At the same time, some Democrats acknowledged the Lubbock Republican let them leave their mark on some of the GOP bills they disagreed with.

Fairly, an Amarillo businessman, backed many candidates aligned with conservative West Texas billionaire Tim Dunn’s political operation in 2024. Now he’s disavowing what he says are dishonest and aggressive campaign tactics while pondering his path forward.

The new legislative panel has been tasked to reduce the size and scope of government. But Democrats say they’re not interested in replicating Musk’s slash-and-burn approach.

There were only so many chair positions to go around, with 30 committees for 88 Republicans, making it inevitable that some would miss out on plum appointments.

A pair of lawsuits filed by allies of West Texas megadonor Tim Dunn shut down laws that banned outside spending in the House leadership race, allowing for more political mudslinging and raising questions about ethics rules.

A Texas State Representative from North Texas has filed a bill to make “jugging” a new category of criminal offense.

The Democrats’ short list of possible benefits: A leader who learned to keep promises, a chance at chairing committees, and what they see as more chances for a fairer playing field.

The new speaker’s power over the budget and committee assignments is expected to bolster established Republican leaders and some Democrats who supported the winner.

The race pitted state Reps. David Cook and Dustin Burrows against each other. Here’s how each representative voted.

Burrows defeated Rep. David Cook with a coalition of Republican and Democratic votes.

From debating school vouchers and improving the state’s water supply to reining in property taxes, the GOP-led body will look to pass its conservative priorities amid fighting within the party.

The Texas House kicked off the 2025 session by electing an establishment Republican to lead the chamber, drawing criticism from within the GOP.

The new speaker will have a dramatic impact on the direction of this year’s lawmaking — and potentially the future of the Legislature.

Paxton’s latest tour is the continuation of his efforts in the past year to get political revenge on House Republicans who supported his impeachment.

This is the latest example of the Republican Party of Texas spending its resources attacking its own members.

Republicans who vote against party leaders’ preferred candidate could be barred from running in primaries. Lawsuits could follow.

In a Q&A, Burrows said he’s still confident he’ll win. But he says the leadership race is bigger than any one person and his supporters are trying to protect the integrity of the House.

Days after the Texas House GOP caucus backed Cook, Abbott made clear that he expects Republican representatives to do the same.

With Speaker Dade Phelan out of the race, Republican state Reps. David Cook and Dustin Burrows will now face off.

Texas Republicans are poised to pick the statehouse lower chamber’s next leader this weekend.

Phelan, a Beaumont Republican, had previously insisted he had enough votes to thwart a challenge from the right led by state Rep. David Cook of Mansfield.

The two-term Republican caught many Capitol observers off guard when he emerged as the standard-bearer for a coalition that wants to depose Phelan and reshape how the House operates.

Neither Speaker Dade Phelan, nor his current opponent Rep. David Cook, have enough public support yet from the GOP caucus to win the nomination.

Gov. Greg Abbott said the House would have enough Republicans to pass school vouchers next year.

Phelan appears to lack support from the majority of House Republicans, but he could still win with some Democratic support.

Four GOP state representatives suspended their bids to challenge Phelan and 48 Republicans backed Cook, which could threaten Phelan’s shot at a third term.

The Texas House speaker race is becoming increasingly crowded. Phelan, who is under fire from his right, says he plans to seek the leadership position again.

North Dakota higher education officials are deeply worried about losing students and revenue in 2024 when neighboring Minnesota makes tuition free for thousands of its residents at public colleges and universities.

HOUSTON – Several area business owners say they are doing what they can to keep their staff and workers and customers safe, especially after seeing the number of coronavirus cases creep back up in Houston. “I just felt like the right thing to do to keep our staff safe and community safe was to go back to model where interaction between staff and guests was less impactful,” said David Cook, managing partner at Prego Restaurant,And prego is not the only one. The Kolache Factory, with several Houston area locations, is also going back to carry-out, curbside, or drive-thru service only. She worries that this next surge of cases could be a bigger problem for her business than the first. Several other area restaurants have shut down after some employees tested positive for coronavirusMany will remain closed until further notice, while others are reopening with the “takeout only” model as well.

HOUSTON – It’s that time of the week again folks, where our fabulous hosts Derrick and Courtney drink wine over Zoom with people who really know a lot about wine. This week we’ve got managing partner of Prego and sommelier David Cook showing us 3 sparkling wines. This cremant, the name given to sparkling wines made in the champagne method outside of champagne, delivers plenty of bright juicy fruit with a racy and refined fully-dry finish. As is typical in the Emilia Romagna region, semi sweet and lightly fizzy wines are the traditional style. You can buy these 3 sparkling wines in a bundle for $105 at Prego.