Speaker Candidates in The Thick Of It

Mud slinging everywhere.

Texans find themselves in the thick of it as we are hours away from the next House Speaker being elected.

Surrogates for Burrows and Cook have been throwing bows for months, but last week saw reinforcements for Cook where everyone least expected it. A January surprise.

Newt Gingrich has entered the chat.

Ads like this flooded X.

There’s a lot going on here. Is this a paid post? I’m not sure, but an ad within a paid post seems like a budding trend for 2025.

As many have noted, these companies have their hands in everything, but all these claims seem to be true.

After paid posts which adjacently promote Newt Gingrich’s new book went viral, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick entered the thick of it, taking to X to post a rather large thread connecting several current and former House Representatives to a bank.

In the post, Patrick highlights that Rep. Greg Bonnen, Rep. Cody Harris, Rep. Dade Phelan, Rep Dustin Burrows, and former Rep. Dennis Bonnen, all share a connection to Third Coast bank in Texas. Patrick highlights that these five reps held some of the most important positions in the Texas house for the last decade and claims that the Texas House has become an oligarchy based on these individuals and their financial connections. This all also true it would seem. There seems to be something amiss down on the third coast.

You can read Patrick’s X post below:

Former House Speaker, Rep. Dade Phelan, called the Lt Gov’s claims ridiculous and stated he did not own any part of Third Coast bank. He also stated that he does not lease or own any building they occupy.

More to come.