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December 10, 2024      2:41 PM

Rep. Sam Harless switches from Burrows to Cook

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December 10, 2024      11:30 AM

Braddock: A frantic push to elect a speaker leaves Republicans supporting Burrows to defend themselves for a month

For now, it looks like Burrows and Cook are stalled out beneath the threshold for victory, possibly necessitating an additional Republican candidate; Burrows might be able to get there if he abandons his signature policy issue

What to say about this past weekend?

Well, first it should be said that a speaker race gives Texas House members an opportunity to see the worst version of their colleagues. Lying and cheating are all part of jockeying for position. Some of the most respected members will resort to saying almost anything. Once it is over, history shows that it all usually settles out and things return to the current norm.

With more than a month to go before the vote is taken in January, these last few days saw a flurry of activity that some had hoped would result in a clear victory this weekend.

That didn’t happen.

Instead, there was a kind of controlled chaos in the GOP Caucus in the form of a sham endorsement process created several years ago with the purpose of distracting from the member-to-member conversations that actually result in consolidation of the support necessary for a speaker candidate to be successful. Over on the Democratic side, the discussions could best be described as frantic, per multiple sources familiar with the numerous conference calls held by the House Democratic Caucus.

Let’s break it all down. Of course, your thoughts are welcome.

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By Scott Braddock

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December 10, 2024      11:12 AM

Rep. Lozano asks Attorney General Paxton to weigh in on the legality of Chair Burrows calling himself speaker elect

“I have submitted the following request to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in reference to any potential violations of law committed by Dustin Burrows, the self proclaimed 'Speaker-Elect' in an apparent attempt to raise large sums of money."

Rep. Lozano’s letter to Paxton can be downloaded here.

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December 9, 2024      10:53 AM

Donald Trump Junior endorses David Cook for speaker of the Texas House

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December 8, 2024      4:47 PM

Multiple House Democrats say Rep. Cook was soliciting their advice and support in his speaker bid prior to the GOP Caucus vote

At least three Democratic House members, including one who went on record Sunday, said Rep. Cook has been reaching out to collaborate for weeks if not months

At least three Texas House Democrats now report that Rep. David Cook has, for weeks if not months, been reaching out for advice and support as he figures out his path to holding the gavel in the 2025 session.

One of those Democrats went on the record about it with Quorum Report on Sunday.

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By Scott Braddock

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December 7, 2024      6:38 PM

Chair Burrows and Rep. Cook release competing lists of supporters with some of the same names

In the scramble over the gavel, Calendars Chairman Dustin Burrows and Rep. David Cook released lists of supporters tonight that contain a decent amount of the same names. Burrows had a list with 76 names. Cook’s list included 56.

Here are the members or incoming freshmen who are on both lists:

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December 7, 2024      6:06 PM

Rep. Elect Don McLaughlin says he asked Chair Burrows not to put his name on his list of supporters

"I distinctly told him I did not want to be on his list," McLaughlin said, putting Chair Burrows at 75 supporters

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December 7, 2024      5:59 PM

Chair Burrows releases list of 76 supporters

The list is here.

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December 7, 2024      4:54 PM

Chair Burrows says he has votes to be speaker

Says he will release list of supporters later today

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December 7, 2024      4:21 PM

Cook wins GOP caucus endorsement

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December 7, 2024      1:49 PM

Some GOP members including Chair Burrows walk out of caucus meeting after the group deadlocked on a second vote

47 for Cook, 41 for Burrows in the caucus' 2nd vote. Meantime the Democratic Caucus is weighing whether to endorse Burrows as soon as today, per sources

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December 6, 2024      9:09 PM

Texas House Democrats unanimously oppose David Cook for speaker but stay silent on Bonnen orchestrated Burrows candidacy

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December 6, 2024      8:07 AM

Speaker Phelan formally withdraws from speakers race

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December 5, 2024      10:03 PM

Braddock: A shifting race for Texas House speaker with Chair Burrows emerging as apparent candidate

House Democrats have been informed by their leadership that Speaker Phelan will exit the race, per sources tonight; some Republicans point out that Democrats have incredible leverage because the GOP Caucus is so divided ahead of their meeting slated for this weekend

Some Texas House Republicans are working through the night, it appears, trying to secure the votes for Calendars Committee Chairman Dustin Burrows to emerge as a speaker candidate who can strike a deal with Democrats who are this evening being urged by their leadership to keep their powder dry for now.

Of course, that does not mean side deals aren’t happening even now.

Burrows and former Speaker Dennis Bonnen were said to be hosting some House Republicans at the very same time that the House Democratic Caucus was being informed by their leadership that Speaker Dade Phelan plans to withdraw from the race and the options, for now, are either Burrows or already-declared candidate Rep. David Cook.

Around 8 pm, some Republican House lawmakers were seen entering the condo complex where Burrows and Bonnen stay when they’re in Austin. Some of them were:

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By Scott Braddock

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December 5, 2024      11:00 AM

Some Republicans grow uneasy about possible conflicts of interest and chaos in the process of a Texas House GOP Caucus speaker endorsement

Questions arise about a possibly illegitimate process: The caucus has no parliamentarian and no requirement that current, former, or potential speaker candidates must recuse themselves from making rulings as the discussion unfolds

Ahead of what’s been billed as a pivotal meeting of the Texas House GOP Caucus slated for Saturday, some Republican lawmakers are increasingly growing uneasy and privately asking questions about exactly how the process is supposed to work for endorsing a speaker candidate.

They’re not getting great answers so far, prompting at least one top Republican lawmaker to say, “I don’t think this will be resolved this weekend.”

So, what’s going on here?

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By Scott Braddock

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December 5, 2024      10:49 AM

Rep. Ashby endorses David Cook for speaker

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December 4, 2024      6:31 PM

Texas House Democrats elect Rep. Gene Wu as their next chairman

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December 3, 2024      11:41 AM

TCEQ Chairman Niermann to step down at the end of the month

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December 3, 2024      11:14 AM

Rep. Gene Wu apparently running for Democratic Caucus Chair

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