Table Of Content
- Pressure mounts on House Speaker Dade Phelan to resign as third special session looms
- Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan heads to runoff against Trump-backed GOP primary opponent
- NFL draft grades: Our experts evaluate Cowboys’ Day 3 choices, new rookie class
- David Covey forces runoff with Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, who led AG Ken Paxton’s impeachment
- Once the Texas GOP’s “weak link,” Attorney General Ken Paxton is growing more popular and powerful
- News & Politics

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.
Pressure mounts on House Speaker Dade Phelan to resign as third special session looms
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 heads to runoff against Trump-backed GOP primary opponent
Texas Speaker Dade Phelan to face runoff in GOP primary - The Texas Tribune
Texas Speaker Dade Phelan to face runoff in GOP primary.
Posted: Tue, 05 Mar 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
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.
NFL draft grades: Our experts evaluate Cowboys’ Day 3 choices, new rookie class
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.

ROOKE: Insurgent GOP Reps Launch Effort To Replace ‘Liberal’ Republican Speaker In Texas
Governor Greg Abbott spent nearly $4 million on ads for his favored Republicans in House races. Dunn and his allies spent more than $3 million this year boosting 28 Texas House candidates. Their efforts helped eleven GOP candidates win their primaries outright; eight others supported by Dunn and his political machine head to runoffs in May. When asked why the Speaker should not be able to spend while various billionaires do, Harrison said the comparison was “apples to oranges.” He said Phelan only doles out cash “to his favorite members,” but he did not explain how that’s different from what Dunn does. If Phelan is defeated in the May 28 runoff against relative newcomer David Covey, Patrick would be rid of a rival he’s described as a failed Republican who ignores policies favored by conservatives. Patrick also would be a key step closer to changing the makeup of the House, which has not been welcoming to his priorities on border security, tax cuts, election fraud, school choice and other issues.
David Covey forces runoff with Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, who led AG Ken Paxton’s impeachment
Aarón Torres, who has been reporting on this issue for The Dallas Morning News, said the rift between Phelan and other top Republican leaders was clear as early as January. But the rival Republican faction, which had become known among members as “Team Texas,” was not giving up. Later that evening, the group’s preferred candidate, state Rep. Trent Ashby of Lufkin, announced he was ending his bid and getting behind state Rep. Geanie Morrison of Victoria, who was gunning to be the Legislature’s first female speaker. Members, though we may face many challenges this session, there will be even more opportunities.
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.
Greg Abbott, Dade Phelan appear together ahead of runoff - The Texas Tribune
Greg Abbott, Dade Phelan appear together ahead of runoff.
Posted: Tue, 19 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]
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.
Texas GOP leaders reverse course, ban antisemites from party
Phelan called on Patrick to donate the money to charity, and Patrick responded by demanding Phelan resign. The speaker told the Tribune he would have preferred a modest voucher bill to pass, but the political damage is done. Once an ally, Abbott appears indifferent to Phelan’s political survival — he has remained silent on this race — and is campaigning against anti-voucher Republican House incumbents, forcing Phelan to spend time and money protecting his members.
Phelan, a Beaumont Republican in his second term as leader of the House, also threw his support behind bills authored by two Republicans to crack down on how companies collect and monetize private data and to protect children from what he deemed “addictive algorithms” by digital companies. Phelan said the list of four bills is a “starting point” for the House of Representatives and that more bills with his support will be announced soon. The leader of the state House also threw his support behind bills to crack down on how companies handle private data and to protect children from “addictive algorithms” by digital companies. Mike Hillin, an electrician in Jasper County, said he supports Davis because of her dedication to represent the interest of working Texans, noting she has helped homeowners protest their tax assessments, free of charge. Her lack of high-dollar donations, Hillin said, sets her apart as the real grassroots choice. Covey fashions himself as the true grassroots candidate in the race, an unapologetic activist rather than an equivocating politician.

He earned the support of every Democrat in the House, including Toni Rose of Dallas, who praised Phelan for supporting her bill in 2021 to expand Medicaid coverage for new mothers. Tracy King, a Uvalde Democrat, commended Phelan for meeting last week with families of victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting this past May. We can’t wait to welcome you to downtown Austin Sept. 5-7 for the 2024 Texas Tribune Festival!
The executive committee of the Texas Republican Party voted 58-2 for a resolution calling on Phelan to resign. In a December University of Texas Politics Project poll, more conservative voters said they disapproved of Phelan’s job performance than approved. The Speaker’s spending was surpassed by that of other statewide leaders and his far-right detractors.
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.