Texas House members are set to vote on their next speaker in one week—and Tarrant County GOP Chairman Bo French is pressing lawmakers to abide by caucus rules.
On social media platform X, French noted that State Representatives Charlie Green (R-Fort Worth), Giovanni Capriglione (R-Southlake), and incoming Republican State Rep. John McQueeney have yet to come out in support of David Cook (R-Mansfield)—the Republican Caucus’ choice for House speaker.
However, French wrote that just because they have not yet publicly supported Cook does not mean that they will not.
“Nothing is set in stone,” he posted on X before stating that he hopes they will abide by the GOP Caucus’ rules and support the agreed-upon Republican choice.
“A vote for the Caucus choice is a vote in line with the November 5th mandate, Gov. Abbott, Lt Gov Patrick, AG Paxton, Donald Trump Jr., 130 GOP County Chairs and another handful of GOP Executive Committees, who together represent almost 80% of Texas primary voters, the RPT platform, the SREC and the RPT Chair,” he argued.
French asserted that the Texas House speaker vote is a chance for Republicans to reflect constant calls for unity.
“You will hear lots of arguments to justify positions, but the only one that matters is what the will of the people is,” he continued. “With all of the support I listed above, it is clear what the will of the people is. I am confident these Representatives will ultimately see it the same way.”
Last month, French led a letter campaign urging county chairs to declare their full support for Cook as speaker.
Tarrant County GOP Executive Director Dayton Wright told Texas Scorecard that since then, the number of signatures on the letter has reached 136.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has also been pressing for a candidate supported by a majority of Republicans. He stated that he would not support any candidate who is elected speaker by a minority of Republicans and a majority of Democrats, arguing that it has repeatedly resulted in failed conservative legislation.
“It takes a simple majority of 76 votes to be elected Speaker out of 150 members,” Patrick posted on X. “Since there are 88 Republicans, a reasonable person would expect 76 Republicans could come together and select a Speaker.”
“Unfortunately, for most of the last 15 years, there have been a dozen or so House Republicans who undermine the Republican Party by getting all or most of the Democrats to join them to pick a Republican who the Democrats can then control,” he continued.
Attorney General Ken Paxton has called for unity in the GOP ahead of the upcoming legislative session.
“It’s surreal to be here, because we’ve been trying to change what’s going on right now for 17 years. And it really is a simple question,” Paxton said at a Tuesday event in Leander. “We want Republican representatives to vote with Republicans to elect a Republican speaker so we can get Republican issues done.”
The 89th Legislative Session begins on January 14, when House members will vote on the next speaker.
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