The most combative speaker's race in Texas House history enters the final 24-hour stretch on Monday with Republican State Rep. Dustin Burrows as the betting favorite to claim the crown after a potentially significant boost during the weekend from a wealthy donor who'd been perceived as an enemy.
Burrows and his only current opponent - State Rep. David Cook as the GOP Caucus nominee - both received a mix of good and bad news during the past two days. Cook ended weeks without any new support on Friday when State Rep. Richard Raymond of Laredo became the first Democrat to endorse his quest for the leadership post that's featured a pledge to eliminate Democratic committee chairs.
But Cook's odds for an underdog victory took a hit on the same day when Amarillo business owner Alex Fairly revealed that a group he founded called the Texas Republican Leadership Fund had abandoned plans to spend $20 million against GOP members who refuse to back Cook in the speaker's election on the House floor on Tuesday.
"It is our view that outside parties should encourage robust debate, not attempt to control or intimidate," Fairly said. "Accordingly, TRLF will not use its fund to `primary' any Member based on their vote in the Speaker election. TRLF will support Members who champion Conservative policy and values.
"The vote for speaker belongs to the Members," Fairly added. "They must be able to walk into the Capitol next Tuesday and vote for the person they believe will be the best Speaker."
The Panhandle resident's daughter, Caroline Fairly, will be one of 20 Republicans who will be sworn in for freshmen terms when the regular session opens for business on Tuesday. Fairly has pledged to support Cook for speaker after backing him in the caucus nomination vote early last month.
Fairly the incoming representative may have a better chance to succeed in her rookie debut in a House that Burrows leads now that her father has backed off the plan to use the family fortune in attempt to take out Republicans who refuse to switch allegiances to Cook.
The elder Fairly may have determined that the threat of bankrolling primary foes had been a bust based on the fact that it hadn't led a single GOP member to bolt from the Burrows camp since he announced the effort several weeks ago.
The rookie representative's father could be trying to mitigate whatever damage he might have done to her shot at having impact in her first session with the now-defunct primary punishment crusade. Fairly had contributed $700,000 to David Covey for a failed bid to oust Speaker Dade Phelan in the GOP primary last year. Retreating on the vengeance threat could be a step toward an alignment with a new House leadership team that the older Fairly may envision with Burrows effectively inheriting the outgoing incumbent's team for a race that he can win as long as he has three-fourths of 62 Democrats in tow on Tuesday.
As the TRFR took some pressure off the Republicans in Burrows' camp, Cook supporters held collective breaths on Sunday amid visions of a Raymond-inspired exodus of Democrats to the Republican caucus candidate's pledge list in the countdown to the election. Houston State Rep. Gene Wu - the Democratic caucus chair - announced that House Democrats would be holding press conferences on Monday in the state's largest cities to promote the party's agenda for the 2025 session.
Wu had given the impression in recent weeks that Burrows had significant support among the Democrats even though some were still listening to overtures behind the scenes from Cook. Backing a Republican who's promised to ban Democrats from chairing committees could be an invitation to primary challenges for Democratic representatives who cast votes for the GOP caucus nominee this week.
The salvos continued to fly among Republicans despite the TRLF softening. State Rep. Cody Harris - a Palestine Republican who's been Burrows' most aggressive defender - portrayed Cook in a text as Dallas-Fort Worth area lawmaker who'd be a moderate speaker with a bent on attacking rural Republicans if elected on Tuesday.
Anti-Burrows forces took to the airwaves and Internet to sound the alarm about the prospects for a new House speaker who doesn't have a majority of the Republicans voting for them on the floor this week.
Republican State Rep.-elect Shelley Luther of Sherman made a case for Cook in an interview with CBS News Texas on Sunday.
Texas GOP Chairman Abraham George expressed frustration on NewsMax on Friday with the state party's inability to pressure Republicans into breaking ranks with Burrows amid protests of party rule violations and warnings of retaliation in re-election races next year. George repeated his desire to keep Republicans off the primary ballot in 2026
if they fail to bow to demands to support the party nominee.
George took aim at Burrows on Sunday when reposted an extensive conspiracy that ties Burrows to former Speaker Dennis Bonnen's bank and the investment firm BlackRock, which conservatives view as a villain due to so-called ESG policies that Republican here detest. The post essentially portrays Burrows and allies like State Rep. Todd Hunter of Corpus Christi as rogue Republicans who are selling Texas out to China.
George got an assist from Chris Saucedo in the NewsMax interview. "By the rules, all 88 Republicans are supposed to vote for the caucus winner," the talk show host explained. "His name is David Cook. But many of these Republicans will vote to
give control and power to leftist Democrats, even as they're watching their own voters suffer all of the debt, pain, financial hardship, crime and degradation of our society promoted and sponsored by the socialist Democrat party."
Democrat Matt Angle of the Lone Star Project wrote in a weekend email that Cook would be the weakest speaker in Texas ever if elected by virtue of a lack of experience or accomplishment
in a chamber where he aligned himself with GOP leaders but never became one despite following orders like he did with a vote to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton in 2023.
more to come ...
