Table Of Content
One of the insurgents' gripes about Phelan's leadership team is that he appoints Democratic chairs of committees per House tradition. He told NBC 5 that he appoints the most qualified chairs over the committee's subject matter. On Patrick’s first day as a senator in 2007, he called to change a rule requiring support from two-thirds of senators to allow a floor vote on a bill. Lowering the threshold, Patrick argued, would let Republicans advance legislation without support from Democrats. More importantly, it would curb Democratic power to block Republican legislation, he said. The two often sniped at each other last year over policy differences on a multibillion-dollar property tax cut.
Latest Texas Tribune events and articles
As stewards of every budget dollar, we must ensure our strategy not only fits the realities on the ground, but is truly, measurably effective. Making things better for all Texas families is how we deliver on the limitless potential for our state in every area, from gainful employment to public safety. That includes border security, which is certainly on the minds of our members, but especially for those who represent border communities.
Dade Phelan predicts victory in primary runoff, return as House speaker - The Dallas Morning News
Dade Phelan predicts victory in primary runoff, return as House speaker.
Posted: Tue, 19 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Attorney General Ken Paxton campaigns against House Speaker Dade Phelan in his own district
He was defeated by a progressive Democrat, Fred Head, who was a sitting House member who moved to 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. "Dade Phelan has dodged debates since the beginning of the race for Texas House District 21," Covey said on Thursday in announcing his newest campaign ad. "Why? Dade Phelan can’t defend his liberal record to the people of Southeast Texas."
What ‘Cheer’ Led To: How Viral Fame Upended Monica Aldama’s Life
These Republicans see Phelan as a representative of the establishment GOP that often goes against the wishes of the Republican base in Texas. They claim that the voters gave them a mandate to elect a speaker who better represents them after a historic number of incumbents lost their primary races in March. Republican Texas state Rep. Brian Harrison told the Daily Caller that complete reform of the Texas House, including removing Phelan and ensuring a true Republican replaces him, is their top priority before the next legislative session. So do the state’s lieutenant governor, agriculture commissioner, the chair of the state Republican Party and its executive committee. Abbott has declined to publicly back the speaker while campaigning against incumbent House Republicans Phelan is trying to protect.
Donald Trump endorses challenger to Republican Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan
At one point, Patrick said they had not spoken in two years — a far cry from the weekly leadership breakfasts attended by Patrick, the governor and then-Speaker Joe Straus during Patrick’s early tenure as lieutenant governor. Phelan is the first House speaker in 52 years to be forced into a primary runoff. The speaker is elected by the 150-member House when lawmakers convene in Austin every other year, meaning the outcome of Phelan’s race will not determine who wields the speaker’s gavel next January. Jill Glover, the legislative priorities committee chair of the party, told The Texas Newsroom in a text message she was displeased with the decision, but is now looking forward. Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan on Wednesday announced the appointment of nine Democrats as committee chairs, defying the Republican Party of Texas and other GOP activists who called on him to end the tradition. “The reason they died in the House is, one, Democrats are largely opposed to any type of school choice program, but also several rural Republicans are … unsupportive of different education savings accounts,” Torres said.
Patrick signaled his intentions on first day in Senate
"It’s been 19 days since Ducking David Covey started hiding from SETX voters by REFUSING a local televised debate and for 19 days, Ducking David has neglected to accept the invitation, negotiate, or answer to House District 21 voters," Phelan posted to X in early April. Criticizing and down playing Patrick's and Paxton's interest in the race, Phelan over the past month has gone on the offensive against Covey, painting his challenger as being solely responsible for keeping voters from hearing the candidates debate. In the March 5 primary, Covey bested Phelan by roughly 3% of the vote in House District 21, along the Texas Gulf Coast, forcing Phelan to become the first House speaker to face a runoff since the 1970s. Phelan's campaign has called Covey's claims about reaching out to the incumbent to schedule a debate false and highlighted that as of Thursday the challenger's campaign has yet to respond to the TV stations' official debate invitation, which was sent April 1. Phelan, however, contends that Covey is skirting an opportunity to address Southeast Texas voters in a televised debate, painting his intraparty challenger as a political pawn for outside interests. Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan and his Republican primary runoff challenger, David Covey, are both accusing each other of avoiding a date on the debate stage ahead of the marquee state House election next month.
