As feuds within the state's ruling coalition of Republicans could, in The Hill's words, "boil over" during the new legislative session this month, the party continues to face obstacles from Democrats as well.
In 2021, about 50 state Democrats fled the state to deny Republicans a quorum in voting on election integrity bills, and more recently, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) withdrew from the speaker race.
Mary Elizabeth Castle, director of government relations at Texas Values, says her organization has been warning conservatives about Phelan's "issues with upholding a lot of principles."
"We did get a lot of good things done, like the Texas Heartbeat Law and the Save Woman Sports Act in stopping gender modification for children," she tells AFN. "But they weren't easy feats, to be honest."
State Representative David Cook (R) won the House GOP Caucus endorsement in the contentious race for House speaker, but then, Representative Dustin Burrows (R) announced that he had enough bipartisan support in the 150-member chamber to win. The day of the caucus vote, the Texas GOP reportedly indicated it would censure any Republican lawmaker who does not vote for Cook as speaker — a move that, under new party rules, would bar those lawmakers from appearing in a GOP primary for two years.
Castle says Burrows was selected by Phelan and could lead in his same manner.
Another issue is the practice of Republicans appointing Democrats to chair committees.
"That has been a contested issue even before Speaker Phelan," Castle notes. "Even … some moderate speakers in the past that were Republican were notorious for choosing Democrat chairs for certain committees."
"There are many issues that come with that," Castle concludes. "That comes with a lot of conservative and even Christian priorities not being passed."
