In expected hyper-partisan form, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has decided to do away with Democratic Senate committee chairs, leaving just one, the longtime moderate Houston Democrat John Whitmire, a lion of the Legislature whose removal would have been too much tradition busting even for Patrick.
It’s a sad but predictable play from Patrick, a man for whom party means more than tradition and who sees power in partisanship, even if it upends the way our state has been governed. The worry these days for people in positions like Patrick’s is that someone will manage to get to their right in a primary. (Patrick spent part of his week in a weird news release battle with ultraconservative state Rep. Steve Toth to prove something, it was hard to tell what, about who is more conservative.)
Thankfully, not every Republican in power in this state is burying tradition in the name of power, a practice that has a way of turning around on you.
Recently, House Speaker Dade Phelan refused to give into the pressure to solely appoint Republican chairs. After being reelected as speaker, Phelan told House members to not “confuse” the Texas Legislature with Washington, D.C.
As a result, his own party went after him in political ads and news releases so breathless they read as parody.
James Wesolek, a spokesman for the Texas GOP, told us that the party spent $15,000 on ads against Phelan for refusing to ban Democratic chairs. Wesolek said the ads were purchased for a two-week stint in Phelan’s district. Such is party loyalty and cohesion in the state GOP these days.
Phelan has not announced any appointments yet, but he has already signaled to voters that he wants to keep partisanship and extremism at bay this session. We wish him luck.
Patrick’s actions thus far, first banning media from the chamber floor and now eliminating Democratic chairs, exacerbate the Senate’s extreme tilt and weaken the trust between the Legislature and voters in a time when bipartisanship is desperately needed.
Texas has serious business to get done to keep us moving forward as a state. Chances are the Senate will be hog-tied with business it shouldn’t be worrying about. That’s bad for Texans. But it could be even worse for Republicans.
If the tide ever turns on conservatives in this state, they won’t have tradition to stand on now.
The Dallas Morning News
