AUSTIN, Texas — Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, is in a fight for his political survival. On Thursday, he gained another challenger.

What You Need To Know

  • Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress, announced he’s running for the speakership in 2025. Oliverson argues Phelan has given too much power to Democrats serving in the Texas House and that a new direction is needed

  • In an interview on Capital Tonight Thursday, Phelan said the timing of Oliverson’s announcement was not appropriate

  • When asked whether he thought Patrick was influential in Oliverson running, Phelan said “110%”

  • For Phelan to even face off with Oliverson for the speakership, he first has to get past his primary runoff election on May 28. He’s up against David Covey in House District 21

Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress, announced he’s running for the speakership in 2025. Oliverson argues Phelan has given too much power to Democrats serving in the Texas House and that a new direction is needed.

In an interview on Capital Tonight Thursday, Phelan said the timing of Oliverson’s announcement was not appropriate.

“I know Tom well. He’s a friend of mine. He didn’t reach out to me as to why he’s running for speaker,” Phelan said. “I don’t know why. I know who his neighbor is. His neighbor is Dan Patrick.”

When asked whether he thought Patrick was influential in Oliverson running, Phelan said “110%.”

For Phelan to even face off with Oliverson for the speakership, he first has to get past his primary runoff election on May 28. He’s up against David Covey in House District 21. Covey is a political newcomer, but he has the backing of Patrick, former President Donald Trump and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. They’ve railed against Phelan, saying he’s not conservative enough and because he led the impeachment vote against Paxton in the House.

“The will of the House rules when I’m speaker, and I let the members decide the agenda. Whether it’s school choice, whether it’s impeachment, whether it’s the Second Amendment, whether it’s anti-abortion, the members of the Texas House decide the agenda,” Phelan said.

On private school vouchers, Phelan did not cast a vote but has been attacked by some pro-voucher supporters for not doing enough to get the legislation passed.

“I was very confident we would have a compromise this past session,” he said. “I created a whole select committee to try to get something done where we had ESAs (education savings accounts) and teacher pay increases and the basic allotment increase and school safety.”

Phelan’s also been criticized by some on the far right for appointing Democrats to chair some House committees. He said he won’t waver from that position.

“Texas is doing the right thing. We’re unique because we have a bipartisan relationship here in the Texas Legislature,” he said. “This is nothing new. I didn’t start this. This has been going on for decades and decades and decades. It keeps us from being like Washington, D.C., where everything shuts down. We don’t want the chaos that is in Washington, D.C. We want to get things done for the folks here in Texas.”

When asked about how he’d work with Patrick if he is reelected and wins back the speakership, Phelan said they will move forward.

“I’m an adult and can put things aside,” Phelan said. “We have some work to do between the two chambers, but I’m the guy to do it. I’m the guy to get it done.”

In our interview, Phelan also discussed the state’s new migrant deportation law that’s caught in legal limbo and medical exceptions to the state’s abortion bans.