A Look Ahead At The 89th Texas Legislative Session

Republican infighting, Democratic strategies, and what’s at stake for Texans.

If you haven’t followed me during previous legislative sessions, my #1 priority is to keep you informed about what’s happening in Austin from January to June. Over the last few sessions, we’ve seen the Republicans in Texas embrace fascism and hate politics. 2025 will likely be no different. However, Democrats are not hopeless. Some things can be done to slow down and obstruct the GOP’s priorities. Let’s talk about what we should expect and what you can do to help.

Here are the important dates we’re watching:

• November 12, 2024: Legislators can start filing bills for the 89th Session.

• January 14, 2025: The 89th Legislative Session begins.

• March 14, 2025: The last day Legislators can file bills.

• June 2, 2025: The 89th Legislative Session ends.

After the election, here is the makeup of the Texas Senate and House:

• Senate: 20 (R) / 11 (D)

• House: 88 (R) / 62 (D)

House Speaker and House Committees.

Tim Dunn was upset by Ken Paxton’s impeachment last year and Speaker Dade Phelan for granting Democrats chairmanships. So, Dunn’s flunkies are adamantly anti-Phelan. They’ve chosen Representative David Cook (R-HD96) as their speaker. The full House has to vote (150 members) to pick a speaker, and the winner needs 76 votes.

Texas Republicans are still in the midst of a Civil War. So, while they have 88 Republican members, we are unlikely to see either of their picks get 76 votes.

Cook and his supporters want to block Democrats from receiving chairmanships. Phelan and his supporters believe in giving Democrats chairmanships to make the House an environment where they all get along.

Yesterday, the Texas Progressive Caucus (TPC) held a meeting in which Representative John Bryant (D-HD114) spoke about the chairmanship issue. He said chairmanship hasn’t mattered over the last few sessions because the Republicans still passed some of their worst priorities. In other words, they haven’t helped as much as the Phelan crew would want you to believe.

Representative Ana-Maria Ramos (D-HD102) initially declared her intention to run as speaker but pulled her nomination this week due to an emergency family issue. On the TPC call, Representative Bryant was nominated. However, that’s something the entire Democratic House Caucus will decide.

Bryant mentioned how the Democratic House Caucus should meet when the Session starts to decide on that together. The Republican House Caucus is meeting on December 7 to hash out their Speaker votes. It would be advantageous for the Democrats to meet before the Session starts to hash out a game plan. I’ll keep you updated on what I hear.

With Republicans at each other throats, Democrats would be doing themselves a favor by only voting on the Democratic speaker and not voting for any Republicans, even under the promise of chairmanships—if chairmanships can’t stop the worst GOP priorities. We’ll revisit this (probably more than once) in the coming weeks.

The Texas Senate and Dan Patrick.

The Texas Senate is what you’d get if Ayn Rand and Augusto Pinochet had a love child, and that love child possessed every Republican in the Senate chamber, driving them to pass legislation that crushes the vulnerable, coddles the powerful, and rewrites the rules to serve only the wealthiest and most ruthless.

There’s no easy way to put this, but Dan Patrick and the Senate Republicans are passing whatever they want. Democrats in this chamber still need to put up a good fight, and maybe they can soften a few bills, but they don’t have the numbers to be effective.

It will be up to House Democrats to try to get things shut down, knowing they are also in the minority.

House Rules.

The House Administration Committee will meet on December 12 to discuss the House Rules for the 89th Legislative Session.

The House Rules Committee might seem like a procedural formality, but it’s one of the most critical tools Democrats have in the Texas Legislature, especially as the minority party. The rules this committee sets will shape how business is conducted in the House for the entire Session, from how long debates can last to how bills can be prioritized and moved through committees. In a state where Republicans control both chambers, the rules can be the difference between bills passing in a rush with little oversight or being delayed and potentially even defeated.

Both Democrats and Republicans are aware of this. Republicans want and may try to soften House Rules for passing bills, and Democrats will want to harden them. I’ll watch this committee hearing and tell you how it went afterward.

The law is still on our side.

Despite the Republican majority in the Texas Legislature, the judiciary has repeatedly acted as a crucial check on unconstitutional laws. Over the past several years, courts have invalidated several Texas statutes that infringed upon constitutional rights.

When Republicans pass unconstitutional laws, which they will, we can rely on groups like the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, Center for Reproductive Rights, the Texas Civil Rights Project, the NAACP, MALDEF, and LULAC to sue the State of Texas and hopefully get them thrown out.

Of course, things will get much more challenging in the court systems under the Trump Administration, but it’s where we are now.

