Phelan May Have Nailed Down Job
in 2023 with Possible Primary Sweep

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan appeared to the biggest winner in the Texas primary election on Tuesday when all but one GOP representative on his leadership team appeared to be on track to win without the need for runoffs late into the night.

While Phelan all but locked a second term with the gavel with a coordinated effect that he'd directed, Republican predecessor Dennis Bonnen didn't fare as well in a House race in El Paso where Democratic State Rep. Claudia Ordaz Perez ousted State Rep. Art Fierro in a duel that he'd been the favorite to win on paper. Bonnen contributed a substantial sum of campaign cash to Fierro as the apparent orchestrator of a creative scheme that brought Texas trial lawyers and the Texans for Lawsuit Reform together in a rare show of solidarity.

GOP State Reps. John Raney of College Station, Glenn Rogers of Graford, Reggie Smith of Sherman, Valoree Swanson of Spring, Brooks Landgraf of Odessa, Lacey Hull of Houston, Ernest Bailes of Shepherd, Andrew Murr of Junction, David Spiller of Jacksboro, Ken King of Canadian, Justin Holland of Heath, Steve Toth of the Woodlands, Giovanni Capriglione of Southlake, Gary VanDeaver of New Boston, Steve Allison of San Antonio and Mike Schofield of Katy claimed primary victories with Phelan's help.

But the first-term speaker appeared to suffer a lone first-round defeat when House District 64 challenger Andy Hopper of Decatur seized the lead after midnight before GOP State Rep. Lynn Stucky of Sanger surged back in front at the finish line with 50.3 percent of the unofficial returns after 2 a.m. on Wednesday. The GOP primary election nailbiter in HD 64 could be in limbo for several days or more with Stucky up by only 102 votes out of almost 19,000 that were cast in the district that he represents in Wise and Denton counties.

Three other Phelan teamers are headed for runoffs this spring when Republican State Rep. Stephanie Klick of Fort Worth, State Rep. Kyle Kacal of College Station and Phil Stephenson of Wharton were forced into runoffs by challengers David Lowe of North Richland Hills, Ben Bias of Huntsville and Stan Kitzman of Pattison respectively.

Klick appeared to have survived a field-candidate field before the sun crawled out of the west today with nearly 52 percent of the vote. But the Lowe campaign received a new lease on life when Klick dipped to 49 percent early this morning. Klick has been one of the House's most serious members during a career as a lawmaker that began almost 10 years ago. Klick is the current chair of the Public Health Committee after leading the Elections Committee during the 2019 regular session.

Several House Republicans who've been associated with the far - State Reps. Cole Hefner of Mount Pleasant, Matt Schaefer of Tyler and Bryan Slaton of Royse City - defeated challengers without the need for financial aid that they failed to get from the first-term speaker who ran unopposed in his own district in the Beaumont-Port Arthur area.

more to come