“A Republican civil war” Local impact of the contentious race for Texas’ Speaker of the House

Despite a Republican-controlled Senate and House of Representatives, the Republican Party finds itself at an impasse over even the most basic of decisions, namely, who will swing the gavel that brings the House into order? Just earlier this month, Texas House District 71 Representative Stan Lambert spoke on that very issue at a legislative town hall meeting in Abilene.

“We’re at a stalemate, and we’re kind of sitting here thinking, what happens next?” Lambert told the crowd.

The race for who will occupy the Texas House Speaker seat is still contested. Following Texas State Speaker Dade Phelan’s announcement that he would not be seeking the position again, two candidates, both Republican, have staked their claim.

State Representative David Cook of Mansfield and Representative Dustin Burrows of Lubbock found split support in the Republican Party.

Cook’s vow to bar Democrats from chairing house committees if he is elected resonated with a solid Republican base of lawmakers and voters. One of those voters in the Big Country addressed Lambert in support of Cook during the Town Hall on December 12.

“The problem I have is joining Democrats and Republicans together and thinking we’re gonna get a good result. We need to get Republicans up there together. Not with some of them gone and some of them there. We need y’all to get together and get us a conservative candidate.” The voter said.

Lambert joined in Bipartisan support behind Burrows, explaining his reasons at that meeting, citing his faith in Burrow’s rural background and a shared desire to reach across the aisle in the house to keep the legislative process moving.

“If we completely block them out, they may break quorum they may decide just not to play the game. So the only way we can get more of our conservative priorities passed is to make sure that everyone’s in the room, we don’t have a quorum break. And that we’re working together to try to find common sense solutions to the issues that are facing Texas.” Lambert told KTAB/KTBC.

McMurry Professor of Political Science, Dr. Paul Fabrizio, was also in attendance at that Town Hall. KTAB/KRBC spoke with him afterward to better understand the issues’ inner workings.

“This is really inside baseball we’re talking about. It has very little effect on how we, as Texans, live our lives. But this is the current debate that is taking place between these two segments of the Republican party. The more conservative and the more moderate segments of the Republican party. Both of which are really conservative but they are split over this one issue right now.” Said Fabrizio.

Fabrizio says our lawmaker’s ability to get legislation passed or even debate the issues facing our state is heavily impacted by the relationship between Texas Democrats and Republicans in the legislature. Fabrizio referred to Lambert’s assertion that bipartisan cooperation is needed to keep that process moving as smoothly as possible.

“[Rep. Lambert] realizes that Democrats, even though they’re their minority, still matter, even just in the sense that they have to participate. They have to be present for legislative business to happen.” Fabrizio said.

Also influencing Lambert’s decision is his experience at the GOP Caucus vote for Texas Speaker of the House, a vote intended to codify the party behind one candidate. He explains what happened after two rounds of voting in which neither candidate could obtain the majority.

“Our group asked for a 10-minute recess, and we said we won’t even leave the room. We can just go over here. Can we just talk amongst ourselves? And they wouldn’t let us; Mr. Cook’s team leadership said no and then put it up to a vote, and it got voted down.” Said Lambert.

This decision by Cook and his supporters, Lambert says, seemed a woeful preview of what a Cook Speakership might look like.

“It was at that point that a lot of us realized if that’s how you’re going to run for speaker and how you’re going to manage the process, then we’re going to leave, and we walked out,” Lambert told the crowd.

A few hours after the Burrows supporters left, the remaining members held a third vote, which came back unanimous for Cook. While the initial intention of the vote was to get Republicans in line behind a single candidate, Lambert and other Burrows supporters have not recognized the result. One Town Hall attendee asked Lambert if that decision violates the Caucus rules, to which the representative responded, “I would say no.” KTAB/KRBC asked Dr. Fabrizio for further insight into the legality of that decision.

“This is a political party operating by its own rules. So there’s nothing legal about it in the sense that if you don’t do it, you’re going to jail. This is just a political party with its own by-laws and which rules are they going to follow?” Fabrizio explained.

This rift in the Republican party, Fabrizio says, is a symptom of the party’s majority control. The minority Democratic party leaves Republican lawmakers to fight amongst themselves over the finer details of the goals they hope to accomplish, leading to a more drawn-out process.

“Historically, when you have one party that dominates. Not just here in Texas but in other states, too. What frequently happens is the party then turns on itself. Yeah, they pass legislation that they want, but they get into fights over just what we’re seeing here. Fights over process, fights over policy, fights over procedure. So you end up having, the words I’ve used before, a Republican civil war, and in the end, that makes it harder and harder for the Republicans to work together. It’s just a proxy for the deeper fight about who’s in charge of the Republican party. It played out last year in the election. It’s still playing out this year.” Said Fabrizio.

The Vote for the Texas House of Representatives speaker will take place when the legislature convenes on January 14.