The Texas House Republican Caucus never intended to have a minority of Republicans join with Democrats to become speaker. Dustin Burrows said so himself in an interview with the Texas Tribune in 2017:

BURROWS: I don't want to be in a situation, you know, a year from now, where a member of the Republican caucus comes in and says, "Guys, guess what? I've got 55 Democrats who have made a deal with me to put me in the chair, and by the way, you're gonna have to vote to repeal sanctuary cities, you're gonna have to be against life, you're gonna have to do these things if you want to be on the team. You know, I've got the other twenty Republicans who are gonna vote with me." I think we should take control of that as a caucus. I think it will be a unifying thing. I think it's a good thing. I think the majority of Republicans will end up getting behind this and we'll find out, December 1st, if two-thirds don't support this, it goes away.

INTERVIEWER: But if they do support it, then you're gonna march out of that room with one candidate, you're gonna put that person up for speaker, and there are gonna be no strays.

BURROWS: Well, I hope so.

That's exactly the scenario that got Burrows into the role as Speaker: 49 Democrats joined with a minority of Republicans. The majority of Republicans - 52 of them - voted for someone else.

According to Texas Policy Research, "In recent sessions, the Texas House Republican Caucus has implemented a rule that binds all caucus members to support the caucus-chosen nominee during the official House vote for Speaker. This agreement is intended to prevent division within the party and ensure a united front during the Speaker election. The nominee for Speaker within the Republican Caucus must be selected by two-thirds of caucus members during the first two rounds of voting. Voting can take multiple rounds. If a candidate is not selected in the first two rounds, the counting threshold drops to three-fifths of the caucus membership.

As reported by CBS Austin, David Cook was "declared the endorsed candidate by the House GOP Caucus by a vote of 48-14 after a contingent of Burrows' supporters dramatically left the meeting after the two rivals had stalemated in the first two rounds. All 88 GOP caucus members are tied by the group's rules to vote for the endorsed candidate, which would help Cook surpass the 76-vote threshold in January to be elected speaker."

Burrows ignored the vote and the rules and declared that he had enough votes to become the speaker. CBS Austin said Burrows "made his announcement surrounded by dozens of fellow Republican supporters indicating that those lawmakers were willing to go against the rules to back Burrows."

Burrows, and those who voted for Burrows in January, ignored the rules of the caucus and allowed partnership with Democrats to determine our Speaker. (See vote below...)

Which is why the Democrats felt pretty good after electing Burrows to become Speaker.





GOP Platform Conflict: Plank 213 requires a unified Republican caucus vote via secret ballot for Speaker. Violates conservative unity in leadership selection.

Speaker Vote: Burrows 85 (R 36, D 49) - Cook 55 (R 52, D 3) View Source Burrows - Anchia; Barry; Bell, C.; Bell, K.; Bernal; Bhojani; Bonnen; Bowers; Buckley; Bucy; Burrows; Button; Campos; Canales; Capriglione; Cole; Cortez; Craddick; Darby; Dean; Dutton; Fairly; Flores; Gamez; Garcia Hernandez; Garcia, J.; Garcia, L.; Gates; Gerdes; Geren; Gervin-Hawkins; Gonzalez, J.; Gonzalez, M.; Guerra; Harless; Harris; Hefner; Hernandez; Howard; Hull; Hunter; Johnson; Jones, J.; Jones, V.; King; Kitzman; Lalani; Lambert; Landgraf; Leach; Longoria; Lopez, J.; Lopez, R.; Manuel; Martinez; Martinez Fischer; McQueeney; Metcalf; Meyer; Moody; Morales Shaw; Morales, E.; Ordaz; Orr; Patterson; Perez, M.; Perez, V.; Phelan; Plesa; Reynolds; Romero; Rose; Rosenthal; Simmons; Talarico; Tepper; Thompson; Turner; VanDeaver; Villalobos; Vo; Walle; Wilson; Wu; Zweiner Cook - Alders; Ashby; Bumgarner; Cain; Cook; Cunningham; Curry; DeAyala; Dorazio; Dyson; Frank; Guillen; Harris Davila; Harrison; Hayes; Hickland; Holt; Hopper; Isaac; Kerwin; LaHood; Leo Wilson; Little; Louderback; Lowe; Lozano; Lujan; Luther; McLaughlin; Money; Morgan; Munoz; Noble; Olcott; Oliverson; Paul; Pierson; Raymond; Richardson; Rodriguez Ramos; Schatzline; Schofield; Schoolcraft; Shaheen; Shofner; Slawson; Smithee; Spiller; Swanson; Tinderholt; Toth; Troxclair; Vasut; Virdell; Wharton Present, Not Voting - Allen; Bryant; Collier; Davis, A.; Goodwin; Hinojosa; Meza; Morales, C.; Ward Johnson Please note: the following statements by legislators do not affect the vote count that was recorded. Charlene Ward Johnson: "I was shown voting present, not voting on Record No. 3. I intended to vote for the Honorable Dustin Burrows." (view other statements of vote for this Rep)