Texas Governor Greg Abbott Blasts House Speaker Dade Phelan for Collaborating With Democrats
Jose Nino
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Texas Governor Greg Abbott has been ramping up his criticism of House Speaker Dade Phelan and his lieutenants for failing to follow through with grassroots conservative legislation.
State Representative Justin Holland has received the brunt of attacks coming from Governor Abbott. Holland has been particularly blasted for his opposition to legislation to create education savings accounts.
Holland was one of 21 Republican elected officials to vote alongside Democrats to take out a school choice proposal out of the school spending bill. That said, Holland has a bad habit of betraying grassroots conservatives.
For example, he was one of only two Republicans on the House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety to vote alongside Democrats to raise the age from 18 to 21 for individuals to buy semi-automatic rifles larger than a .22 caliber. On top of that, he was part of the 60 Republican House members who voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton.
To make matters worse, he voted against a proposal in 2021 to ban Democrats from serving in committee chair roles.
This prompted the Rockwall County Republican Party to send a notice to voters in the district that highlighted Holland’s sketchy voting record.
“We respect Rep. Holland for the good votes he has made on our behalf over the years; however, he has grown increasingly unresponsive to voters and the Republican Party especially over the last two legislative sessions. In doing so, he has insulted and belittled local Republican voters and your Rockwall County Republican Party,” the letter by the county party’s executive committee proclaimed.
Abbott shared the notice on social media, who also called attention to how Holland “voted against gun rights and school choice, but voted to put Democrats in leadership positions.”
House Speaker Dade Phelan has long embraced the practice of placing Democrats in key leadership positions. In the recent session of the Texas legislature, Phelan appointed 8 Democrats as chairs of the House’s 34 standing committees.
Matt Rinaldi, the chairman of the Texas Republican Party, expressed his gratitude for Abbott’s leadership, highlighting, “Sometimes, it’s necessary to state the obvious: School choice is good. Democrats in leadership positions are bad.”
Abbott is finally catching on to the necessity to use political power to get fellow party members in line. These types of spineless Republicans will not be persuaded.
They will ultimately have to face political pain to learn the error of their ways. The days of playing nice are over.
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