Welcome to the Thursday, Jan. 16, Brew.
By: Briana Ryan
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Coalition of Democratic and Republican members select Texas House Speaker
- A look back at 2024 state legislative special sessions
- Ballotpedia’s Ellen Morrissey joins this week’s On the Ballot to discuss executive orders
Texas House of Representatives elects Rep. Dustin Burrows (R) as speaker
On Jan. 14, a coalition of Democrats and Republicans elected Rep. Dustin Burrows (R) to serve as speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. Burrows defeated Reps. Ana-Maria Ramos (D) and David Cook (R) also ran for the speakership. Rep. Dade Phelan (R)—who was elected to the position in January 2021—chose not to run for another term.
As a result of the 2024 general elections, Republicans have an 88-62 majority in the House. A candidate needed 76 votes to reach the majority threshold to be elected speaker. The chart below shows how many votes each candidate won in the first round of voting.
Since no candidate met the 76-vote majority threshold, the election went to a runoff between Burrows and Cook—the two candidates who received the most votes in the first round. The chart below shows how many votes each candidate won in the second round of voting.
After winning the election, Burrows said, “I commit to you today, every member will have a voice. Every district will have a seat at the table.” Cook said, “We ran a good, honest race and I’m very proud of the support we were able to garner.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), and Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) supported Cook in the election. Following the election, Paxton said, “It is now important that Speaker Burrows and his leadership team pass every conservative legislative priority in a timely manner to make our state more secure and more prosperous.” Paxton previously called for primary challenges for Republican representatives who voted for Burrows.
Phelan and House Democratic leader Rep. Gene Wu (D) both voted for Burrows in each round of voting. In a statement, Wu wrote, “While Speaker Burrows and our caucus may not see eye to eye on every policy issue, we stand united in rejecting the control of political extremists and protecting the integrity of the People’s House.”
On Jan. 7, we told you about how local political observers said the race was the latest example of a factional divide that has existed in the chamber’s Republican caucus for decades. Although Republicans have had a majority in the chamber since 2003, the caucus has been divided on multiple votes in recent years. Two of those votes include the impeachment of Paxton and removing a provision for school vouchers from an education funding bill.
The Texas Tribune’s James Barragan and Jasper Scherer wrote, “Burrows’ win marks a disappointing defeat for the insurgent wing of the party, which has spent years working to wrest control of the lower chamber away from establishment Republicans.”
Republican representatives met on Dec. 7 to choose an official nominee. Cook won 46-41 after 26 members supporting Burrows walked out of the meeting, alleging they were not getting a fair process.
In the days before the vote, Burrows and Cook released lists of representatives they said had committed to supporting them. Burrows’ list included 38 Republicans and 38 Democrats, and Cook’s list included 56 Republicans and no Democrats. Six Republicans appeared on both lists. At least one Democrat and four Republicans on Burrows’ list said they would not support him, including at least three Republicans who appeared on both lists.
The idea of a contentious speaker election is not new in recent Texas politics. Former Speaker Joe Straus (R) faced challengers in his 2011 re-election as speaker. The factions involved in that election came into conflict again during the 2018 legislative primaries when Straus retired. The 2020 legislative primaries also saw factional conflict with the retirement of Speaker Dennis Bonnen (R). The 2022 legislative primaries took place in the context of the most House retirements in the previous decade, including members of the chamber’s moderate faction and the Texas Freedom Caucus.
A look back at 2024 state legislative special sessions
State legislative sessions in 40 states are currently underway, and an additional 10 states will start sessions in the coming weeks. Legislatures hold both regular sessions and, from time to time, special sessions. Most states hold sessions between January and June. Governors or legislators can call special sessions depending on the state, usually to deliberate on a specific topic. In 13 states, only the governor can call a special session, and in 23 states, the governor or the legislature can call a special session.
Nine states held 16 special sessions in 2024, more than in the previous two years.
Here’s some background on the states that held special sessions in 2024:
- Five states—California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Virginia—held more than one special session in 2024. Louisiana and Virginia held the most special sessions, with three each.
- Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, and West Virginia have Republican trifectas, meaning Republicans control both legislative chambers and the governorship. California and New Mexico have Democratic trifectas. Virginia has a divided government since Democrats control both legislative chambers and the governor is a Republican.
- California had the longest special session of the year, lasting 45 days, between Aug. 31 and Oct. 14. According to CalMatters’ Sameea Kamal, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) called legislators into a special session so they “could pass bills intended to lower gas prices for Californians by requiring oil companies to increase their reserves.”
- Five states held eight, one-day special sessions.
Here’s the list of states and session dates we followed last year:
- California: Aug. 31-Oct. 14 and Dec. 2
- Louisiana: Jan. 15-Jan. 23, Feb. 19-Feb. 29, and Nov. 6-Nov. 25
- Mississippi: Jan. 19 and Jan. 25
- Nebraska: July 25-Aug. 14
- New Mexico: July 18
- Ohio: May 28-May 31
- Oklahoma: Jan. 29 and July 15
- Virginia: May 13, June 18-July 1, and July 18
- West Virginia: Sept. 30-Oct. 8
This week’s On the Ballot explores the history of executive orders and what we might see in the Trump administration
President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House in less than one week. Early indications are that he might issue as many as 100 executive orders on day one.
But, what are executive orders, how have they been used historically, and how do they work?
Our presidential expert, Ellen Morrissey, joins Ballotpedia’s On the Ballot podcast to explain the key differences between types of executive actions, dig into the history of how they’ve been used, highlight the track records of recent presidents, and weigh in on the strategy behind how an administration moves in its first 60 days in power.
Subscribe to On the Ballot on YouTube or your preferred podcast app, or click on the link below to listen.