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Election for speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, 2025
| Texas Republican legislative conflicts |
 |
| Leadership elections |
|---|
| 2025 speaker election |
| Battleground primaries |
| 2024 • 2022 • 2020 • 2018 |
| Noteworthy events |
| Impeachment of Ken Paxton, 2023 |
| Noteworthy individuals |
| Joe Straus Speaker, 2008-2018 Dennis Bonnen Speaker, 2019-2020 Dade Phelan Speaker, 2021-2024 Greg Abbott Gov., elected 2014 Dan Patrick Lt. Gov., elected 2014 Ken Paxton AG, elected 2022 |
| Noteworthy groups |
| Empower Texans Texas Freedom Caucus |
On January 14, 2025, the members of the Texas House of Representatives elected Dustin Burrows (R) to serve as speaker through 2026. Burrows defeated David Cook (R) on the second round of voting 85-55, supported by 49 Democrats and 36 Republicans. Incumbent Dade Phelan (R), first elected to the speakership in 2021, did not run for a third term.[1]
In addition to Burrows and Cook, Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos (D) ran for speaker and received 23 votes in the first round of voting. With none of the candidates receiving a majority, voting moved to a runoff between Burrows and Cook. Republicans controlled 88 of the legislature's 150 seats as a result of the 2024 elections, with 76 votes needed to win the speakership.[1]
In an interview with FOX 4 News, Southern Methodist University professor Matthew Wilson described the election for speaker as reflecting "the ongoing division among Republicans in the Texas House between a conservative faction and a more establishment moderate faction, and that is a battle that has been going on among Texas Republicans for more than a decade now over House leadership," with the conservative faction supporting Cook and the establishment faction supporting Burrows. Wilson said the election would determine "whether the the House is going to operate more or less the way the Senate does and whether it's going to have a decidedly conservative flavor to it, as we've seen in the Texas Senate."[2]
In his review of the 2023 legislative session, Rice University professor Mark Jones rated 11 House Republicans as less conservative than Burrows and 72 as more conservative. Jones rated 47 House Republicans as less conservative than Cook and 36 as more conservative.[3]
Local political observers also described the March 5 Republican primaries for Texas House in 2024 as a battle between a more moderate and a more conservative wing of the state Republican Party. The primaries took place following two votes in 2023 that divided the House Republican caucus—one in which the House voted against introducing a school voucher program over Gov. Greg Abbott's (R) objections and one in which the House voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton (R). Both Cook and Burrows voted in support of Abbott's voucher proposal and in favor of impeaching Paxton. In general, supporters of Burrows were more likely to have voted to impeach Paxton and against the school voucher program. For a full analysis of those votes, click here.
The idea of a contentious speaker election is not new in recent Texas politics. Former Speaker Joe Straus (R) faced challengers in his 2011 re-election as speaker, and the factions involved in that speaker election came into conflict again during the 2018 legislative primaries, when Straus retired. The 2020 legislative primaries also saw factional conflict with the retirement of Speaker Dennis Bonnen (R). The 2022 legislative primaries took place in the context of the most House retirements in the previous decade, including members of the chamber's moderate faction and members of the Texas Freedom Caucus. For more information on these past factional conflicts, click here.
Vote breakdown
The voting breakdown for the second round of voting was as follows:[4]
Speaker selection process
Although the election for speaker took place on January 14, 2025, House Republican Caucus bylaws required Republican members to meet ahead of the vote to agree on a nominee. The caucus meeting took place on December 7, 2024, and ended with Cook winning the nomination 48-14 after 26 Burrows supporters walked out of the meeting. After the meeting, both Cook and Burrows declared victory, with Cook saying he had won the support of the Republican majority and Burrows saying that enough Democrats had committed to backing him that he could win without the support of the full Republican caucus.[5]
The State Republican Executive Committee said after the caucus vote that it intended to censure any members who did not vote for Cook.[5] At its 2024 convention, the party voted in favor of expanding the power of the censure by prohibiting any members who have been censured within the past two years from running in party primaries. Because state representatives are elected to two-year terms, this would mean that any censured members would be unable to run for re-election as Republicans in 2026. According to Robert Downen of The Texas Tribune, "Political experts expect lawsuits if the Texas GOP follows through with its censures, resulting in a high-stakes legal drama that could upend the relationship between political parties, candidates and voters."[6]
As of December 30, 2024, Cook's endorsers included Gov. Greg Abbott (R), Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), and state party chairman Abraham George.[7] The House Democratic Caucus passed a resolution calling on its members to not vote for Cook but did not offer direct support to Burrows.[8]
Both Burrows and Cook released lists of members they said had committed to supporting them, with Burrows' list including 38 Republicans and 38 Democrats and Cook's list including 56 Republicans. Six House Republicans appeared on both lists of supporters. As of December 30, 2024, at least one Democrat and four Republicans who appeared on Burrows' list said they would not support him, including at least three of the House Republicans who appeared on both lists of supporters.
