Texas lawmaker accuses state GOP chair of ethics violation over threats in House speaker race

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A Republican Texas House member is calling for the state party chair to be investigated, alleging that he illegally threatened and intimidated lawmakers who are not supporting the party’s preferred candidate for House speaker.

In a complaint filed to the Texas Ethics Commission on Wednesday, Rep. Cody Harris, R-Palestine, alleges that Republican Party of Texas Chair Abraham George violated numerous ethics rules — including those related to bribery — by threatening to send mailers or censure lawmakers who support Rep. Dustin Burrows for House speaker.

Burrows, of Lubbock, and his main opponent in the race, fellow Republican Rep. David Cook of Mansfield, have been in an increasingly acrimonious political standoff since late last year, when a majority of House Republicans voted to support Cook’s speaker bid. The same day, Burrows announced that he had enough bipartisan support in the 150-member chamber to win a majority and become speaker.

Burrows’ defiance of the House caucus, by continuing his campaign for speaker relying on Democratic support, soon prompted a pressure campaign from the Texas GOP. The party and George have since vowed to send negative mailers about Burrows supporters into their districts, and to censure any Republican who does not vote for Cook — a move that, under recently adopted party rules, would bar those lawmakers from appearing on a primary ballot for two years.

Harris cited those two moves in his complaint. He alleged that George’s threats to “expend funds on mail pieces” amount to an “economic benefit” for a primary candidate who might run against Harris, and thus constitute a bribe. Harris also took issue with the party’s new Rule 44, which was passed last year and prohibits censored Republicans from appearing on primary ballots for two years.

“While the constitutionality of amended Rule 44 is doubtful,” Harris wrote, “the rule in conjunction with the respondent’s threatening rhetoric amount to a violation” of the Texas government code’s section on legislative bribery.

George blasted the complaint in a statement posted by the party on Wednesday, accusing Harris of seeking to imprison George and calling it a “baseless complaint.”

“The delegates of the 2024 Texas Republican Convention adopted our rules and legislative priorities and I will continue to serve as a strong advocate of our party and our rule of law,” George said.

Harris’ complaint is the latest sign of intense and ongoing Republican infighting. For years, tensions had simmered between the party’s farthest right wing and its more moderate, but still deeply conservative, faction. The acrimony exploded into all-out war in the wake of Attorney General Ken Paxton’s 2023 impeachment and acquittal by the Texas Senate, and led to the ouster of dozens of incumbent House Republicans by far-right challengers during the 2024 midterms.