Texas House Speaker race: Burrows, Cook vying for top spot

AUSTIN, Texas - Two Republicans are still vying to be the next speaker of the Texas House. 

It follows a series of GOP votes over the weekend that ended with one representative winning the Republican nomination, and the other essentially declaring victory in the speaker's race. 

All of this comes after the current House Speaker Dade Phelan announced on Friday he was withdrawing from the race.

"It is still anybody's race at this point," said Dr. Brian Smith, a political science professor at St. Edward's University. 

Phelan ally Dustin Burrows of Lubbock and GOP favorite David Cook of Mansfield both say they're confident they'll become Texas House Speaker when all is said and done. 

"I think it is customary to announce the speaker's race is over," Burrows said Saturday.

This weekend, Burrows released a list of 76 Republicans and Democrats who he says support him—just enough, in theory, to win him the gavel—though a handful of members later asked to be removed from the list. 

"I have secured the votes of enough of my colleagues," said Burrows, "to be the speaker of the house."

But Cook says not so fast. Cook won the Republican nomination for speaker after a series of votes Saturday, releasing his own list of 56 Republicans who support him. 

In a statement Sunday, Cook said in part: 

"The Speaker's race is far from over...I have been encouraged by the conversations I've had with both Republicans and Democrats who are tired of the deceptive tactics used by those who are desperate to retain power. As these conversations continue in the coming days and weeks, and our list of supporters grows, I am confident I will be elected as the Speaker of the House when we convene in January."

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All this is emblematic of the deep divisions in the Texas GOP. 

"This is a direct consequence of the conflicts that have been going on within the Republican Party, if not for the last year and a half, for the last number of years," said Blank.

And whoever does win could very well owe their victory to Democrats. The House Democratic Caucus announced Saturday it will allow its members to vote for anyone but Cook. That doesn't necessarily mean they'll vote for Burrows, but he's optimistic. 

"These members I cannot thank enough for putting their trust and faith and support in me," said Burrows. 

"If you're able to get Democratic support, what that would mean is that you'd have to have some concessions," said Smith. "Which means more seats at the table. We'd probably go back to having Democrats serve as committee chairs."

This is all happening after Friday's bombshell from the current speaker that he's bowing out of the race. 

"Dade Phelan saw the writing on the wall," said Smith. 

"The path for failing to retain the speakership was remarkably narrow. It would have required the support of nearly every Democrat in the chamber, and a handful of Republicans who would have automatically branded themselves as essentially primary targets," said Blank. 

The full House will officially vote to elect a speaker when the legislature reconvenes on January 14th, but it is possible that Republicans could reach some sort of consensus before then.