AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Speaker of the House Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, said Wednesday that he will not run for re-election next year.
Straus took office in January 2005 and was elected as speaker of the Texas House of Representatives in 2009, where he has served ever since.
In a statement posted on his Facebook page, Straus said he is proud of what legislators have been able to accomplish during his tenure, and called his approach to governing “unusual in these divisive times.”
“I believe that in a representative democracy, those who serve in public office should do so for a time, not for a lifetime,” Straus said in the statement.
I first ran for the Texas House in 2005 to be a voice for our community and for the principles that I had spent years...
Posted by Speaker Joe Straus on Wednesday, October 25, 2017
The Bexar County representative said in his statement that he will continue to work in the Republican Party to unify Texans. However, during a news conference Wednesday, he would not rule out a future run for office.
"I'm not one to close doors," Straus said during the news conference.
Straus current term ends in December 2018.
Stay with KPRC 2 and Click2Houston.com for the latest on this developing story.
