At the beginning of the 2025 state legislative session, Rep. Dustin Burrows was in the fight of his political life: a face-off with Mansfield Republican Rep. David Cook to become House Speaker. Cook was the party favorite.
The speaker of the House is one of the most important roles at the Capitol. Their biggest job is to appoint members to committees that review bills, which essentially gives them the power to control the legislation that moves out of the chamber.
"That one race will determine how our priorities will be treated for the rest of the session," Texas Republican Party Chairman Abraham George said days before the session began in January while pledging support for Cook.
Burrows ultimately prevailed, thanks to Democratic support. The upset scandalized the legislature and put Republican leaders on edge over the man who would lead the House.
Off to a rough start
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the Texas Senate, initially backed Cook for the speaker role. But he eventually fell in line with the new House leader.
"I can't let some moderates over in the Texas House who have an R in front of their name slow us down from doing things that you want to do and I wanna do," said Patrick at a Texas Public Policy Summit in February. "And I have faith in our new speaker, that he'll turn them around."
But the House still hadn't passed any significant conservative legislation by March. So Patrick issued a warning of sorts to Burrows.
"Looking realistically at the clock you start to get concerned in another couple weeks if some of the major bills aren't moving," Patrick said at the time. "But again, until [Burrows] proves me wrong, I'm supportive."
Two weeks later, the House took up the two biggest bills of the session: one that would invest billions in public education and another that would create a billion dollar school voucher program
"We are calling it in the House the 'Texas Two Step.' Step one: House Bill 2, we are going to make historic investments into public education. And then House Bill 3 is universal school choice for Texas families," Burrows said.
Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott praised Burrows when the House passed the voucher bill, a long-time priority for the governor and lieutenant governor.
"Both Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Governor Abbott have stated publicly and in print that they thought they had a very good session," said Sherri Greenberg, a UT Austin professor and former state lawmaker.
But Burrows still wasn't universally accepted by Republicans. George told The Texas Newsroom he was disappointed that Burrows selected Democrats to chair committees.
Another issue for George: "He got elected by Democrats."
"Next session, we want a speaker who was elected by the Republican caucus," he added.
Texans for Lawsuit Reform, the largest donor in Texas politics, laid much of the blame for what it called a "bad session" on Burrows. The group's signature legislation, which would have reformed personal injury lawsuits, died after the House and Senate couldn't agree on a version of the bill to advance.
"In the end, our bills died, led by Speaker Burrows," said Lee Parsley, the group's president, in an email to members.
However, Democrats in the House lauded Burrows for reaching across the aisle.
"One thing I appreciate is definitely working across the aisles, working with Democrats and working to make sure that the needs of our constituents are heard," Dallas Democrat Rep. Venton Jones told The Texas Newsroom on the last day of the session.
Burrows even eventually won over his opponent.
"His political mind is second to none in my opinion in the House," Cook told The Texas Newsroom.
The view from Burrows' home district
David Bruegel is the head of the Republican Party in Burrows' home of Lubbock. Bruegel has supported Burrows throughout his tenure as speaker and thinks he's a shoo-in for the job for the next legislative session, in 2027.
"[Legislators have] seen how he created an opportunity for fair and open dialogue within the House," Bruegel said. "I think the members of the House really respect that, even the people that maybe didn't vote for him in the beginning, a lot of them, I think, are ready to join the team."
Bruegel described this legislative session as successful for the Texas GOP, but particularly for West Texas Republicans. He pointed to Lubbock Sen. Charles Perry's water funding bill as an example. The bill dedicates $20 billion over the next 20 years to fix aging infrastructure and develop new sources of water like desalination facilities, taking strain off the West Texas aquifers that many area farmers depend on.
"We know that here in West Texas, where we've got substantial water issues, where if we run out of groundwater, we run out of our livelihood. We need to protect that resource and continue to develop surface resources," Bruegel said.
Some West Texans on the left are still waiting to see how Burrows will support the Democrats who assured his election for speaker. Drew Landry, an assistant professor of government at South Plains College, ran against Burrows as a Democrat when he was elected to the legislature.
"What we need to remember here is, it was the Democrats who helped elect speaker Burrows, for him to take the gavel and to lead that chamber. And the question is, what did they get in return?" Landry said.
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