the meeting — all or most of them representatives who had supported Burrows in two previous rounds of voting.
The threshold for victory in the third round fell to 60% of Republicans voting, or 53 if all were in attendance. Cook’s 48 supporters met the threshold with 62 in attendance.
Meanwhile, the House Democratic Caucus released a statement saying its members will be free to vote for any speaker candidate “except for David Cook.” Two Democrats also have announced bids for speaker — Reps. Ana-Maria Ramos and John Bryant, both of Dallas.
The statement said there had been “extensive discussions” with Burrows but did not provide details.
“Democrats have been assured that the bipartisan traditions of the Texas House will continue,” the caucus statement said.
Phelan had continued the tradition of appointing Democrats as chairs of a few committees, a practice that drew sharp criticism from Republican activists. Cook has vowed to end the practice. Burrows’ position on Democratic chairs is unclear.
Cook was mayor of Mansfield from 2008-21. In his two sessions in the House, he served on the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee — including vice chair in 2023 — and was a member of the Calendars Committee last session.
Cook entered the race for speaker in September amid discontent over Phelan’s handling of Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment and the failure of school choice and other conservative priorities in 2023.
Hoping to rally behind one candidate, dozens of House Republicans met at an Austin barbecue restaurant in September, and Cook prevailed over Reps. James Frank of Wichita Falls, Shelby Slawson of Stephenville, Tom Oliverson of Cypress and John Smithee of Amarillo.
Burrows, an attorney from Lubbock, was elected to the House in 2014 and has been reelected five times.
He has chaired influential House committees since the 2019 legislative session when he was chairman of Ways and Means, which handles bills on taxes.
His allegiance to Phelan was a red flag for Cook supporters, including Paxton, who blasted Burrows — who voted last year to impeach Paxton — as “Dade 2.0.”
“Supporting Burrows is a betrayal of the conservative movement,” Paxton said Friday. “Voters will remember.”
Paxton backed Burrows’ primary challenger, Wade Cowan, earlier this year. Burrows easily won with 68% of the March primary vote.