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“Show the speaker voting aye.”
Rep. Dade Phelan cast a rare vote last May, his voice cutting through the din of the packed House as members scrambled to register their votes on the question of impeaching Attorney General Ken Paxton over accusations of bribery and malfeasance.
Phelan, at the height of his power, was sending a message when he gave his full support to ousting a popular statewide official, whom he said was too corrupt to remain in power. The Beaumont Republican knew it would ignite an ugly fight within his party about holding one of their own accountable. He thought his side would win.
Paxton — emboldened after the Senate acquitted him — vowed revenge.
Ten months later, Phelan is the first House speaker in 52 years to be forced into a primary runoff, where he will face Paxton-backed challenger David Covey. On Tuesday, Phelan came in second to Covey, trailing his challenger by about 3 percentage points, or 1,000 votes.
His political career — let alone his speakership — hangs by a thread.
Phelan said the contest is a “battle for the soul” of District 21.
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House Speaker Dade Phelan, enemy of the far-right, faces toughest reelection yet
Attorney General Ken Paxton, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and former President Donald Trump are accusing Phelan of being a “RINO,” even as Phelan has overseen the passage of some of the most conservative bills in recent history.
“Against a tidal wave of outside influence and the relentless flood of special interest dollars… our campaign emerges today still standing strong,” Phelan said Tuesday evening. “The barrage aimed at our campaign over the past year was meant to be my undoing, and yet here I am, emerging from the most contentious and expensive primary in state history still fighting and more determined than ever.”
Covey said the result reflected how he is more attuned to the needs of district residents.
“The people of House District 21 have put every politician in Texas, and the nation, on notice,” Covey said in a statement. “Our elected officials are elected by the people and work for the people, and when they don’t, there will be consequences.”
And for Paxton, the outcome was a rallying cry for conservatives across Texas to finish off Phelan once and for all.
“We must continue to stand firm against the liberal agenda represented by Dade Phelan and his allies,” Paxton said in a statement. “Together, we will ensure that the Texas Capitol remains a bastion of conservative values, free from the influence of the Austin swamp.”
Jason Villalba, a former Republican state representative from Dallas who served alongside Phelan, said the fact that that the speaker made a runoff despite the concerted and well-funded campaign to oust him speaks to his strength as a candidate.
“He has exhibited the moxie to withstand these kinds of attacks and he made it past what I think was the hardest challenge,” Villalba said. “I think he survives, but I’m not confident in that.
The May 28 runoff promises to be an expensive, high-profile contest that will help reshape the political dynamics of the Texas House.
Tuesday’s results showed the growing influence of the far-right wing of the Republican Party, which has attacked the House and its GOP majority as beholden to liberal interests, with Phelan as its chief capitulator — even as the body has passed some of the most conservative laws in recent memory related to guns, abortion and the border. Nine of Phelan’s incumbent Republicans lost outright to Republican challengers, while another seven face runoffs.
That theme was on display in House District 21, a three-county elbow of Texas along the Louisiana border that is reliably Republican.
Covey, an Orange County Republican Party chairman who has never held public office, has benefitted from the zealous backing of the anti-Phelan camp.
That faction includes Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, former President Donald Trump, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, state GOP Chair Matt Rinaldi and Paxton, who campaigned for Covey in Beaumont.
Patrick, who frequently clashed with Phelan last year, blasted the House’s impeachment of Paxton and called on the speaker to resign, said he was pleased with the primary results.
“The expiration date on Dade Phelan’s Speakership is plainly written on the bottle,” Patrick said in a statement. “Last night was a referendum on his leadership and Republican voters, the conservative majority, spoke with great clarity.”
Gov. Greg Abbott, who has expressed dissatisfaction with the House after members failed to pass his preferred school voucher bill last year, has remained silent on the race, a sign of indifference towards the speaker’s fate.
Phelan, who had never faced a primary challenger in his decade in office, retains the backing of local establishment Republicans, including the Orange and Jefferson GOP chairs and Beaumont Mayor Roy West.
But even the support of former Gov. Rick Perry, who attended two rallies for Phelan last month, was not enough to help avoid a runoff. He said the race was really about wealthy out-of-district detractors who want Phelan deposed for their own political reasons.
“My bet is that the bulk of the people who are trying to weigh in and tell you how to vote have never even been to Beaumont, have never even been to Orange County or Jasper County or Jefferson County,” Perry said at an event in Vidor.
Phelan, 48, is from one of the most prominent families in Beaumont, which traces its roots — and its wealth — to the Texas oil boom that began there. He framed his campaign around two themes: his history of securing funds for his district and delivering conservative policy wins in the House.
Phelan reminded voters that he secured investments for mental health, local colleges and disaster preparedness, including a $1.7 billion for statewide flood protection after Hurricane Harvey that greatly benefited his district.
