aT Time They seem to have overstepped their bounds: Over the past two legislative sessions, Texas Republicans have criminalized abortion, allowed gun owners to carry their weapons without a permit, given state judges the power to deport immigrants, banned diversity offices at public universities, and repealed all manner of progressive city laws. In a memo to donors last summer, the state Republican party chairman declared that the package of policies amounted to “perhaps the most far-reaching conservative reforms ever passed by the Texas Legislature.”
So it may come as a surprise that the speaker of the Texas House, the man responsible for passing these bills through the House, is in danger of losing his job for not being conservative enough. On May 28, Dade Phelan (pictured) faces a challenger in the first runoff primary in a decade that could end his political career. If he loses, he will be the first person to hold the Texas Speaker’s seat since scandal toppled a governor, lieutenant governor and speaker in 1972. His challenger, David Covey, an oil and gas consultant and political newcomer, is supported not only by many powerful people in Texas but also by America’s most famous Republican, Donald Trump. According to data firm AdImpact, this primary is the most expensive state legislative election in American history (costing about $7.5 million).
