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Phelan retains the support of local establishment Republicans, including the Jefferson and Orange party chairs and Beaumont Mayor Roy West, and also is endorsed by former Gov. Rick Perry. Jefferson County Republican Party Chair Joe Evans praised Phelan’s commitment to protecting the oil and gas industry and funding local colleges like Lamar University. Last year, with Republican voters citing border security as their top issue, the Phelan-led House approved $1.5 billion for walls and fencing along the Rio Grande and made illegally crossing the boundary a state crime.
Totality Begins in Eagle Pass
It remains unclear whether the two candidates will participate in a public debate ahead of the election. While Phelan has accused Covey of "ducking" the debate, Covey has returned fire in kind, saying Phelan is "dodging" an opportunity to address voters' concerns ahead of the May 28 runoff election. "Another day, another completely unsubstantiated lie from David Covey," Cait Wittman, Phelan's communications director, told the American-Statesman. "Covey’s lies are as baseless as they are tiresome, and about the only thing voters can reliably expect from him if elected."
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“At some point, we need to realize we’re settling for just enough wins to get reelected,” Slaton said. He defeated state Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington, who was nominated by ultraconservative members who say Phelan is unreasonably accommodating of Democrats in the chamber. Tinderholt cast a ballot for himself, as did two Republican members who nominated him, Nate Schatzline of Tarrant County and Bryan Slaton of Royce City. Phelan advanced to the runoff with rival David Covey, a former chairman of the Orange County Republican Party who has been endorsed by Attorney General Ken Paxton, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and former President Donald Trump. Phelan was neck and neck with GOP challenger David Covey with votes still being counted.
Donald Trump endorses challenger to Republican Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan
Last session, in 2021, Phelan appointed 14 Democrats and 21 Republicans as committee chairs. In the final weeks he enjoyed the support of former Gov. Rick Perry, who boasted to supporters that Phelan gave his district a seat at the table in every major decision the Legislature makes. Phelan, who declined to be interviewed for this story, is described among colleagues and other Capitol observers as a straight-shooter who knows the legislative process inside and out and who has a track record of being hardworking and accommodating.
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"While David Covey and Dade Phelan are headed to a runoff, it's clear that our fight against the liberal forces in Austin must continue unabated." Since the end of the 88th legislative session, Phelan has frequently drawn the ire of the state's Republican apparatus. The party said the censure comes as Phelan violated Rule 44 of its bylaws, which allows the party to censure elected officials who violate the party's principles and priorities three or more times over a two-year period. Towards the end of the week, Speaker Phelan limited questions Tinderholt could bring to the floor, arguing he consistently breaks House rules. This week, some responded to Speaker Phelan's call, including Representative Jared Patterson, R - Frisco. He told NBC 5 he donated the $2,500 he's received from the group to a pro-Israel charity, saying he wants to wash his campaign from the "stain of this organization. He challenged his colleagues to do the same.
His wife, Kim, is a solo practitioner attorney and together they have four sons, Ford, Mack, Hank and Luke. He and his family reside together in Southeast Texas, where Speaker Phelan was born and raised. He received his bachelor’s degree in government and business from The University of Texas at Austin. The Texas House selected him to lead the chamber in 2021 and again this year, both times with near-unanimous votes.
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With Democrats vastly outnumbered and few procedural rules to slow the GOP agenda, Republican lawmakers will have relatively easy glide paths for their legislation during the session. Patrick has given a rough outline of his legislative priorities that include reducing property taxes, securing the border and increasing the resiliency of the electric grid by increasing the production of natural gas in the state. But conservative grassroots activists said the House had not gone far enough on conservative priorities like banning gender-affirming care for transgender children and have often butted heads with Phelan. Critics attacked him for appointing Democrats to leadership positions in the chamber, following a long-held chamber tradition to appoint members of the minority party as committee chairs.
That dynamic, in a chamber where the parties are relatively closely balanced, encourages candidates for the position to seek support from members of both parties. But even if the proposed rule had been in effect in 2021 or 2023, Phelan would still have been the Speaker. In 2021, the body voted for the Beaumont representative by a margin of 143–2, with 4 members not casting ballots. (Slaton and fellow Republican Jeff Cason, of Bedford, voted in opposition.) Last year Republicans held a closed-door caucus ballot before the vote of the full chamber, and Phelan won 80–6, according to the chairman I spoke with. Phelan later won approval from the 150-member body 145–3 over representative Tony Tinderholt, a right-winger from Arlington who now has signed the Contract With Texas.
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Tom Oliverson challenges Dade Phelan for Texas House speaker - Austin American-Statesman
Tom Oliverson challenges Dade Phelan for Texas House speaker.
Posted: Thu, 21 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Phelan has not budged on the issue, indicating he once again plans to allow some Democratic chairs and arguing that the Texas House operates better on a bipartisan basis and eschewing the divisiveness seen in Washington, D.C. Phelan began the 2023 legislative session batting away criticism from a small but vocal faction of Republicans who routinely nag him for appointing Democrats to committee leadership positions, which they feel is a slap in the face to voters who elected a conservative majority. It was easy enough to ignore, as Phelan still overwhelmingly had the confidence of his House membership. Phelan guided the House through the 2021 legislative sessions, which some observers called “the most conservative” in state history. Lawmakers passed new laws banning almost all abortions and allowing permitless carry of handguns. Although the Legislature eventually passed a bill addressing property taxes and introduced into law a sweeping border security package, Patrick and Phelan have remained on bad terms as the Senate's boss has actively campaigned against Phelan and his allies.
That has not stopped David Covey — the GOP activist and energy consultant who pushed Phelan into a May runoff for his House seat — from also condemning the speaker for not casting a vote on SB 4. Two of Covey’s most prominent backers, former President Donald Trump and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, have echoed the same attack. But the earlier proposal has resurfaced in the speaker’s own GOP primary as his critics blame him for its demise in their broader effort to paint the Beaumont Republican as soft on the border and overly deferential to Democrats.
This is going to be an especially tough conversation, but this body has proven capable of handling tough conversations in the past. Last May, the lives of 21 Texans - teachers and children - were stolen when a gunman opened fire at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas. We owe it to the memory of those children and teachers to make sensible, meaningful change. To make this down payment even more critical - over a thousand people move to Texas every single day. Our constituents also want roads that can move them in a timely manner from their home to their job, to their child's school, or their place of worship.
Phelan upheld the point of order based on the recommendation of the House parliamentarian, though critics argued the ruling was flawed and said Phelan should have taken the rare step of overruling the parliamentarian, who acts as a sort of referee for legislative disputes. “If the governor felt we could be doing more, we would be in a special session getting it done right now,” said Jetton, who was defeated in his primary by insurance adjuster Matt Morgan, a staunch Phelan critic. Many of Phelan’s Republican allies have faced similar attacks even after voting for the entire slate of border legislation that made it through the Legislature last year. That strategy likely contributed to the record number of House Republicans ousted in last month’s GOP primary, a trend Phelan and several other incumbents are trying to forestall in the May runoffs. The proposal Phelan teased, known as House Bill 20, sought to create a team of police and deputized citizens to patrol the southern border.
Though he blasted Phelan’s support for Democratic committee chairs, he was unable to name a conservative priority that has failed in the chamber as a result. He acknowledged that the House passed border security bills last year, but said it was too little, too late. He also blasted Phelan’s decision to appoint a small number of Democrats to chair House committees, an issue that has motivated Republican primary voters this cycle. By November, several county Republican parties, including Orange and Jasper in his district, had censured the speaker over his perceived failure to adhere to conservative orthodoxy by being accommodating to Democrats, tepid on border security and supporting the impeachment.
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