Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen to RETIRE

[libertpaulian]

...and the #Texodus continues.  This time, from the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives!!  Guess Bonnghazi really did him in.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2019/10/22/five-top-texas-house-republicans-say-they-no-longer-support-dennis-bonnen-as-house-speaker/?fbclid=IwAR2DTN3gQmLx4rXDJUUqNyzdSICw1j359myfSTC9ldkmHth/

AUSTIN — Mired by a scandal of his own making, embattled House Speaker Dennis Bonnen announced Tuesday morning he would not seek reelection to the Texas House and would give up his gavel after a growing number of his own caucus had called for his resignation.

“After much prayer, consultation, and thoughtful consideration with my family, it is clear that I can no longer seek re-election as State Representative of District 25, and subsequently, as Speaker of the House," the Republican speaker said in a prepared statement.

Though he will not seek reelection, Bonnen did not immediately resign. He will continue to serve until a new state representative is inaugurated in his district in January 2021. It is unclear how this will affect his duties as leader of the chamber during the interim.

Any Texans or Texas experts have a hunch if this would be competitive, Likely R, or safe?

[lfromnj]

It's in suburban houston IIrc but Brazoria county and isnt really moving left. Safe R

[Frenchrepublican]

Cruz won the district 69/30 against O’Rourke, Abbott won it 73/25

[Interlocutor is just not there yet]

And the wall of "Who cares, this won't flip" comments continue, as does my "There's more to Texas retirements than flips"comments.

Look at the bigger picture, one where the TX state GOP is already going thru a bit of an identity crisis at a time they can't afford it the most. So many TX GOPers jumping off the boat & deflating morale, but all the board cares about is "Will it flip?" (Knowing full well this is an election board)

[Tintrlvr]

It's in suburban houston IIrc but Brazoria county and isnt really moving left. Safe R

Brazoria County definitely is moving to the left. It had very big swings to the Democrats in both 2016 and 2018. But it's also quite Republican still, and in particular this guy's district is way out in the exurban part of Brazoria County and much more Republican than the county as a whole (and also includes rural Matagorda County, which isn't moving left at all). Not a winnable district for the Democrats in a general or special election barring something very unusual.

https://fyi.capitol.texas.gov/fyiwebdocs/PDF/house/dist25/m1.pdf

[Oryxslayer]

The more important story here is that the TX State House GOP is going to be thrown into chaos (once again) right when they need to be holding the line in the many Beto districts.

[Indy Texas]

The issue isn't Bonnen's specific seat.

It's that if the GOP majority in the chamber narrows much more (i.e. Democrats can get above 70 seats), there's going to be a total free-for-all for a new speaker.

Republicans will not be able to afford any conservative defections.

Bonnen was elected speaker with Democratic support, as was his predecessor Joe Straus. Given how Bonnen has poisoned the well and how much more nationalized politics keep getting, it would not surprise me if no Democrats were willing to vote for a Republican speaker candidate this time.