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FORT WORTH — Attorney General Ken Paxton kicked off a two-day tour across the state to pressure Republican House lawmakers to vote for Mansfield Rep. David Cook for House speaker, continuing his attacks against foes who voted to impeach him two years ago while trying to sweep his allies into power.
“If the speakership is controlled by a block of Democratic votes … then it prevents Republicans who are elected to get certain things done, from getting their priorities done and that’s been happening for the last 16 years,” Paxton told reporters after the event. “It’s important because if we’re going to represent our districts we need to make sure that we have our agenda front and center instead of the Democrats’ agenda.”
Paxton spoke in front of a crowd of hundreds of people at the Tarrant County Republican Party headquarters in Fort Worth and was joined by fellow conservative lawmakers from the area like Rep. Nate Schatzline and Tony Tinderholt of Arlington. He urged attendees to call their state representatives and convince them to vote for Cook when the Legislature begins its session next Tuesday. Incoming Republican Reps. David Lowe, Mitch Little, Mike Olcott and Andy Hopper also attended.
Paxton's tour comes a week before the start of the legislative session in which it remains unclear who will lead the Legislature's lower chamber.
For the past year, Paxton has exerted considerable time and effort trying to oust current House speaker Dade Phelan, a Beaumont Republican, for his role supporting his impeachment. Phelan narrowly won his primary last year and then bowed out of the speaker race in December when it became clear he did not have the support to retain the gavel.
Now Paxton is committed to keeping Phelan’s close ally Rep. Dustin Burrows of Lubbock from securing the leadership role.
Paxton said the goal of his tour was to put pressure on Tarrant County lawmakers Charlie Geren of Fort Worth, Giovanni Capriglione of Southlake and Rep.-elect John McQueeney to change their support from Burrows to Cook. None of the three attended the event.
“These guys need to listen to you. You elected them,” Paxton said. “I'm optimistic but I'm going to tell you right now: you gotta put the pressure on them next week.”
The crowd, some of whom wore “Ban Democratic Chairs” pins and T-shirts, clapped and cheered as Paxton and other speakers urged them to call their lawmakers to vote for Cook.
Paxton also plans to visit Tyler, Leander and The Woodlands to turn the heat up on Reps. Cole Hefner of Mt. Pleasant, Jay Dean of Longview, Cody Harris of Palestine, Terry Wilson of Marble Falls and Will Metcalf of Conroe, all Republicans who support Burrows.
Conservative activists have railed for years against the House's leadership, saying Republican speakers for the last decade and a half have sided with Democrats to stall conservative legislation and prioritize Democratic issues -- even as the state has passed some of the most conservative legislation in the country on abortion, immigration and guns.
But Paxton's impeachment for bribery and abuse of government at the end of the last legislative session catalyzed the movement. Paxton’s supporters saw the move as an attack on a conservative warrior and after his acquittal in the Senate, Paxton promised to sweep out of office those who voted for his "sham impeachment" and bring more conservative voices to the Capitol.
Paxton and his acolytes were largely successful, helping to remove 14 incumbent Republicans who supported his impeachment and replace them with his supporters. Then, they turned their sights on the speaker's race which they say will give them more power and transparency in the legislative process.
As it stands Cook has the support from a majority of Republicans, but Burrows appears closer to clinching a majority of votes from the entire House — thanks to support from Democrats.
In December, Cook secured the Republican caucus' nomination for speaker by a vote of 48-14. Under the group's rules, all of the caucus' members are bound to support its endorsed nominee. But Burrows' Republican supporters said they were not afforded a fair shot at the nomination and walked out of the meeting before the vote. They have pledged to support Burrows in spite of the group's rules which could potentially cost them their ability to run in a GOP primary under a new rule implemented by the state party last year.
In total, Cook has put together a list of 56 Republican supporters that he published in December after the caucus meeting. The House rules require a simple majority — 76 votes out of 150 members — to win a speaker's race. Burrows also published a list of 76 supporters — 38 Republicans and 38 Democrats — but several lawmakers have asked to take their names off that list, dropping him below the winning threshold.
It is highly unusual for the speaker's race to be unresolved a week before the legislative session and conservatives at Paxton's rally considered that a victory. They urged the room full of people in the middle of the day to put pressure on their lawmakers to vote for Cook.
“My goal is for them to change their heart because of what you’re doing and what we’re doing up here today,” said Tinderholt, who ran against Phelan for speaker last session and only garnered three votes.
Cook is somewhat of an unusual choice for the insurgent camp, which is made up of the party's right wing and new lawmakers who defeated incumbents that voted to impeach Paxton. His voting record is more moderate than his supporters – notably, he voted to impeach Paxton – but he has promised to do away with letting Democrats lead legislative committees, to prioritize Republican Party of Texas priorities and to be more transparent in what bills will be brought to the floor.
His supporters see him as a change agent that will reduce the power of Democrats, put the Republican majority in the driver's seat and do away with some of the Legislature's opaque rules and procedures.
Unless lawmakers start folding on either side, the speaker’s race is likely to continue up in the air until next Tuesday.
But even if Cook lost, Little said, conservatives would still win out in the end. They'd just have to come back during the Republican primaries next year and vote out those who side with Burrows.
“Either way it goes, it's fine,” he said. “If David Cook is a speaker of the Texas House, we're going to drive conservative legislation. And if he's not, we're going to make sure another couple dozen of these reps who don't have fidelity to your values go home.”
For Paxton’s part, this isn’t his first time jostling with his own party over the speakership.
In 2011, he mounted a challenge to former Rep. Joe Straus of San Antonio, the sitting speaker. Straus easily defeated him in a caucus vote the day before the start of the session and Paxton ultimately decided against taking his challenge to the House floor on opening day.
At the time, Paxton said “even though we lost this race, I am encouraged to say that we have not lost the fight, that our conservative message is important and that this is just the beginning.”
“I’m convinced that we are going to move forward with a conservative agenda and I hope to be part of it,” he said at the time.