Who wants to be a Texas House speaker? With the pending retirement of House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, the lower chamber knows someone new will be in charge in January — but not a single member has so far declared their candidacy to seek the gavel. That’s quite the departure from the last speaker’s race two years ago, when seven candidates were already in the running by the first week of September.
What’s different this year is a November election that could put Democrats in charge of the House for the first time in nearly two decades and a theory among members that being one of the first to declare a speaker bid may not be the best path to victory. The speaker’s race is a numbers game, a contest to see which member can put together 76 votes in support of their candidacy. And members from both parties have been advising their colleagues to first get through the election to see which party controls how many seats. Read the full story by the Tribune’s Cassi Pollock.