The speaker and his deputies also shepherded the passage of conservative wish list items once considered too extreme for many Republicans, including a near-total ban on abortion and permitless carry of handguns in 2021. Abbott touted that session as the most conservative in modern history.
Last year, as Republican voters cited border security as the issue they care most about, Phelan’s House made crossing the Rio Grande illegally a state crime and appropriated $1.5 billion for border walls and fencing.
His reaction to attacks from the far-right that he is a sellout to the conservative causes is a mixture of confusion and exasperation.
“I’ve answered the call, year in and year out,” Phelan told the Tribune in January. “And not just on kitchen table issues that make Southeast Texas successful and growing, but on some of the most conservative bills that have ever passed the Legislature.”
Covey, 34, is an oil and gas consultant who has attempted to position himself as the true conservative candidate in the race. From his perspective, Phelan is a sellout who was willing to put the interests of his constituents second to his ambition of winning the speaker’s gavel.
“You have two sides of the Republican Party,” Covey told the Tribune in January. “One is the Karl Rove-Bush line that Phelan is part of, and then one is the Trump-[Ted] Cruz line that says don’t compromise, stand for our principles, pass our priorities. Me and Speaker Phelan are in separate camps.”
Covey has echoed Paxton’s attacks in criticizing Phelan as too liberal.
He said the House’s border security bills last year were insufficient to address the problem. He blasted Phelan’s support for appointing Democratic committee chairs, which angers many Republican primary voters, though he was unable to name a conservative priority that has failed in the House as a result. Covey has also pledged support to the fringe Texas secession movement.
Covey has been heavily funded by Defend Texas Liberty, the political group chiefly bankrolled by Midland oilman Tim Dunn, a Paxton ally and conservative activist. Through January, half of Covey’s contributions had come via a single $50,000 check from the group.
The third candidate in the race, hairdresser and anti-tax crusader Alicia Davis, had little money and institutional support. She won just 10% of votes, but it was enough to prevent Phelan or Covey from capturing the majority needed to win outright.
Voting FAQ: 2024 Elections
When is the next election? What dates do I need to know?
Election Day for the general election is November 5, and early voting will run from Oct. 21 to Nov. 1. The deadline to register to vote and/or change your voter registration address is Oct. 7. Applications to vote by mail must be received by your county of residence – not postmarked – by Oct. 25.
What’s on the ballot for the general election?
In addition to the president, eligible Texans have the opportunity to cast their ballots for many Texas officials running for office at the federal, state and local levels.
This includes representatives in the U.S. and Texas houses and the following elected offices:
-1 U.S Senator (Ted Cruz)
– 1 of 3 Railroad Commissioners
– 15 State Senators
– 7 State Board of Education members
– 3 members of the Texas Supreme Court
– 3 members of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
– 5 Chief Justices and various justices for Texas Courts of Appeals
Lower-level judges and local county offices will also appear on the ballot:
– Various district judges, including on criminal and family courts
– County Courts at Law
– Justices of the Peace
– District Attorneys
– County Attorneys
– Sheriffs
– Constables
– Tax Assessor-Collectors
How do I make sure I’m registered to vote?
You can check to see if you’re registered and verify your information through the Texas Secretary of State’s website. You’ll need one of the following three combinations to log in: Your Texas driver’s license number and date of birth. Your first and last names, date of birth and county you reside in. Your date of birth and Voter Unique Identifier, which appears on your voter registration certificate.
What if I missed the voter registration deadline?
You must be registered to vote in a Texas county by Oct. 7 to vote in the Nov. 5 presidential election. You can still register for other elections.
If you’re registered but didn’t update your address by the deadline, you may still be able to vote at your previous voting location or on a limited ballot. (Voters are typically assigned precincts based on where they live. In most major counties, voters can vote anywhere on Election Day, but some counties require you vote within your precinct. If that is the case, you may have to return to your previous precinct. See which counties allow countywide Election Day voting here. You can usually find your precinct listed on your voter registration certificate or on when checking your registration online.)
If you moved from one county to another, you may be able to vote on a ballot limited to the elections you would qualify to vote in at both locations, such as statewide races. However, limited ballots are only available during early voting. Find your county election official here and contact them to ask about or request a limited ballot.
What can I do if I have questions about voting?
You can contact your county elections official or call the Texas Secretary of State’s helpline at 1-800-252-VOTE (8683). A coalition of voting rights groups is also helping voters navigate election concerns through the 866-OUR-VOTE (687-8683) voter-protection helpline. The coalition also has hotlines available for voters who speaker other languages or have accessibility needs.
For help in Spanish, call 888-VE-Y-VOTA or 888-839-8682.
For help in Asian languages, call 888-API-VOTE or 888-274-8683.
For help in Arabic, call 888-YALLA-US or 888-925-5287.
For help in American Sign Language through a video, call 301-818-VOTE or 301-818-8683.
For help from Disability Rights Texas, call 888-796-VOTE or 888-796-8683.
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