What should we expect from political parties and activist groups in Texas?

To show up. Many groups, like the Sierra Club and Equality Texas, pay close attention to the Legislature and the bills being debated. They attend important hearings and send out calls to action during the legislative Session so that people can show up and make their voices heard. (So, make sure to follow them on social media.)

During the last Legislative Session, the Travis County Democratic Party often showed up, ensuring that Legislators knew their positions on bills. They did a lot of heavy lifting in the 88th Legislature, but they shouldn’t be alone.

While it’s understandable why Dallas County Democrats or El Paso County Democrats aren’t showing up for every hearing, and Travis County is (because Austin is in Travis County), there is no reason why County Parties within a reasonable distance from Austin can’t show up more.

Furthermore, the Texas Democratic Party was notably absent during the 88th Legislative Session. We’re seeing a shakeup of party leadership right now, something we’ll revisit soon, but whoever is putting their name in the hat should make the Legislative Session one of their top priorities.

The Republican Party of Texas managed to guide their GOP members on legislation and attend all critical hearings. There is no reason why the State Democratic Party shouldn’t be doing the same.

In other words, the people planning to run for State Party Chair, which the SDEC will vote on in March, must show up before March. That’ll be the best way to start on the right foot.

Factions.

Several factions exist within the Texas House, particularly within the House Republicans. These factions and their operations determine how cohesive the House will be. Over the next few months, we’ll dive deeply into each and what to expect from them in the 89th Legislature. (Some of these groups have overlapping members.)

• Tim Dunn loyalists: These are going to be your Christian Nationalists, openly white supremacists, extremists, and the people who primarily focus on culture war issues and harming marginalized groups.

• Texans for Lawsuit Reforms (TLR) loyalists: These will be the members pushing a post-capitalism dystopia, where corporations have all rights and workers and consumers have none. The Dunn and TLR loyalists are warring factions.

• Gilead Wives Club: These are the Republican women in the “mean girl” clique. Named after the women in The Handmaid’s Tale’s wives, who held handmaids down while their husbands raped them, the women in the Gilead Wives Club have been responsible for some of the most heinous restrictions on women’s bodily autonomy. This is the group most likely to push for bans on IVF and birth control.

• Republican Outcast Women: Since the Gilead Wives Club operates like a “mean girls” clique, there are several Republican women who have not been allowed in the Gilead Wives Club ranks. This is primarily the Republican women of color but also includes the women whose husbands control their legislative activity and Terri Leo-Wilson, who has had a long-standing feud with Valoree Swanson. (If you don’t know who they are, don’t worry, I’ll have complete breakdowns and tell-alls soon.)

• The DINOS: These are going to be your turncoats in the making. Think of Ryan Guillen and Shawn Thierry. They were Democrats until Republicans offered them enough money, and then they weren’t. $1.6 million was donated to Guillen for him to switch. Shawn Thierry settled on much less, only $500K. The DINOs are going to vote with Republicans, especially on culture war issues, and take money from GOP groups. They are the so-called Democrats who are most likely to switch parties in the near future.

Yes, there will be blood.

Thanks to one of the messiest, dirtiest primary seasons Texas has seen in recent history, the Republican Party is coming into the 89th Session divided and on edge. The factional wars among Republicans have left scars that aren’t healing any time soon. There’s bad blood across the board—between the Christian nationalist wing led by Tim Dunn loyalists, the pro-corporate Texans for Lawsuit Reform loyalists, and even among individual representatives with personal rivalries and grudges. Each faction has its own agenda, but they’re unlikely to find consensus on a single unifying goal, setting the stage for infighting and stalled legislation.

Democrats, meanwhile, have a golden opportunity to exploit this dysfunction. By standing unified, they can leverage GOP divides to stoke tension and frustrate extremist legislation. Democrats don’t have to come in with overwhelming numbers—just smart strategy. By subtly pushing each Republican faction to act on their competing agendas, Democrats can force the GOP into the gridlock they’re usually eager to avoid. This division also allows Democrats to focus on advancing their agenda more visibly, standing firm as Republicans scramble to maintain control.

It won’t be easy, and it won’t be perfect, but with vigilance, persistence, and showing up, we can create real resistance and pave the way for a Texas that works for all its people. So, let’s get ready.

• November 12: Legislators can start filing bills for the 89th Session.

• December 9: House Administration Committee meets to debate rules.

• January 14: The 89th Legislative Session begins.

• March 14: The last day Legislators can file bills.

• June 2: The 89th Legislative Session ends.

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