Betrayals, Backstabbing, And Burrows: Texas Politics At Its Finest

Inside the GOP’s infighting over the next Texas House Speaker.

https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/betrayals-backstabbing-and-burrows





Republican in-fighting is by far my favorite blood sport. It’s like watching a soap opera where everyone is a villain, the plot twists are predictable but still wildly entertaining, and the audience is left wondering who will backstab whom next. Yesterday, the Republican Caucus met at the Capitol to vote on who they would support as House Speaker. Simultaneously, the Republican Party of Texas (RPT) was conducting its quarterly SREC meeting.

For a Republican in the Caucus to win the Speaker nomination, they held several votes. According to their rules, a member would need 2/3 votes for the first two rounds of votes to secure the win. After that, the following two votes dropped to 3/5 to win.

What’s the purpose of this? To win Speaker of the House on the first day of the Legislative Session (January 14), a Speaker would need 76 votes to secure the win. Well, it’s no coincidence that the RPT met on the same day as the Republican Caucus.

After the Republican Caucus met, the RPT was to endorse the winning Republican, and every GOP House member is expected to vote for their endorsement on January 14th.

But what happened?