Phelan drops out of Texas speaker race one day before vote

(The Center Square) – Texas state Rep. Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, said on Friday he is dropping his bid to run for reelection as speaker of the House.

“Out of deep respect for this institution and its members, and after careful consideration and private consultation with colleagues, I have made the difficult decision to withdraw from the race for Speaker of the Texas House,” Phelan said in a statement. “By stepping aside, I believe we create the best opportunity for our members to rally around a new candidate who will uphold the principles that make our House one of the most exceptional, deliberative legislative bodies in the country – a place where honor, integrity, and the right of every member to vote their district takes utmost precedent.”

Phelan made the announcement after claiming last month he had enough votes to defeat one Republican and two Democratic challengers, The Center Square reported.

There are 150 members of the Texas House. After slightly more new Republicans were elected in November, 88 Republicans and 62 Democrats will be sworn into office in January.

Phelan’s announcement dropped one day before House Republicans are scheduled to vote Saturday to elect their next leader in a party caucus vote.

Officially, the next speaker won’t be sworn in until January, but the Republican caucus will vote to choose their candidate on Saturday.

According to House rules, 60% of votes in the caucus are needed to elect a speaker, or 53 votes. Regardless if the candidate receives 53 votes or not, 76 votes are needed on the floor in January to officially elect the speaker.

A coalition of Republicans have expressed support for state Rep. David Cook, R-Mansfield, as the next speaker. He claims to have 49 Republicans supporting him.

However, state Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, a top ally of Phelan, reportedly filed paperwork to run for speaker, according to several news reports.

Burrows would need roughly 40 votes from unpledged House Republicans and a majority of Democratic votes to be elected speaker.

In his announcement, Phelan thanked “principled conservatives” who remained supportive of him, who showed “steadfast resolve and courage in the face of immense intimidation from outsiders wishing to influence our chamber and its processes. Though the battle for my speakership is over, the war for the integrity of this chamber wages on – and we will win.”

Phelan served two terms as speaker, presiding over a number of conservative legislative priorities, including the passage of the Heartbeat Act, permitless carry of handguns, more than $11 billion for border security, property tax relief, banning gender mutilation surgery for minors, among other issues.

In the last legislative session, he came under fire after he and 60 House Republicans voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton and was blamed for a school choice bill that failed in the House under his watch. Phelan was targeted in his primary but won his runoff election and was reelected in November.

Two Democrats from Dallas, state Reps. Ana-Maria Ramos and John Bryant, previously announced their bid to lead the Republican-majority House. They did so after the chair of the Texas Democratic Party announced he was resigning, citing devastating Democratic losses on Nov. 5, The Center Square reported.

Texas Democrats announced new leaders on Friday, including its new chair, Gene Wu of Houston. It also issued a statement in response to Phelan’s announcement, saying, “Nothing has changed for Texas House Democrats as we look towards January and the next legislative session. … Only one caucus stands united and focused on the real problems affecting Texas: struggling public schools, unregulated price gouging after disasters, and the loss of bodily autonomy.

“For any Speaker candidate interested in serving the House, the Democratic Caucus is available to listen, and hear their plans to finally give Texans a legislative session that puts people over politics.”