It’s been decades since a Speaker of the Texas House has been forced into a runoff election and is in jeopardy of losing his seat. Speaker Dade Phelan, R - Beaumont, is mainly in that position because of the inner-party fight over the impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Tuesday, he told reporters he had no regrets.
“I regret nothing the House did,” said Speaker Phelan, “I go to bed every night very proud of the courage of my convictions. I think Mr. Paxton, at the end of the day, is just going to have convictions.”
Last summer, the Texas House impeached the attorney general over accusations of bribery and abuse of power, accusing him of inappropriately interfering with a law enforcement investigation into a donor. The Texas Senate voted to acquit Paxton in the Fall and keep him in office. The attorney general strongly criticized the House impeachment process as rushed.
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Paxton has a separate criminal trial in April and is under FBI investigation.
In the fallout, several House members lost their reelection in part because of the impeachment vote and also because Governor Greg Abbott spent millions of dollars on House incumbents who voted against his school choice voucher priority bill.
Phelan’s race against David Covey in his Beaumont-area House district was the prize fight in Paxton’s “revenge tour.” On election night, Phelan came in a close second to Covey in a multi-million dollar battle. Since no one received more than fifty percent of the vote, Phelan and Covey continued campaigning until the May 28 runoff election.
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“I’m still in this race. I have a path to victory. I know what my path is and we’re going to execute on it,” Speaker Phelan told reporters.
Speaker Phelan has recently led the House through some of its most conservative sessions. Lawmakers have nearly completely banned abortion, approved the largest lowering of property taxes in state history, passed billions in border security funding, and approved a controversial law allowing state and local police to arrest immigrants they believed crossed into Texas illegally.
“I’ve delivered for my district like no one ever has. I’m the first speaker in history from Southeast Texas,” said Phelan.
Phelan critics don’t like how the Texas House impeached Paxton, how his chamber voted down Abbott’s school choice voucher proposal, and how its leaders continue its decades-old tradition of allowing some democrats to lead committees.
Covey is a former county GOP chair and received a big boost when President Donald Trump endorsed him over the sitting Speaker. Attorney General Paxton also campaigned for Covey in Beaumont.
“Southeast Texans have spoken; we want a conservative voice in Austin!” Covey wrote after his first-place finish.
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, the leader of the Texas Senate, also supports Covey. Patrick and Phelan have had a running policy and personal feud for years, as their two chambers have clashed through lengthy regular and special legislative sessions. Patrick gave a speech after the Paxton impeachment trial criticizing how Phelan led the chamber to its decision.
Patrick was at Covey’s election night party during the March primary.
Tuesday, Phelan repeated his belief that Patrick wants to knock him off in an election so he can play a more significant role in selecting a Speaker in the 2025 legislative session.
“Typically, we stay out of each other’s races. Of course, the Lt. Governor decided not to follow that tradition. He crossed that Rubicon,” said Phelan.
Patrick responded online, disputing Phelan. “The fact is, Dade is the first Speaker who couldn’t win his primary in 52 years. Despite outspending his opponents by millions of dollars from Austin elites, he is second in the runoff to David Covey. Dade let Democrats run the House, and the voters know it,” wrote Patrick.
Governor Greg Abbott, the most powerful politician in the state, is officially neutral in the Phelan-Covey race. When asked Tuesday why he didn’t endorse Phelan, the Governor didn’t answer at the UT-Dallas event.
Phelan told reporters he was not disappointed or offended because the “Big Three” usually stay out of each other's races.
“The tradition in the Texas House is the Governor, Lt. Governor, and the Speaker stay in their lanes. No, I’m not in any way disappointed at all,” said Phelan.