The 76 members Burrows said had committed to supporting him included:[9]
Cunningham, Dyson, Gates, Josey Garcia, and McLaughlin each later said they had not committed to supporting Burrows.[5]
The 56 members Cook said had committed to supporting him included:[10]
| Click [show] to view David Cook's list of supporters | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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The six Republicans who appeared on both lists were Barry, Cunningham, Deayala, Dyson, Janie Lopez, and McLaughlin. Of those, Cunningham, Dyson, and McLaughlin had each said they would not support Burrows as of December 30, 2024.
Speaker candidate profiles
Dustin Burrows
Burrows was first elected to the Texas House in 2014. Burrows was chairman of the House Republican Caucus and of the Ways and Means Committee under Phelan's predecessor as speaker, Dennis Bonnen (R). During the two terms Phelan was speaker, Burrows was chairman of the Calendars Committee. Burrows was also the chairman of the committee that investigated the school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and authored a bill requiring armed security on all school campuses.[11][3]
David Cook
Cook was first elected to the Texas House in 2020. In the 2023-2024 legislative session, Cook served as vice-chairman and highest-ranking Republican on the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, which was among the committees assigned a Democratic chairman in that session. Cook authored a bill that allowed Texas courts to remove local prosecutors who were choosing to not enforce specific laws such as prohibitions on marijuana. Before his election to the House, Cook practiced law and served 12 years as mayor of Mansfield, Texas.[12][13]
Aftermath of the 2024 House primaries
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2026 →
← 2022
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| 2024 Texas House Elections | |
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| Primary | March 5, 2024 |
| Primary runoff | May 28, 2024 |
| General | November 5, 2024 |
| Past Election Results |
| 2022・2020・2018・2016・2014 2012・2010・2008 |
| 2024 Elections | |
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| Choose a chamber below: | |
The 2024 Republican primaries for Texas House took place in the context of two votes taken in 2023 that divided the caucus. The first was the impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton (R). Sixty Republicans joined with 61 Democrats as the House voted 121-23 to impeach Paxton.[14] In the second vote, 21 Republicans joined with 63 Democrats as the House voted 84-63 to remove a provision for school vouchers from an education funding bill. Governor Greg Abbott (R) supported the voucher proposal.[15][16] Both Burrows and Cook voted to impeach Paxton and against removing the Abbott-backed voucher proposal from the education bill.
Of the 88 Republicans who voted on a speaker for the 2025 session, 62 were also in office in 2023 and voted on impeachment and vouchers. Thirteen of the 26 newly-elected Republicans ran in—and won—primaries against legislators who voted on impeachment and vouchers. All 13 newly-elected legislators who won primary challenges in 2024 appeared on Cook's list of supporters and did not appear on Burrows' list.
Of the House Republicans who were in office in both 2023 and 2025, a majority of those who appeared on Burrows' list of supporters voted to impeach Paxton and a majority of those who appeared on Cook's list of supporters voted against impeaching Paxton. Although majorities of both candidates' supporters voted to keep the voucher proposal in place, all legislators who did vote against the voucher proposal appeared on Burrows' list of supporters.
Vote to impeach Ken Paxton
Of the 88 House Republicans participating in the caucus vote, 43 voted to impeach Paxton in 2023 and 17 voted against impeachment. Twenty-six more had not been elected yet and two were in office but did not vote on impeachment. A majority of House Republicans who voted to impeach Paxton backed Burrows, with 29 (67%) appearing only on Burrows' list of supporters, 12 (28%) appearing only on Cook's list of supporters, and two (5%) appearing on both lists. A majority of House Republicans who voted against impeaching Paxton backed Cook, with 15 (88%) appearing only on Cook's list of supporters and one each (6% each) appearing only on Burrows' list and on both lists.
Of the 13 Republicans first elected to the House in 2024 after a successful primary challenge to a Republican incumbent, 12 (92%) defeated an incumbent who voted to impeach Paxton and one (8%) defeated an incumbent who voted against impeachment. All 13 appeared only on Cook's list.
Thirty-three House Republicans on Burrows' list of supporters were members of the House during 2023 and voted on impeachment. Thirty-one of those legislators (94%) voted to impeach Paxton. The two who voted against impeaching Paxton were Charles Cunningham and E. Sam Harless. Cunningham appeared on both candidates' supporter lists and said he intended to support Cook.
