Local Representative on Winning Side Of Heated Speaker of the House Vote

Fayette County’s representative in the Texas House, Stan Kitzman, ended up on the winning side of the contentious vote for Speaker of the House on Tuesday, Jan. 14.

Kitzman joined the bipartisan coalition that voted 8555 to elect Dustin Burrows, a Republican from Lubbock, as the new Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. Burrows faced opposition from the majority of conservatives in the House who supported David Cook of Mansfield in the Speaker race.

Cook and his allies railed against the practice of past Republican House leaders, including former Speaker Dade Phelan, appointing some Democrats to serve as committee chairs. Burrows’ winning coalition was made up of 49 Democrats and 36 Republicans. Fifty-five members, all Republicans, voted for Cook.

Kitzman took some heat from Fayette County Republicans when he sided with Burrows in the lead-up to the Speaker vote. Kitzman was part of the group of Republicans who broke the rules of the House Republican Caucus by supporting Burrows. Cook had won the nomination of the House Republican Caucus, and Caucus rules required members to vote for the Caucus nominee.

The Record obtained a letter sent to Kitzman by the Fayette County Republican Party, in which the local party leaders urged him to “unite behind Representative David Cook, the duly elected Speaker candidate, and publicly commit to vote for him in the January 14, 2025 floor vote for Speaker of the House.”

“(The) Fayette County Republican Party condemns any effort by Republican Representatives to ally with Democrats to elect a Speaker who was not supported by the majority vote of the Texas House Republican Caucus,” the letter went on to say.

The letter was signed by members of the Fayette County Republican Party Executive Committee.

Lt. Governor Dan Patrick lobbied hard against Burrows in favor of Cook during the run-up to the vote. The Lt. Governor presides over the Texas Senate and holds great control over that body’s legislative agenda. It remains to be seen how well the two will work together during this legislative session.

One of the biggest issues in the last session was the fight over school choice, which ultimately failed. Governor Greg Abbott and Patrick both support a plan to allow state tax dollars to pay for private school tuition. Abbott and Patrick campaigned against Republicans who voted against the school choice plan in the last primary election. Abbott now says he has 79 votes in the House to support school choice, which should be more than enough to pass this session.

Burrows, who’s expressed support for school choice, told the Texas Tribune last month that he believes “the political winds have shifted, and the votes are there.”

“He made clear he would not stand in the way of voucher legislation supported by ‘the will of the House,’” the Tribune reported.