The Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC is teaming up with a who's who of Austin lobbyists next month for a fundraiser on behalf of a right-wing Republican lawmaker who's been a pariah in the eyes of allies on Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan's leadership team.
TLR and 15 individuals are listed as sponsors on an invitation for the event in State Rep. Nate Schlatzline's honor on September 16 at the Austin Club. Conservative consultant Luke Macias circulated the invite on X on Wednesday with a cryptic message that raised the specter that it represented some sort of turn in Phelan's bid to keep the gavel in 2025.
"Everyone in Austin knows Nate is coming back with a lot of friends and that Dade and his top cardinals will not be able to shut down the conservative voices in their caucus," Macias said. "Dade is done, and it’s just a matter of whether he will replaced by a carbon copy or a reformer."
The lineup of lobbyists who've agreed to help Schlatzline pass the hat features some of the most powerful names in the industry here. Phelan's predecessor in the speaker's office, Dennis Bonnen, received the second highest billing among the sponsors list for the far-right representative's event in the Capitol City.
Rusty Kelly, Buddy Jones, Mike Toomey, Andrea McWilliams and David White are listed as sponsors along with a pair of former chiefs of staff to Governor Greg Abbott in Gardner Pate and Daniel Hodge. The sponsors roster includes Jake Posey, Michael Johnson, Aaron Day, Steve Koebel and John Colyandro as well. Shera Eichler, who served as Bonnen's top aide at the statehouse, is a Schlatzline fundraiser sponsor as well.
While Colyandro and Koebel have long been associated with the GOP, most of the lobbyists who are staging the fundraising reception for Schlatzline have been tied to Republicans and Democrats alike. But TLR and most of the more prominent professionals on the sponsors list have never backed Schlatzline until now.
Schlatzline spent his first year as a legislator as a cornerstone in a small group of staunch conservatives who've been strident Phelan critics. The far-right faction is going to be about three times larger when the Legislature convenes again in January.
But Phelan still has a significant advantage in a bid for another term in the dais in light of the fact he would need a minimal number of Republicans in his camp to win again as long as the Democrats are united behind him like they've been in the past.
Phelan has asserted that he expects to have sufficient support in the GOP Caucus to win the job without the need for Democrats. But Phelan hasn't said that he would refuse to serve if he's forced to depend on Democrats like all of the four Republicans who've led the chamber under GOP rule have done.
Phelan may see major establishment allies' role in the Schlatzline fundraiser as a slight and cause for concern on the infant stages of a potential caucus coup. Schlatzline could face backlash from his core supporters for a newfound association with lobbyists who conservatives have sullied and tried to punish with moves like a perennial bill to ban taxpayer lobbying in Austin.
The Macias message could be interpreted in countless ways. The prospect of Schlatzine going RINO may seem like the most far-fetched possibility of them all.
more to come ...