Thirty House Republicans on Cook's list of supporters were members of the House during 2023 and voted on impeachment.[17] Sixteen of those legislators (53%) voted against impeaching Paxton while 14 (47%) voted in favor.
Vote to remove voucher provision
Of the 88 House Republicans participating in the caucus vote, 54 voted to keep the voucher proposal in place in 2023 and seven voted to remove it. Twenty-six more had not been elected yet and one was in office but did not vote on the proposal. A majority of House Republicans who voted to keep vouchers in place backed Cook, with 29 (54%) appearing only on Cook's list of supporters, 22 (41%) appearing only on Burrows' list, and three (6%) appearing on both lists. All seven House Republicans who voted to remove the voucher proposal backed Burrows.
Of the 13 Republicans first elected to the House in 2024 after a successful primary challenge to a Republican incumbent, eight (62%) defeated incumbents who voted to remove the voucher proposal and five (38%) defeated incumbents who voted to keep the voucher proposal. All 13 appeared only on Cook's list.
Thirty-two House Republicans on Burrows' list of supporters were members of the House during 2023 and voted on the voucher proposal.[18] Twenty-five of those legislators (78%) voted to keep the voucher proposal and seven (22%) voted to remove it.
Thirty-two House Republicans on Cook's list of supporters were members of the House during 2023 and voted on the voucher proposal. All 32 voted to keep the voucher proposal in place.
Previous factional conflicts
2022
Reform Austin identified four retiring members—Dan Huberty (District 127), Lyle Larson (District 122), Chris Paddie (District 9), and Jim Murphy (District 133)—as "four of [the] moderating influences in the Republican conference." Three members of the Texas Freedom Caucus—Matt Krause (District 93), Mayes Middleton (District 23), and Kyle Biedermann (District 73)—also retired.[19] According to The Texas Tribune, the Texas Freedom Caucus was more cooperative with the rest of the Republican membership in recent sessions after initial disagreements in the 2017 session led to the caucus killing more than 100 bills.[20]
Fifteen Republican incumbents did not run for re-election this year, the most since 2012, when 22 representatives retired.
One noteworthy non-retirement, however, is that of Speaker Dade Phelan. This was the first time since 2016 that the current speaker ran for re-election. In 2018, Speaker Joe Straus retired and said he had accomplished all of his legislative goals. In 2020, Speaker Dennis Bonnen left office because of a recording of him offering the group Empower Texans benefits in exchange for targeting 10 incumbent Republicans for defeat in 2020.[21]
2020
No incumbents lost their primary challenges. This year was the first time in four cycles that no incumbent lost in the primary stage. Two incumbents faced runoff elections: Dan Flynn (District 2) and J.D. Sheffield (District 59). Both lost in their respective primaries.
Like the 2018 primaries, the 2020 contests took place in the wake of a House Speaker's retirement. In 2018, Speaker Joe Straus retired and said he had accomplished all of his legislative goals. In 2020, Speaker Dennis Bonnen left office because of a recording of him offering the group Empower Texans benefits in exchange for targeting 10 incumbent Republicans for defeat in 2020.
Bonnen donated to seven incumbents facing primary challengers. Each candidate received $15,000 from Bonnen's PAC, Texas Leads, which he founded in summer 2019 before his retirement announcement. A spokesperson for Bonnen said the donations were given to members who helped get Bonnen's legislative priorities passed in the 2019 session.[22]
Empower Texans, a group known for running conservative challenges to moderate incumbents, endorsed two candidates running for open seats. In September 2019, The Texas Tribune reported the group was frustrated with Bonnen, claiming he did not do enough to address their legislative concerns.[23]
The Texas Freedom Caucus, a group of 10 House Republicans known to oppose Straus and support Bonnen, sought to retain two seats in primary contests this year.[24] Member Mike Lang (District 60) announced his retirement, and four candidates ran for the GOP nomination. District 128 incumbent and caucus member Briscoe Cain defeated moderate Robert Hoskins in his primary election.[25] In June 2017, the group had 12 members, according to the caucus' website. All eight members who sought re-election in 2020 won another term.
2018
In the 2018 Texas state legislative Republican primaries there were factions competing against one another for control of the state's power structures. Some observers of Texas politics said there were two factions and some said there were three.
This conflict was primarily taking place in the state House, where candidates differed over support for outgoing House Speaker Joe Straus (R) and his policies. There was also some conflict in the state Senate primaries along the same lines. However, the Senate Republicans' equivalent of the anti-Straus faction held the power in that chamber heading into the 2018 elections.
