Empower Texans July 26, 2018by Brandon Waltens
Darby’s message: the House needs a speaker who will stand up to Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.As the 2019 legislative session in Texas fast approaches, behind the scenes the race for the next Speaker of the House is heating up, with growing reports that State Rep. Drew Darby (R–San Angelo) is gearing up to join the race.
Capitol sources suggest that Darby wanted to publicly join the race as early as February of this year, but has since decided to mount his campaign behind the scenes.
In February, Texas Scorecard reported that Darby sent campaign donations to a number of establishment colleagues, including several members opposed by Gov. Greg Abbott. Since then, Darby has reportedly been attempting to build goodwill with colleagues in both parties in an attempt to establish a coalition of Democrats and liberal Republicans to take the gavel in January.
This is despite new rules passed in the House Republican Caucus designed to unify the party around one candidate for speaker. Darby has refused to sign the pledge to support the Republican nominee for the position, and has since been seen palling around Democrat lawmakers.
For example, in May Darby travelled 200 miles to Austin to dress up for an evening at the local community theatre with two liberal Austin Democrat legislators and Mindy Ellmer, the lobbyist wife of State Rep. Charlie Geren (R–Fort Worth).
More:
https://empowertexans.com/features/darby-mounting-quiet-candidacy-for-speaker/
