Texas has a powerful new House speaker in a blow to the GOP’s hard right

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This article was published 14/01/2025 (438 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A push by Texas’ hard right to widen control in the state Capitol fell short Tuesday after House lawmakers rejected its choice for the powerful speakership amid a Republican feud accelerated by the historic impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Instead, new House Speaker Dustin Burrows won the job with the support of Democrats, who favored him over a challenger backed by the GOP’s emboldened right.

The outcome is a victory for Texas Republicans’ establishment wing, and it’s possible that Democrats could still lose influence under the new leadership. The race deepened divisions within the GOP, partly driven by Republicans who say an agenda that includes some of the toughest laws in the U.S. over abortion and immigration doesn’t go far enough.

“He’s a leader who will at least have a conversation,” Democratic state Rep. Toni Rose said in a nomination speech for Burrows.

Burrows was challenged by state Rep. David Cook, who pledged to block Democrats from running committees in the House — a longstanding bipartisan tradition in a chamber that has historically been a more moderate balance to the hard-right-leaning Senate.

Burrows will lead one of the state’s highest offices after a dramatic bowing-out of the former House speaker, Dade Phelan, who lost favor with the hard-right faction of his party after Paxton’s impeachment. The state Senate ultimately acquitted Paxton, who in recent weeks campaigned against Republicans who sought to deny Cook’s victory.

The newly elected speaker has few ideological distinctions between himself and Cook, but his opponent came to be the choice of some Republicans who believe Democrats have too much control over the House.

The House’s failure to approve taxpayer funds for private schools in 2023 also intensified Republican squabbles in the run-up to November’s elections, when Republicans expanded their already commanding majority and gained ground on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Texas in recent years has passed some of the nation’s toughest restrictions on abortion, immigration and voting. Republicans this year have proposed bans on public funds for gender-affirming care for adults and giving in-state college tuition for students without legal status in the U.S.

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This story has been edited to clarify that Democrats, not Burrows, could still lose influence.

Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.