AUSTIN, Texas — Heading into the Texas House Republican Caucus meeting on Saturday, to select a nominee for Speaker of the House, there were two clear frontrunners. Even after that meeting, both candidates say they’re still on track to becoming the next Speaker.
Rep. David Cook, R-Mansfield, ultimately, received the caucus nomination for Speaker of the House, but only after several Burrows supporters left the room. Cook, flanked by Republican supporters, said he sees a path toward him being the Speaker in January.
“This is still a race,” Cook told reporters on Saturday. “That was something obviously we were we were hopeful for today. We were hopeful that the 88 Republicans in the Texas House Republican Caucus would come together and make a decision, a unified decision, to unify all Texas House Republicans so that the Texas House could move forward. And so no, it’s not over.”
Burrows, viewed as a more moderate candidate to Cook’s reformist policies, soon after held a press conference to say that he had a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers backing him as Speaker, meeting the threshold to lead the House.
“The speaker’s race is over, I have secured the votes of enough of my colleagues,” Burrows said on Saturday. “These members, I cannot thank enough for putting their trust and faith and support in me to make sure that next session, we deliver the results to all Texans.”
“I think they’re clearly a reflection of where the Republican Party is right now, which is in a state of fracture,” Joshua Blank, research director at the Texas Politics Project, said. “Neither member seems to have the will of the majority of the body, which is really all that this race is about. And not only that, there’s clearly significant conflict within the Republican caucus over the direction of its leadership, and nothing about this weekend has clarified that ongoing conflict.”
By Saturday night, both candidates shared their reported lists of supporters: Cook had 56 Representatives, all Republican, backing him; Burrows listed a bipartisan group of 38 Republicans and 38 Democrats, just meeting the threshold of 76 votes to obtain the Speakership.
However, at least six Republicans are listed on both lists. Newcomers Don McLaughlin and Paul Dyson, for example, were on both Burrows’ and Cook’s lists but have since clarified that they support only Cook. Democrat Josey Garcia, who is on Burrows’ list, wrote in a statement that she had not made an endorsement of the Speaker’s race.
At the same time, the Texas GOP is pressuring lawmakers to back David Cook for the Speakership. On Saturday, hours after the votes for the caucus nominee, the State Republican Executive Committee passed a resolution calling for Republicans to endorse Cook and vote for him, with the possibility of censures if they don’t.
Source: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/with-cook-burrows-both-declaring-victory-texas-house-speaker-race-continues
