Houston Chronicle by Andrea Zelinski and Jeremy Wallace Nov. 12, 2018
Houston native and Angleton Republican Dennis Bonnen locked down enough votes to become the next Texas Speaker of the House on Monday, promising to focus on reforming the state’s school finance system.
“We’re here to let you know the Speaker’s race is over, and the Texas House is ready to go to work,†Bonnen told reporters at the Texas Capitol.
Bonnen, 46, said he has 109 other members of the 150-member House who have signed on to support him for House Speaker. That list includes at least 67 current House Republicans, with almost the entire conservative Freedom Caucus. He needs a majority of the House members to elect him on the first day of the Legislative Session in January to secure the post.
The announcement comes after other key contenders gave up the fight. State Reps. Four Price of Amarillo, Phil King of Weatherford, Tan Parker of Flower Mound and Eric Johnson of Dallas all announced over the last three days they were pulling out of the race. Rep. John Zerwas of Richmond dropped out in October. The two remaining contenders, Reps. Travis Clardy of Nacogdoches and Drew Darby of San Angelo dropped out Monday.
Bonnen would take over a Texas House in which Republicans lost 12 seats on Election Day. Republicans still have more seats than Democrats, but the margin is down to 83 to 67.
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