Important Texas Speaker of the House Race Update!
It’s beginning to look a lot like… the 2025 Texas legislative session! Did you know that there is a very important vote coming up for the Texas Speaker of the House, in January? Did you know that the current Texas Speaker of the House, Dade Phelan, has withdrawn from this “race” and will not be returning as the Speaker? The Texas Values policy team is excited to share an update on the Texas Speaker of the House race (Speaker race)! This past Saturday at a scheduled meeting of the Texas House Republican Caucus, Republican Representative David Cook won the Republican Caucus vote. However, Republican Rep. Dustin Burrows is “claiming” he has the votes to win the race too. With both candidates claiming victory, understanding the issue at hand can be confusing which is why Texas Values is here to make sure you stay informed about the process!
In September, at Texas Values’ annual #TexasFaithFest, we discussed the Speaker race with the following House members who had publicly stated that they were going to challenge Speaker Dade Phelan for the Speakership of the Texas House: Rep. Tom Oliverson, Rep. James Frank and Rep. Shelby Slawson. Also, Rep. Briscoe Cain was on this panel too, to express his view that Dade Phelan should not be the next Speaker of the House. All four (4) of these Texas House Republican members have now endorsed Rep. David Cook for Speaker! Click here to watch. At that time, Rep. David Cook had just announced that he would be candidate for the Speaker race.
So how can there be two candidates both claiming victory? It all comes down to the rules that the Republican Party of Texas voted on in their 2024 platform back in May. Thanks to your generous support, the Texas Values policy team had boots on the ground for this process and worked to ensure that the platform included and protected faith, family, and freedom in Texas.
During the Republican Party of Texas Convention, delegates voted to include in the 2024 platform, plank 213 which in part includes a call “for Republican members to vote as a unified body for their selected speaker and speaker pro tempore candidate when the Legislature convenes in regular session, provided that the individual selected in caucus for speaker publicly pledges to comply with the entirety of this plank.”
This means that grassroots voters have asked that House Republicans vote together as one instead of allowing the Democrats to wield power and influence in the race because Republicans are split on their support for a Speaker candidate. The only way the Democrats can obtain influence is if the Republican vote is split. Also, grassroots Republican voters and delegates have also made it a priority that Democrats should not be selected to be chairmen of any of the House committees. Last session, Speaker Dade Phelan was heavily criticized for choosing some Democrats to be the “chairman” of a committee. Committee chairmen decide what bills get a hearing, and the chairmen can also have major influence on a bill moving out of committee or staying stuck in a committee.
Rep. David Cook has strong support of the grassroots and won the Republican Caucus vote. But certain Republicans who don’t want Cook to be the next speaker are taking the side of Rep. Burrows despite his failure to follow the RPT platform. Since Burrows does not have a majority among Republicans, he has taken his support outside the party and has recruited 38 Democrats to support him in his race for Speaker. The official vote will take place on the first day of the 89th legislative session, January 14th.
Below is the list of Republican representatives that Rep. Burrows claims support him, which also means these members have sided with the Democrats to try elect Dustin Burrows as Speaker.
- Keith Bell
- Greg Bonnen
- Brad Buckley
- Dustin Burrows
- Angie Chen Button
- Giovanni Capriglione
- Drew Darby
- Jay Dean
- Gary Gates
- Stan Gerdes
- Charlie Geren
- Ryan Guillen
- Sam Harless
- Cody Harris
- Cole Hefner
- Lacey Hull
- Todd Hunter
- Ken King
- Stan Kitzman
- Stan Lambert
- Brooks Landgraf
- Jeff Leach
- Janie Lopez
- John McQueeny
- Will Metcalf
- Morgan Meyer
- Angelia Orr
- Jared Patterson
- Dade Phelan
- Carl Tepper
- Gary Van Deaver
- Denise Villalobos
- Terry Wilson
If your representative is listed above, and you think they should listen to the grassroots and follow RPT and Texas House Republican Caucus rules (which means the vote selecting Republican Rep. David Cook based on the caucus rule should be followed), call their office today!
The following Representatives are listed as supportive of both Rep. Burrows and Rep. Cook:
- Jeff Barry
- Charles Cunningham
- Paul Dyson
- Don McLaughlin
Rep. Tom Oliverson, who is the Caucus Chair for the Texas House Republican Caucus, joined the Texas Values Report last week to discuss the importance of the Speaker race. Click here to watch. On Saturday, after the Texas House Republican Caucus vote, Rep. Oliverson wrote on social media, “Thank you so much for your prayers, they were felt. We followed our by-laws and completed our work of selecting a caucus nominee for Speaker of the Texas House. Congratulations to our nominee, @DavidCookTexas. We still have bridges to build and healing to do, so please keep us in your prayers.”
https://x.com/TomOliverson/status/1865600383193612297
Since Rep. Burrows started posting his list of “support” by Texas House members, many of those Republican members have publicly stated that they do not actually support Rep. Burrows. Also, Gov. Greg Abbott corrected Rep. Burrows on X, explaining that Gov. Abbott has not expressed support of Rep. Burrows after a social media post and graphic by Rep. Burrows included a photo of Rep. Burrows and Gov. Abbott that looked like Rep. Burrows was trying to convince people that Gov. Abbott supported him for Speaker, over Rep. Cook.
https://x.com/GregAbbott_TX/status/1866701019452670419
Gov. Abbott also later posted another social media post stating very clearly that “we need a Texas House Speaker chosen by a majority of Republicans in accordance with the Republican Caucus Rules” – which would be Rep. David Cook.
Many grassroots activists and leaders in the Republican Party are weighing in on the issue too. Over 100 Republican County Chairmen have signed onto a letter in support of Rep. David Cook, calling out Rep. Dustin Burrows for working with the Democrats to elect a new speaker.
At Texas Values, we agree that House Republicans should follow their own rules and support Rep. David Cook for Texas Speaker of the House.
Also, if you support Rep. David Cook, and your member is too, you can call and let them know you support his or her decision! Click here to find your Texas House member.