Straus was first elected speaker in 2009 by a coalition of his allies in the Republican Party and House Democrats. At that time, the House was nearly evenly divided, allowing all Democrats to vote with a small group of Republicans to elect Straus. By 2017, the Republican majority in the House had grown to 94-56 and Straus remained speaker, which allowed him to appoint members and chairs of committees as well as refer legislation to committees.[26]
Opposition to Straus' leadership grew in 2017, especially after he and his allies attempted to block priorities of Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick (R) in a special session. These priorities included a bill that would regulate bathroom usage in Texas, legislation related to property taxes, and an education funding bill, which eventually passed.[27] With members of his caucus, including the 12 members of the Texas Freedom Caucus, planning a challenge of his leadership following the 2018 elections, Straus announced his retirement in October 2017.
With Straus' leadership position open, his allies and his opponents faced off in the 2018 primaries to see which side would have more influence in the 2019 speaker's election. In December 2017, the House Republican Caucus voted for a rule change being pushed by the Texas Freedom Caucus that would require Republicans to vote for whoever the majority of the caucus prefers when the speaker is elected on the House floor. Following the rule change, House Republicans split on whether to sign a pledge saying they would vote for the caucus' choice on the floor. Straus allies such as John Zerwas, who announced he would run for speaker in 2019, did not sign the pledge while Straus' opponents did.
See also
| Texas | State Legislative Elections | News and Analysis |
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2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Texas Tribune, "Rep. Dustin Burrows voted Texas House speaker in blow to insurgent GOP movement," January 14, 2025
- ↑ FOX 4 News, "Texas House Speaker race shows state of GOP civil war | Texas: The Issue Is," December 15, 2024
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Texas Tribune, "We ranked Texas House members along the ideological spectrum based on their 2023 votes," December 15, 2023
- ↑ The Texas Tribune, "The race pitted state Reps. David Cook and Dustin Burrows against each other. Here’s how each representative voted." January 14, 2025
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Texas Scorecard, "David Cook Secures GOP Nomination for Texas House Speaker, Backed by Reform Advocates," December 7, 2024
- ↑ The Texas Tribune, "A new Texas GOP rule could alter the House speaker’s race — and ban some Republicans from appearing in primaries," December 13, 2024
- ↑ Texas Scorecard, "Over 100 GOP County Chairs Back David Cook for Texas House Speaker," December 12, 2024
- ↑ KTSM, "State of Texas: Republicans face party pressure in race for House Speaker," December 14, 2024
- ↑ The Texan News, "Press Release: Representative Dustin Burrows Secures Votes To Become Speaker," December 7, 2024
- ↑ X.com, "David Cook on December 7, 2024," accessed December 30, 2024
- ↑ Dustin Burrows 2024 campaign website, "About Dustin Burrows," accessed December 31, 2024
- ↑ David Cook 2024 campaign website, "Meet David," accessed December 31, 2024
- ↑ The Texas Tribune, "How David Cook went from Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan’s ally to lead the movement to replace him," November 27, 2024
- ↑ The Texas Tribune, "Texas AG Ken Paxton impeached, suspended from duties; will face Senate trial," May 27, 2023
- ↑ Houston Public Media, "GOP-led Texas House votes to remove school voucher provision from education bill," November 17, 2023
- ↑ Texas House of Representatives, "Friday, November, 17, 2023 — 5th Day (cont'd)," November 17, 2023
- ↑ Richard Hayes (R) and Tom Oliverson (R) appeared on Cook's list of supporters and were members of the House in 2023 but Hayes did not vote on impeachment and Oliverson was absent.
- ↑ Dade Phelan (R) was a member of the House in 2023 but voted 'present' on vouchers.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedra - ↑ The Texas Tribune, "Four years in, the Freedom Caucus finds a less contentious role in the Texas House," February 3, 2021
- ↑ The Texas Tribune, "Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen won't seek reelection after recording scandal," October 22, 2019
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs nameddonations - ↑ The Texas Tribune, "Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to Empower Texans' Michael Quinn Sullivan: 'You are destroying our party,'" September 17, 2019
- ↑ The Dallas Morning News, "'Enamored' by new Texas House speaker, Freedom Caucus vows to stick to conservative values," February 20, 2019
- ↑ The Houston Chronicle, "Cain backed by GOP House colleagues while challenger wins support of local officials," February 12, 2020
- ↑ Texas House of Representatives, "Texas House Rules," accessed January 29, 2018
- ↑ Texas Tribune, ""Disappointed" House accepts Senate's changes to school finance bill," August 15, 2017
