Late last week, State Rep. John Smithee (R-Amarillo) became the fifth Republican to challenge incumbent Speaker Dade Phelan for the GOP caucus nomination. He joins Tom Oliverson of Cypress, Shelby Slawson of Stephenville, James Frank, and David Cook of Mansfield. All five previously supported Phelan.
We asked readers if they thought Phelan would secure the GOP caucus nomination before the 2025 legislative session.
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Here is a sampling of the comments we received from our readers after they voted in the survey.
“Dade doesn’t have the votes to clinch now (or he would be bragging about it), and that’s assuming all the Democrats win their elections in November. They will not.” – Chris Breaux
“I have my doubts that the GOP caucus will do the right thing. I hope they prove me wrong.” – Sharla Miles
“For the sake of Texas and these United States, Phelan must not be speaker nor anyone similar to him.” – Roy Getting
“I am very fearful that corrupt Dade P. will once again bribe his way into leadership of the House. There are too few Representatives with integrity willing to stop him.” – David Leese
“I believe that, after cheating David Covey in the primaries (by getting thousands of Democrats to vote for him), Dade Phelan is going to die a slow and painful political death. I think his punishment is apropos of his crime.” – Julie Chisholm
“I hope he does not even vote for himself.” – Louis Strohacker
“I have personally met Tom Oliverson, Shelby Slawson, and James Frank and I’m convinced there are far better choices to lead the Republican Texas House than Dade Phelan. Every Texas citizen will benefit from a change in leadership.” – Thomas Camardo
“I have lost faith in the Texas House doing anything right, ever again.” – Herbert Richards
“Unfortunately, I believe Texas GOP is as spineless as the DC GOP. They will go along to get along when there are much better candidates.” – Debra Davis
“In his arrogance, Phelan has yet to acknowledge that a majority of the members view him as damaged goods and believe they will be seen as damaged goods if they vote for him. His chances of remaining Speaker is slim at best.” – Roger Taylor
“I believe Phelan will keep the Speaker job, but even if he does not, how will anything be different since the others are supporters of him.” – Donald Straley
“Phelan is such a swamp creature, it wouldn’t surprise me if he isn’t re-elected to Speaker position.” – Cathy Hess
“I’m relatively new to Texas, coming from CA. From what I can deduce from the articles I’ve read, Dade Phelan is worse than a RINO republican. Let’s do our best to put a MAGA Republican in as speaker of the Texas House.” – Randy Schroder
“I believe we will see a new face at the helm of the Texas House of Representatives, but I have to wonder if that person will be a conservative one or will just be a ‘retread.’” – Linda Simcox
“Phelan has a good chance to win, don’t underestimate the deep state in Texas.” – Jeff McClarty
