(Texas Scorecard) – A majority of incoming Republican Texas House members appear to have thrown their support behind State Rep. David Cook for Speaker of the House in a move to coalesce around a single challenger against Dade Phelan ahead of the Republican Caucus vote in December.
The decision came after several rounds of voting during a secret meeting held Friday in Austin. Generally, the meeting consisted of reform-minded members and members-elect of the House GOP caucus. Phelan did not participate, though apparently half of the 86 Republicans did.
First elected in 2020, Cook voted for Phelan in both 2021 and 2023. He also voted for the impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton. The secretive process employed in the Paxton impeachment was a flashpoint for many of the members.
Friday’s meeting was attended by all five Republicans who had filed to challenge current Speaker Dade Phelan: John Smithee, Tom Oliverson, Shelby Slawson, David Cook, and James Frank. The final rounds of voting came down to Smithee and Cook.
Notably, all candidates had pledged to end the practice of awarding committee chairmanships to Democrats, while Phelan has said he will “not waver” from doing so.
Earlier in the day, Phelan derided the meeting as “little more than an orchestrated scheme to generate headlines and fuel social media clicks.”
“The organizers of this distraction have completely and deliberately shortcut established caucus rules to generate an outcome benefitting nobody but themselves. Not only are their actions disappointing and unacceptable, they are futile, as I proudly have the clear majority votes needed to be the Speaker today, and will have the clear majority support needed to become Speaker again come January,” he added.
State Rep. Tony Tinderholt, who challenged Phelan for the speakership in 2023, fired back in a post on X.
“We’d love to see your list of legislators because the only way to have the votes to become speaker means you have the Democrats! That goes against the Republican Party Platform, but using Dems in your primary is how you barely won re-election after spending millions,” wrote Tinderholt.
The Republican Caucus will vote in December to nominate a speaker candidate. The official vote for Speaker will take place on the first day of the legislative session, January 14, 2025.