Texas House Members Agree to Select Next House Speaker in Caucus
If you've been following the political news in Texas, you know there will be a new Speaker of the House the next time the Texas Legislature meets in regular session in January 2019. Current House Speaker Joe Straus already announced he won't run for re-election in 2018.
On Friday in Austin, the vast majority of House Republicans met to decide how they want to elect the new Speaker of the House. After the 2016 election, Republicans controlled 99 of the 150 seats in the Texas House.
The Texas Tribune reports that approximately one year from now, in early December 2018, House Republicans will meet again in caucus to decide who will serve as speaker. The candidate who prevails will have to garner at least 2/3 vote in the caucus, and multiple rounds of voting will be possible. Once the caucus vote is complete, Republican House members then pledge to vote for the winning candidate at the start of the 86th Legislature.
“From the Freedom Caucus perspective, this is a huge win, but it’s a huge win for the whole Republican caucus," said State Rep. Matt Schaefer (R- Tyler). Schaefer serves as chairman of the House Freedom Caucus.
Republicans who have already announced they are running for House Speaker in 2019: State Rep. Phil King (R- Weatherford) and State Rep. John Zerwas (R-Richmond).