Far-Right Republicans Want To Ban Democratic Chairs In The House

At Stake In 2024: The GOP's latest power play to silence Democratic voices.

Committee chairpersonships in the Texas Legislature have typically been bipartisan. That was one of the things that set the Texas legislature apart from the chaos in DC and the way DC was run. But in the 87th Legislature, now disgraced Representative Bryan Slaton crafted the idea that because Republicans were in the (slim) majority, Democrats should have no political power in the House.

Slaton managed to catch the attention of the nazi-aligned group Defend Texas Liberty PAC and the cash from West Texas billionaire Tim Dunn. They adopted Slaton’s partisan idea and began pushing it out through the other nazi-aligned legislators, like Tony Tinderholt and Brian Harrison, until the GOP grassroots began pressuring House leadership not to appoint Democratic chairs over committees. As a consequence, Democrats held fewer chairs in the Legislature last session than in sessions before. It still wasn’t good enough for them.

They are trying to oust Speaker Dade Phelan because he has given chairmanships to Democrats.

Going into the 2024 election, the far-right has made banning Democratic chairs a campaign priority.

What happens if Republicans ban Democratic chairs in the next legislative session?

In 2020, Trump only won 52% of the vote, while Biden won 46%.

This was a year in which 5.6 million registered voters stayed home. This only shows the duplicity of the Texas electorate and proves that the Lone Star State is purple, at best. Of course, our state should have been blue a long time ago for those of us who are part of the 86% of the population living in urban and suburban districts.

While historically, the Texas Legislature has given Democrats some legislative power, removing Democrats’ ability to hold chairmanships will significantly reduce Democrats’ power, in turn silencing millions of Texans. Without access to these positions, Democrats would have reduced influence over legislative priorities and outcomes.

Banning Democratic chairs and making the Texas Legislature completely partisan in favor of Republicans would have devastating consequences for every marginalized community in this state. Abortion bans, DEI bans, show me your papers bills, you haven’t seen anything yet.

This move would make partisan polarization 100 times worse.

90% of the legislation that usually passes and is sent to the governor is bipartisan, thanks to Texas Democrats who focus on bills to make Texas a better place for Texans. Republicans, in recent years, have only focused on culture war issues, ignoring their constituency altogether.

Not only would banning Democratic chairs reduce the amount of laws that get passed to the benefit of Texans, but it would also create an atmosphere fueled by hate and bigotry. Removing Democrats from these roles could make achieving bipartisan consensus on important issues more difficult, leading to less effective governance.

Maybe that’s a good thing if Republicans are in charge, but it could burn out the good Democrats that we have and will need when the state finally flips.

Then there are the legal challenges. Banning Democratic chairs would violate principles of fair representation and discriminate against the minority party. There is no doubt that lawsuits would follow, costing the taxpayers a significant amount.

What can we do to stop them now?

First, I would tell Democrats to use this issue during their elections this year, painting it as an unfair power grab; it could help galvanize support and increase voter turnout in November.

With Texas being a nearly 50/50 state politically, we should be working in a bipartisan fashion. And when Democrats take back control, they shouldn’t limit Republicans on doing what’s right for their constituents unless it’s one of their stupid culture war issues.

Flipping the Texas House would be the quickest way to stop them. Of course, it’s far from the easiest. We need to flip twelve seats to flip the House. As fantastic as that would be this year, it would take the stars aligning just right, hundreds of millions of dollars, and an electorate who didn’t just watch 9.5 million people stay home. I’m not saying it’s impossible. I’m just saying we need a miracle. Sadly, we have the numbers to flip the state, but too many people are disconnected from the voting process.

Regardless, even if we only flip a few seats, which would further narrow the Republican’s slim majority, Democrats will still significantly influence who becomes Speaker. Let’s say Democrats managed to flip six seats this election. The House would be 70 (D)/80 (R). A member needs 76 votes to become the next Speaker. Whether that be Dade Phelan or someone else, it doesn’t matter.

With the Republican Party in a civil war, their speaker picks will be split. They won’t collectively agree on one person. That means that Democrats have a lot of sway over who gets to be Speaker of the House, even if it is a Republican. So, the Democrats cut a deal with whoever the Speaker is for their votes.

Democrats in districts with Republican runoffs should sway the vote toward the lesser of two evils.

It’s harm reduction, even if both are evil at the end of the day. That’s what will make a difference in the things that might seem minor now, like Democratic chairs, but will seem huge the next time the Republicans strip a group of their rights.

Unlike the Republican Party, which is simply playing the bully in their game of politics, the rest of Texas has served as collateral damage. Democrats have enough political power to change the outcome of just about any runoff election in Texas. The Republicans gerrymandered it that way.

This is why one of the Republican priorities in Texas this year is to have closed primaries, forcing all voters to register as Democrat, Republican, or Independent, forcing voters only to vote in the primaries matching their registration. They’re planning on doing this to stop Democrats from voting in their primaries, even after they crack and pack Democratic-leaning communities. But they haven’t done it yet.

The push by far-right Republicans to ban Democratic chairs in the Texas House is more than a power struggle; it’s a threat to the very fabric of democratic representation in the state. With Texas teetering on the edge of becoming a truly purple state, the actions taken now will have profound implications for its future.

Vote early, vote often, just vote.

Important 2024 primary RUNOFF election days:

• April 29, 2024: Last day to register to vote.

• May 17, 2024: Last day to apply by mail

• May 20, 2024: First day of early voting.

• May 24, 2024: Last day of early voting.

• May 28, 2024: Last day to receive a ballot by mail.

• May 28, 2024: Election day.

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