State Rep. David Cook's hopes for a game-changing surge of Democratic support appeared to evaporate on Monday when more than two dozen elected party leaders chastised State Rep. Richard Raymond on the eve of the Texas House speaker's election for a promise to vote for the GOP caucus nominee.
A 30-year House veteran from Laredo, Raymond
pitched his support to Cook at the outset of the weekend in a surprising development that gave the Mansfield lawmaker who has the party caucus endorsement his first pledge from across the aisle just three days before the vote on the leadership post on the House floor on Tuesday.
While Raymond's defection hadn't opened the gate for an exodus of Democrats from State Rep. Dustin Burrows to the Cook camp by Monday morning, it attracted the wrath of activists in his own party in a letter that 23 State Democratic Executive Committee members signed in a push to censure the border-area legislator who they portrayed as a traitor.
"It is both disappointing and unacceptable that State Representative Richard Raymond has broken ranks with his Democratic colleagues by endorsing David Cook for Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives," the statement declared. "This endorsement not only violates the unanimous agreement made by Democrats, himself including, to oppose Cook but also undermines the unity and principles our caucus stands for."
The House Democratic Caucus had voted unanimously in December to oppose Cook while giving members the option to back other Republicans in the battle to replace outgoing Speaker Dade Phelan. Cook had given Democrats ample cause to vote against him with a campaign that's featured a signature pledge to ban Democratic committee chairs for the first time in the chamber's history.
"By aligning himself with David Cook, whose record and agenda aims to disenfranchise Democratic voters, Raymond has abandoned the trust placed in him by his constituents and colleagues," the activists wrote.
Cook had been quietly courting Democrats after his own bid appeared to have stalled with fewer than 60 Republicans committed to supporting him for speaker on the floor where 76 votes are required to win. Raymond pushed the Cook public pledge count to 59. Burrows has pledges from 30 or more Republicans - which means that he would need about 75 percent of 62 Democrats to claim the gavel.
At least two Democrats say they plan to vote for one of their own in Democratic State Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos of Dallas in the election for speaker on opening day of the 2025 regular session this week. While Ramos has no chance to win herself, she could make it possible for Cook to win if a dozen Democratic colleagues voted for her instead of Burrows on Tuesday.
The Texas GOP has been leading the charge for Cook and plans to play host on Tuesday to an estimated 1,000 activists who will be traveling to Austin to watch the speaker fight from the third-floor gallery above the House floor. The schedule includes a free Ted Nugent concert on Congress Avenue and a worship service after the new speaker is elected. The Republican Party of Texas plans to stage press conferences before and after the vote.
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick reinjected himself into the speaker's race on Sunday when he portrayed State Rep. Dustin Burrows and a quartet of GOP allies as "a non-criminal version" of "the "Goodfellas"
who've been running the lower chamber despite conflicts of interest as partners in the same bank.
Patrick didn't mention Cook by name in a long post on X that contended that former current and former speakers Dade Phelan and Dennis Bonnen and State Reps. Greg Bonnen, Cody Harris and Burrows "control the operations" of the House.
"Many House members may not have known that and how their personal connection controls the House," Patrick said. "There is nothing illegal about it. Texas legislators earn $600 a month. They need to make a living.
"But collectively, these 5 have held the 3 most important positions in the Texas House for most of a decade: Texas House Speaker, House Appropriations Chair, and House Calendars Chair," the lieutenant governor added. "These 3 positions control the Texas House. They pass around those positions to each other in a revolving door of power year after year. They run the House like it’s their own personal business.
"Stated another way – the Texas House has become an oligarchy," Patrick asserted.
Phelan slammed the Patrick claims as "ridiculous and completely disingenuous" in a post Sunday night on X. Phelan said he invested in the Third Coast Bank in 2009 but divested himself of the holding after it went public "several years ago." Phelan was elected to the House initially in 2014.
more to come ...
