The powerful position of House speaker was gained by Lubbock Representative Dustin Burrows with 85 votes from the 150-member Texas House Republicans following weeks of internal strife over who would lead their chamber during the biannual legislative session that began Tuesday.
Burrows now immediately succeeds state representative Dade Phelan, a Republican from Beaumont, as speaker of the Texas House.
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On Tuesday, there were two voting rounds. In the runoff, Burrows defeated opponent David Cook (R-Mansfield), who garnered 55 votes.
Burrows’ voting bloc was dominated by Democrats, which is expected to make for an interesting session in the Republican-controlled legislature.
This tale is still in progress and will be updated.