In 2023, Patrick priorities that failed or were watered down in the House included efforts to lower the bar for prosecuting voter fraud, ban Chinese citizens from owning property in Texas, bar cities and school districts from employing lobbyists and eliminate faculty tenure at public universities. Patrick named one Democrat to chair a Senate committee during 2023′s legislative session, former Sen. John Whitmire, who is now the mayor of Houston. Discussing the matter days later, Patrick said he asked Phelan about impeachment rumors when the two met to hash out differences in property tax cut proposals late in the regular session. Breaking an unwritten rule against meddling in the affairs of another chamber in the Legislature, Patrick is vigorously campaigning against House Speaker Dade Phelan, who is in a fight for his political life in a primary runoff. Phelan was first elected to the state House in 2014 and took up the speaker’s gavel in 2021.
Totality Begins in Eagle Pass
Even if Phelan survives the runoff, he faces a fight to continue leading the House. State Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress, recently announced his campaign for speaker, a position selected by a vote of all 150 House members. Oliverson shares a political consultant with Patrick and is the lieutenant governor’s next-door neighbor. The speaker has defended the practice of letting Democrats oversee some committees, arguing that it helps the Legislature avoid Congress-style gridlock without holding up conservative priorities.
“But because Dade Phelan is the Republican speaker and he is the ‘overseer,’ leader of that chamber, several far-right members are pointing at him and making it seem like it’s his fault that school choice hasn’t been passed. Now, far-right members of the House and Texas GOP leadership have called for Phelan to step down, painting the speaker as disloyal, a Republican in name only, and more. The mutual recriminations are set to culminate in just a few days when the Texas House and Senate reconvene for another special session. Moments after the Senate voted to acquit Paxton on all counts, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the judge in the impeachment trial, unleashed a rhetorical blowtorch castigating the House leadership for wasting the time and resources of the state by pushing forward with impeachment charges. But on a number of occasions, Phelan has sided with Republicans on some of the more conservative proposals that have ended up at the Legislature. In 2017, Phelan voted for an anti-“sanctuary cities” bill that prompted mass protests among Democrats and Latino organizers.
Phelan spoke with reporters about the May 28 runoff after an official event at UT Dallas on Tuesday. Back in August, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan said rapport among the state’s top Republicans had greatly improved. But that was before the strain of Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial in the Senate in early September. Some of the House’s more conservative Republicans, such as Krause, have said Phelan should have time during the session for members to judge his actions one way or the other. Faced with the choice between a woman candidate and the candidate who already claimed to have the votes, the group went public with its pick of Phelan. In the group’s meeting with Phelan, members asked how he would handle controversial social issues — and “he said he would do his best to make sure we are on track and able to get business done,” state Rep. Jessica González, a Dallas Democrat and member of the bloc, said.
Both candidates and their surrogates will likely spend millions of dollars trying to sway voters in what are typically extremely low-turnout contests. The third candidate in the race, anti-tax crusader Alicia Davis, won only a fraction of a vote but prevented Phelan and Covey from securing the 50% necessary to win outright. – After the #Txlege Senate passed #SB17, Phelan’s team (led by @repjohnkuempel) GUTTED the bill in Committee, and sent that weak bill to the floor. Additionally, alongside Paxton, Trump joined in campaigning against Phelan, and included the speaker on a lengthy list of candidates he was seeking to be ousted, largely in line with Paxton's political hit list. "Today's election results have revealed that the battle for the soul of Texas is far from over," Paxton wrote.
No comments:
Post a Comment