Local, state GOP leaders react to Burrows’ speaker victory

Published 5:52 pm Tuesday, January 14, 2025

A move in the Texas House on Tuesday sparked some concerns locally, with Smith County Republican Party Chairman David Stein predicting challenges for the party if Republicans fail to unite in the upcoming legislative session.

Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, was voted speaker of the House, elevating him to one of the most powerful positions in state government. The speaker race has brought a deep GOP divide since December.

Burrows defeated Rep. David Cook, R-Lubbock, 85-55. Of Cook’s 55 votes, 54 came from fellow Republicans, while Burrows’ 85 votes included 34 Republicans and 51 Democrats.

“My hope is somehow Republicans will agree on and pass strong conservative legislation, which the voters elected them to do,” Stein said Tuesday. “If that does not happen, I suspect the primary election in March 2026 will be a difficult day for those 34 Republican incumbents.”

Attorney General Ken Paxton took to social media Tuesday afternoon, releasing a statement after the results of the speaker race.

“The removal of the disgraced and corrupt Dade Phelan as Speaker of the House is a positive step for Texas,” Paxton wrote. “His close ally, Dustin Burrows, was elected with the support of most Democrats after he refused to honor the rules of the Republican Caucus.”

Paxton said Texas Republican voters made it clear they want conservative legislation to pass this season.

“It is important that Speaker Burrows and his leadership team pass every conservative legislative priority in a timely manner to make our state more secure and more prosperous,” he said. “That is what Texas Republicans expect.”

Paxton said he has been fighting to “reform the Texas House for over two decades and will not stop.”

“We have made incredible progress in the past two years and must remain steadfast and hold our representatives accountable for their actions this session,” Paxton concluded.

The contest for the speakership has created sharp division among Republicans and Republican legislators. During a recent Tyler stop, Paxton and state GOP Chairman Abraham George condemned Republicans backing Burrows, saying they’re betraying Republican values and cutting deals with Democrats to elect him.

East Texas Reps. Cole Hefner, R-Mount Pleasant, Jay Dean, R-Longview, and Cody Harris, R-Palestine, were among the representatives who supported Burrows to be the next speaker.

During his Tyler stop, Paxton said those representatives should expect to be challenged during the 2026 primary election because of their support for Burrows. Paxton questioned whether the men are conservative and said Democratic influence in the House would weaken the Republican agenda.

Dean and Hefner previously told the Longview News-Journal they believe Burrows is the more conservative candidate for the speakership. In Smith County, the Republican Club united behind Cook, expressing the importance of unity within the GOP.

Smith County GOP Chairman David Stein said in a previous interview with the Tyler Morning Telegraph that both sides were working with Democrats. All parties, whether supporters of Cook or Burrows, need to court Democrats and each other. “That’s the reality of it,” he said, highlighting the bipartisan nature of the situation.

“It’s part of the process. What is ugly about politics is when you see the sausage being made there, you know there is separation of powers,” Stein said. “There are areas where many people are trying to make other people’s decisions, and I don’t think that honors the process.”

The speaker’s position is vital to the operation of the House and wields significant control over which bills become law. While the election of a speaker normally is a quiet process, the competition likely determines whether the House passes some of the most conservative legislative priorities of the state Republican Party.

The battle over the speakership began in December when slightly more than half of the House Republican Caucus — which includes all Republicans in the House — voted to support Cook for the speakership. A number of Republicans backing Burrows walked out of the meeting after two rounds of voting ended in a stalemate, giving Cook the caucus’ support by a vote of 48-14. Burrows, however, said he had enough support to win the speakership by uniting Democrats and anti-Cook Republicans.