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State Rep. James Frank, a Wichita Falls Republican who is one of the Texas House’s leading voices on health and foster care, announced Tuesday he is running for speaker, making him the fourth member to challenge the lower chamber’s current leader, Beaumont Republican Dade Phelan.
In a statement announcing his bid for the speakership, Frank said he would work to bring better communication, member empowerment and management of the flow of legislation if he became the chamber’s leader. Like the three previous challengers to Phelan, he pledged to appoint only Republicans to leadership positions on legislative committees.
“Following the end of last session, and especially after the primary election results of March, it became clear to me that the House itself and our voters want to move in a different direction,” Frank said in his announcement. “By today’s actions, I am asking you to consider whether I represent that direction.”
Pushing back against critics who say appointing only Republicans to leadership positions would take Democrats out of the legislative process, Frank said Texas is one of only three states that continues to give the minority party leadership positions. He said restricting committee chair positions to the majority party would “allow significantly more Republicans to participate in leadership roles.”
Without naming Phelan, Frank was critical of the current speaker’s communication with the members of the chamber and with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott. By the end of last session, relationships between the “Big 3” — Phelan, Patrick and Abbott — had been the worst in recent years with Patrick frequently sniping at Phelan on social media.
“Relationships don’t get better by not talking,” Frank said. “I have the time, willingness and understand the importance of spending as much energy as necessary to ensure communication flows between the chambers and among the members.”
Frank also pledged to decentralize power away from the speaker and to “empower members” of the chamber to represent their constituents. He also said he would fast-track the passage of GOP priority legislation at the beginning of the session so that Republican priorities aren’t killed in end-of-session battles.
“This will allow us to ensure that Republican members can fulfill their promises to their constituents,” he said. “It will also allow members of both parties to spend the rest of session focused on the 90-95% of other bills that constituents on both sides of the aisle want us to debate and pass.”
Phelan has said he plans to seek another term as speaker when the House reconvenes next January. But his control of the chamber is tenuous: In May, Phelan narrowly fended off a primary challenger backed by his party’s rightmost flank, and three GOP members were already trying to wrest control of the gavel before Frank joined the fray.
Much of the opposition to Phelan stems from his support for last year’s impeachment of fellow Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton on corruption and bribery charges, which drove a wedge between Phelan’s allies and the party’s right flank. Frank was among the 60 House Republicans who voted to impeach Paxton.
Frank has served in the House since 2012 and chaired the chamber’s Human Services Committee since 2019. He is the second committee chair to challenge Phelan, joining state Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress, who was tapped by Phelan to oversee the House Insurance Committee. Also running for speaker is state Rep. Shelby Slawson, R-Stephenville and Rep. David Cook, R-Mansfield.
Slawson was one of 23 who voted against Paxton’s impeachment and Oliverson missed the vote. Cook voted for impeachment but later clarified he would have voted against three of the articles against Paxton.
Frank is a staunch supporter of private school vouchers, the other issue that has emerged as a political litmus test for GOP lawmakers amid backing from Abbott. Oliverson and Slawson also support school vouchers, or the policy of using taxpayer funding to help parents pay for their children’s private school tuition.
Phelan kept his personal feelings about vouchers close to the vest as the issue fractured House Republicans last session. He did not cast a vote on a measure that ultimately killed the voucher bill, which is often the case for the House speaker. He later told The Texas Tribune he would have supported a limited voucher program.
Within the chamber, Frank is best known for his work on health care policy and child welfare legislation. He was the House sponsor of a 2017 law overhauling the state’s beleaguered foster care system, adopting a new model that relied on third-party contractors to place children in residential facilities or find foster parents. This so-called community-based care model has progressed slowly since the law took effect, the Tribune has reported.
Frank has also led efforts on legislation limiting the ability of Child Protective Services to remove children from their homes.
Additionally, he has ushered a number of bills through the Human Services Committee aimed at improving Texas’ Medicaid managed care program, the privatized system used to deliver the majority of the state’s covered benefits, such as drug and treatment services.
Frank, a 57-year-old businessman, owns an iron manufacturing company in Wichita Falls, where more than half his district lives.
He represents a rural and solidly Republican swath of 14 counties, several of which run along Texas’ northern border with Oklahoma. The district also covers some of the state’s most sparsely populated areas south of the Panhandle.
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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