Rep says he has votes to be House speaker
AUSTIN — State Rep. Dennis Bonnen, a Houstonarea Republican, said he has locked down enough votes to become the next Texas speaker of the House, succeeding fellow Republican Joe Straus of San Antonio.
Bonnen, 46, of Angleton, would take over a Texas House in which Republicans lost 12 seats in last week’s election. Republicans still have more seats than Democrats. The margin is now 83-67. Bonnen said Monday that 109 other members of the 150-member House have signed on to support him for speaker. The list includes at least 67 current House Republicans, with almost the entire conservative Freedom Caucus. Bonnen needs a majority of House members to elect him on the first day of the legislative session in January to secure the post.
The speaker sets the pace, tone and direction of the House, appointing members to key legislative committees that will vet hundreds of bills during the legislative session.
Bonnen said his colleagues in the House will dictate the priorities, but after talking to members, he knows one top issue already.
“I can guarantee you that a priority is school finance,” Bonnen said. “It is time Texas took on the challenge of fixing our broken school finance system.”
With Bonnen as speaker, both chambers of the Legislature would be under the leadership of Republicans from Southeast Texas for the first time.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who oversees the Senate, has lived in Houston and
now lives in Montgomery County. The last time Southeast Texas had both top spots was in the early 1970s, when Houston’s William Hobby Jr., a Democrat, was lieutenant governor and Price Daniel Jr., a Liberty County Democrat, was speaker.
Bonnen was at the center of the property tax reform negotiations in the Legislature in 2017, which ultimately failed. While the Senate pushed for caps on how much cities and counties could raise property taxes, Bonnen pushed for measures to give homeowners clearer information about which government agencies were responsible for the increases. The two chambers never came to an agreement.
Straus, who served four twoyear terms as speaker, announced after the 2017 legislative session that he would not run for re-election.
Republicans in the tea partyaligned House Freedom Caucus often took aim at Straus. Centrists and Democrats praised the speaker and his committee chairmen for blocking legislation such as the so-called bathroom bill, which would have forced transgender people to use bathrooms opposite of the gender with which they identify.
Although Bonnen was a top Straus lieutenant, his bid for speaker has been supported by some of Straus’ biggest critics in the House.
Ten of the 11 returning members of the House Freedom Caucus, including chairman Matt Schaefer, R-Tyler, are among those who are publicly backing Bonnen, as are 31 Democrats. In total, 78 Republicans (including House members-elect) have announced support for Bonnen.
“I think that Rep. Bonnen is going to return the power to the members,” said Jordan Berry, a political consultant representing about a dozen Republican House members, including some from the Freedom Caucus. “I think everyone’s hopeful that we can get things done.”
Empower Texans, a conservative group that clashed frequently with Straus, lauded Bonnen for his approach to running for speaker. Empower Texans CEO Michael Q. Sullivan told followers on social media that Bonnen sought to win the GOP caucus instead of trying to court Democrats and just enough Republicans to become speaker.
“That should be very reassuring to @TexasGOP activists,” he wrote on Twitter.
A little more than half the chamber’s Democrats have not offered their support to Bonnen, including Chris Turner, the House Democratic Caucus chairman.
“House Democrats remain committed, as we always have, to working with anyone who is willing to put the voters of Texas first,” said Turner, who is from Grand Prairie. “We expect any speaker to let members represent their district, and to prioritize real solutions for all Texans.”
Bonnen offered reassurance to members of the House who have not pledged to support him yet. Speaking at a news conference Monday, Bonnen said all 150 members of the House will be part of the team.
“Whether their name is on the list or not is unimportant,” Bonnen said. “We’re going to be the House. When the House stands together, it does great things.”
Bonnen has served in the House for more than 20 years. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from St. Edward’s University in Austin and was elected to the House in 1996 at age 24. A married father of two, he is the CEO and chairman of the board of Heritage Bank.