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Even though this year’s percentage of Democratic chairs is smaller, it’s still significant — mostly because the Republican Party of Texas was pressuring Phelan into banning Democratic chairs outright. He crossed that Rubicon and that's his issue going forward with the Texas House." Those three have criticized Phelan for allowing the impeachment against Paxton to take place in the House. If Paxton will break an oath to his wife and God, why would he tell Trump — or you — the truth?
Ducking or dodging? No political debate set for Phelan, Covey ahead of runoff
The practice, dating to the earliest days of the Texas Legislature, is designed to promote bipartisan cooperation while rewarding legislators with subject matter expertise. The Republican Party of Texas and conservative activists pressed to end the practice in recent years, but Phelan declined, naming Democrats to chair nine House committees last year. Since taking office in 2015, the three-term, 74-year-old lieutenant governor has remade the Senate in his image, allowing his conservative agenda to fly through with little resistance. As for the fact that speakers rarely cast votes, Covey argued that Phelan’s defense rings hollow because he voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton last year. Banning Democratic chairs was also one of the Republican Party of Texas’ legislative priorities for the 88th Texas Legislature.
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The group comprises five current representatives and seven Republican nominees who beat incumbents in the recent March 5 primary. They claim the last several years under current Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan’s leadership have proven the need for a Republican speaker who represents the voters’ interests. Seliger was removed from leadership positions and relegated to a legislative backbencher as Patrick refused to allow floor votes on some of Seliger’s bills, even though he had enough support to pass them.
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan says he has a path to victory in primary runoff battle
Join us at Texas’ breakout politics and policy event as we dig into the 2024 elections, state and national politics, the state of democracy, and so much more. Phelan had cruised to victory in previous contests, and no incumbent House speaker has lost a primary since Rayford Price in 1972, but this was the most difficult reelection he has faced. Polling by the University of Houston showed last month that Phelan was the most unpopular Republican leader in Texas. These members are among those in the Texas House asking for Phelan to be replaced regardless of the outcome of his run-off race against his opponent, David Covey. In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, Paxton said he is "immensely proud" to have supported Covey in his bid to oust the speaker.
Texas GOP leaders reverse course, ban antisemites from party
He said Phelan’s adherence to that tradition means Republicans can pass only some conservative legislative priorities each session while ignoring others. Locally, he touted his record delivering funding for district priorities like Lamar University and flood control over his decade in office. Phelan is under fire for using former President Barack Obama’s White House general counsel, Hugh Brady, as the Texas House parliamentarian and for his political impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton. Phelan also failed to help Republican attempts to bring school choice up for a vote, legislation to protect Texans against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and a constitutional amendment that would protect Texas elections from illegal immigrant voters. Patrick’s frustration bubbled over at the end of a special session in December when a chief conservative policy goal — taxpayer-subsidized private school tuition — failed in the House.
Former Texas House speaker says GOP megadonor Tim Dunn told him only Christians should hold leadership positions
He replaced Republican Dennis Bonnen who did not run for reelection in 2020 following the release of a secretly recorded conversation in which he was heard seeking help to defeat members of his own party. Phelan advanced to a May 28 contest with Covey, an oil and gas consultant and party activist endorsed by Paxton and former President Donald Trump. Neither candidate could win a majority for outright victory in Tuesday’s race that included retired hairdresser Alicia Davis. Phelan’s list of priorities also did not include any of Abbott’s emergency items.
Hancock, first elected to the Senate in 2013 after serving six years in the House, received a kidney transplant last summer after being diagnosed with a rare genetic kidney disease. Though he opposes raising the age to buy guns from 18 to 21, a demand of some Uvalde families, Phelan pledged to help craft legislation to make schools and children safer. Learn about The Texas Tribune’s policies, including our partnership with The Trust Project to increase transparency in news. BEAUMONT, Texas — If past is prologue, Dade Phelan’s return to the Texas House would be all but guaranteed.
Once the Texas GOP’s “weak link,” Attorney General Ken Paxton is growing more popular and powerful
All the while, he’s passed dozens of Texas GOP priorities that aren’t popular with majorities in the state, and in some cases might be unconstitutional, but that appeal to the 3 percent of Texans who decide Republican primary elections. Outflanking Phelan on the right is difficult, given the speaker’s conservative bona fides. Covey acknowledged that the House passed border security bills last year, but said it was too little, too late.
A group of GOP Texas House members issue 'Contract for Texas' for the next speaker - Texas Standard
A group of GOP Texas House members issue 'Contract for Texas' for the next speaker.
Posted: Fri, 12 Apr 2024 19:38:20 GMT [source]
Patrick led the way toward cutting the floor-vote threshold from two-thirds to three-fifths of senators, effectively boxing Democrats out of the process. He would later march it down to five-ninths after Democrats flipped a Republican seat blue. One of the Republican base’s rallying cries against Phelan is his adherence to the tradition of appointing members of both parties to lead committees.
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan is not backing down - Spectrum News
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan is not backing down.
Posted: Fri, 22 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]
The Texas Senate declined to convict and remove Paxton from office, and Paxton — backed by Trump — vowed revenge on those who tried to oust him. Paxton campaigned against Phelan and dozens of other GOP incumbents leading up to Tuesday’s primary. Phelan incurred the wrath of Republicans in Texas and nationally when he led the impeachment proceedings against state Attorney General Ken Paxton. Covey, a GOP activist, campaigned heavily on Trump’s support, while Paxton appeared on the trail and in ads on his behalf. If you found the reporting above valuable, please consider making a donation to support it here.
The most recent Texas House speaker to be ousted in his own party's primary was Rayford Price, a conservative Democrat, in 1972. He was defeated by a progressive Democrat, Fred Head, who was a sitting House member who had moved into Price's district to challenge the speaker, according to "The House Will Come to Order," a history of the Texas House speakership published in 2010. On Tuesday, Patrick was on hand with Covey as news broke about the runoff election. Across the primary campaign season, Paxton was unabashed in attacking Phelan, often taking the stage at events across Texas to disparage the speaker's approval of the impeachment and painted him as weak on Republican priorities.
State representative Brian Harrison had spent only a day and a half at the Capitol when he experienced his first “betrayal,” as he puts it. It was early January, and the representative from Midlothian, 25 miles south of Dallas, was standing near his desk on the House floor as the chamber discussed rote procedural matters. Phelan’s list put the Beaumont Republican over the number of needed votes to claim he was poised to lead a chamber that has been fractured over the past two years by a tough election cycle and a political scandal that led to the downfall of the prior speaker.
With HB 20 and other points of order, Phelan theoretically could have overridden the parliamentarian’s decision and ordered a different ruling, Cates said. But that sort of move could be politically fraught, he added, citing former Speaker Tom Craddick’s refusal in 2007 to allow a vote on whether to remove him from power, which led to his parliamentarian’s resignation and, ultimately, the end of his speakership. House Democrats killed HB 20 by raising a point of order, a maneuver often used to thwart legislation on technicalities near the end of a session.
Recently, Rep. Terry Wilson, one of Phelan’s committee chairs, waffled when asked at a January candidate forum if he’d reelect the speaker. Patricia Kemp, an Orange County Republican Party precinct chairwoman who voted to censure Phelan, acknowledged the speaker has done a lot for the district. But she believes Phelan cares more about power than following the Republican platform.
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