Did you know that Texas REPUBLICAN legislators often vote for DEMOCRATS as committee chairs? Shocked? I was when I found out this was a common practice.
According to Jill Glover, Texas GOP Legislative Priorities Chair, “In the Republican primary in March 2022, 81.24% of close to two million (1,850.020) voters agreed that the practice of awarding chairmanships to Democrats, when Republicans hold the majority, should end. At our RPT state convention in June, our state delegates chose this issue one of the top eight priorities for this legislative session.”
How can this happen, you ask? It happens because Dade Phelan (and to be honest, some past TX House Speakers) wants it to. It gives him and other legislators cover for GOP priorities not being accomplished. They can claim legislation didn’t make it through committee, but if you’re not a political junkie, you probably don’t realize that’s because a Democrat committee chair wouldn’t give a Republican legislative priority bill a hearing.
Dade Phelan, Speaker of the TX House, gives out money like it’s candy. See the list of recipients of thousands of dollars of campaign contributions. (Source: Texas Ethics Commission)
Where did Dade Phelan get so much money to dole out? See the list of donors to Dade Phelan over the last 2 years. (Source: Texas Ethics Commission)
Yes, to get elected a candidate needs money. But, there’s a fine line between just accepting contributions and accepting contributions and then awarding the donor preferential access or worse, a vote. It’s a very strong legislator who can accept thousands of dollars from a contributor, and then look that person in the eye and say “I’m not voting with you on this one.”
Some candidates realize it takes both to get elected: money and voters. Those office holders also realize the equal value of each. You can’t get votes without money, but you also won’t get money if you can’t get re-elected.
That’s what creates the “go-along to get-along” mentality. Buck the powers-that-be too often or on issues they think are important, and the money doesn’t flow. Nor do the plum committee appointments. Buck the voters and you’ll not win re-election.
This is why candidates like Donald Trump are so threatening to legislative leadership. He doesn’t owe his position to them. They can’t call the shots. He can call the shots because he isn’t beholden to them.
But self-funders are few and far between, so the indebtedness of our legislators to those who can hand out valuable campaign contributions grows and grows. Power becomes more centralized. Democrats get elected by GOP members to chair critical committees.
And, who loses? The GOP voters who put these people in office, yet don’t see their priorities come to fruition, in fact, often never heard at all.
In Bastrop County, our Texas House member-elect is Stan Gerdes. Email him. He won the GOP primary over others who vowed not to vote for Democrat committee chairs. Let him know your opinion on this and that you will be watching.