Bonnen: House speaker race over

Announcing support from 109 out of 150 Texas House members, state Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, declared the speaker's race over Monday.

Seventy-eight Republicans and 31 Democrats committed to supporting Bonnen, according to a list his office released late Monday afternoon.

"Don't worry about that number, 109," Bonnen said during a news conference at the Capitol. "All 149 other members are going to be part of this House, whether their name is on the list today or not is unimportant. We are going to be the House. When the House stands together, it does great things."

Bonnen said members would decide the chamber's top priority.

"Having talked to numerous members, I can guarantee you that priority is school finance," he said. "It is time Texas took on the challenge of fixing our broken school finance system, and the Texas House will be leading with all of us to get that done."

Five Republican candidates for the job — Travis Clardy of Nacogdoches, Drew Darby of San Angelo, Phil King of Weatherford, Tan Parker of Flower Mound and Four Price of Amarillo — and Rep. Eric Johnson, D-Dallas, stepped aside Sunday and Monday. State Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, previously dropped his bid.

About 40 House Republicans met in Austin late last month to draft Bonnen, a lieutenant of embattled, retiring House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, but also popular with conservative Republicans.

But after Democrats gained 12 seats last week, the party seemed poised to spoil Republican plans to bypass Democrats in the speaker selection. Republicans scheduled a meeting for Dec. 1 to select a preferred candidate, and party leaders were working to secure pledges from GOP House members to vote for that candidate in January. Democrats, along with nine rogue Republicans, could have derailed the GOP effort. That threat appeared to fade Monday.

Following the announcement, Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said in a statement he was "encouraged" that Bonnen said school finance would be the House's No. 1 issue.

"That is in line with what our caucus has communicated consistently with all speaker candidates over the past year," Turner said. “I’m confident that the 67 members of our caucus, including our 17 incoming freshmen, will file bills and cast votes that improve our public schools, increase access to affordable health care for all, and ensure a strong economy that works for everyone.”

Straus backed Bonnen after his news conference.

“Having worked closely with Dennis Bonnen in his roles as speaker pro tempore and one of our top committee chairs, I have confidence in his leadership, intelligence and commitment to the Texas House," Straus said. "He has been a leader in the House for a long time and certainly understands the Speaker’s role and responsibilities. I trust that, under Dennis’ leadership, the Texas House will continue to be a place where members work together and put the best interests of Texans first.”

Gov. Greg Abbott congratulated Bonnen late Monday afternoon.

"I know from my dealings with Chairman Bonnen that no one works harder or more passionately for Texas," Abbott said in a statement. "There are a number of important and pressing issues facing Texas as we head into this next legislative session, including reforming school finance and elevating our education system, and I look forward to working (with) the new speaker and the entire House of Representatives to address these topics and much more."

Texas GOP Chairman James Dickey said: “We are very pleased that a speaker candidate has emerged with the public support of 78 Republicans — a clear super-majority of the Republican caucus — and that our members will keep the commitment so many of them made to vote for the choice of the caucus for speaker when they vote in January."