Texas voters will decide which party holds a majority in the Texas House on Tuesday night. With that big day on the horizon, a number of legislators from both parties have already thrown their names out as candidates to replace retiring Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen.
As of Thursday, seven candidates — four Republicans and three Democrats — have filed to run for House Speaker in 2020. The Republican candidates are Reps. Trent Ashby (R-Lufkin), Chris Paddie (R-Marshall), John Cyrier (R-Lockhart) and Geanie Morrison (R-Victoria), all of whom filed for the job on Thursday. Democrat State Rep. Oscar Longoria (D-Mission) also filed to run on Thursday, joining Democrat Reps. Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston) and Trey Martinez Fischer (D-San Antonio) in the race.
Currently, Republicans hold an eight seat majority in the Texas House. If Democrats pick up nine seats on Tuesday, they will win a majority this year. If Democrats win a majority, it would be the first time since Speaker Pete Laney’s departure in 2003 that there would be a realistic possibility of a Democrat becoming Speaker of the Texas House.
More candidates are sure to file in this race in the coming days. We will keep our readers updated on developments in this contest.