The election of the Texas House Speaker seems to be reinvented every time it happens. Perhaps that's because it is a true insider game. Therefore, what we have to say about it is said with no expectation that it will change the outcome one iota.
We just want you to know how we're thinking about it at the League of Independent Voters (LIV). At the time of this blog post, it appears the race is between Rep. Dustin Burrows and Rep. David Cook. The vote will be taken on January 14th, the first day of the legislative session.
It should be no surprise to you that we have a problem with Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) who led the attack on local control -- HB 2127 -- in the regular session of 2023. It's been in court since then because Burrows knew he couldn't work it out in the Legislature. So wrong! (We wrote about it in “How the Texas GOP lit its hair – and every Texans’ local control – on fire. Gov. signs HB 2127.”
As for Rep. David Cook (R-Mansfield), though we haven't worked with him, we know he is liked and respected. We also appreciate that he is a former Mayor of a fast-growing city, Mansfield. Therefore, he knows the hassles faced by local officials and our local communities besieged by the costs of growth and the challenges to property rights, our resources, and quality of life. This is important to us at LIV.
The problem for Cook is this. He appears to have been hog-tied by the partisans in the GOP who want to extract blood from Democrats by denying them any committee chair appointments regardless of their abilities. It's like an extension of reverse affirmative action based on party affiliation aka "RINO hunting”.
This places a conservative Republican -- David Cook -- the one with the support of the Republican Caucus mind you, between a rock and a hard place as he may need at least some Democratic lawmakers' support to overcome Burrows.
Don't be surprised if a third candidate emerges who is not the RINO hunters' first choice. Who might that be? No clue.
In the words of Davy Crockett, we independents "wear no man's collar". This includes partisans of any party, as we work with people of all parties who want to get some real work done.
How's your water? How are your roads? How is your government transparency and accountability? These issues have nothing to do with party affiliation other than bringing different solutions to the table to work out. It's called consensus building, a principle of representative government.
For a more seasoned and informative understanding of Texas House Speaker politics, see this recent Quorum Report article by Scott Braddock.
Please consider being part of LIV, regardless of your party, ideology, or where you live in Texas.
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