STATE

Zerwas drops House speaker bid

Johnathan Silver
jsilver@statesman.com
State Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, speaks on the House floor on April 6, 2017. [RALPH BARRERA/AMERICAN-STATESMAN]

State Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, this weekend dropped his bid for Texas House speaker, as a group of Republican members push for another lawmaker to join the race.

About 40 House Republicans met Sunday to discuss recruiting state Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, for the job. Bonnen is speaker pro tempore, presiding over the chamber when the speaker is absent, and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and has been a legislator since 1997.

"As things evolved, it was clear that people I had anticipated being in my corner would not be there," Zerwas told the American-Statesman on Monday.

Zerwas said he expects to support Bonnen's candidacy if he enters the race. Bonnen hasn't committed to a bid, though.

“I am honored that many of my colleagues have met and decided that I should consider running for speaker," Bonnen said in a statement Monday. "I am carefully considering their request, talking to my family and others about this decision. I intend to make an announcement soon about my intentions.”

With Zerwas' exit, five Republican candidates remain: Four Price of Amarillo, Drew Darby of San Angelo, Travis Clardy of Nacogdoches, Tan Parker of Flower Mound and Phil King of Weatherford. Eric Johnson of Dallas is the only Democrat running for speaker.

House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, announced a year ago that he wouldn't seek re-election.

House Republicans have agreed to meet in December, before the next regular session starts, to select a preferred speaker candidate. That process is likely to sideline Democrats when the House convenes in early January to vote for a new speaker.

Zerwas would have had to rely upon moderate Republicans and Democrats, like the coalition Straus built, said Rice University political scientist Mark Jones.

Bonnen, however, would appeal to most Republican members and doesn't fall into the moderate Republican or the more-conservative Freedom Caucus camps, he said.

"No one can fault him for being insufficiently conservative," Jones said. "He's a candidate you could see four out of five Republicans getting behind."

There are three dimensions to picking a speaker, Jones said.

Members consider ideological agreement, personal leadership style and how well that person would represent the institution in its interactions with the Senate and governor, he said. Bonnen checks all three boxes among Republicans, Jones said.