Last year, state Rep. David Cook of Mansfield was quietly but steadily climbing the ranks of Texas politics.

The sophomore lawmaker had been named vice chair of the committee overseeing the state’s criminal laws. He carried and passed a GOP priority bill aimed at reining in “rogue” progressive district attorneys. And he had a coveted seat on the powerful Calendars Committee, which acts as the House gatekeeper because it controls which bills reach the floor for a vote and which never see the light of day.

Cook’s promising start was a clear indication House Speaker Dade Phelan considered him an ally.

Then, in September, Cook made an audacious gambit by announcing he would join an increasingly crowded field challenging Phelan for the speaker’s gavel. By the end of that month, Cook emerged as the consensus pick of the anti-Phelan House Republicans to replace the sitting speaker.

In announcing his run for speaker, Cook said that political infighting, breakdowns in communication and a lack of transparency from Phelan had hindered the Republican majority’s work. He promised to engage regularly with lawmakers if elected.

“My philosophy is rooted in returning power to the members and fostering an environment where we can work together effectively,” he said.

Cook, whose voting record placed him near the ideological middle of the House Republicans, is an unlikely choice to be standard-bearer for a coalition looking to oust Phelan on the grounds that he is too moderate. The group is dominated by social conservatives from the chamber’s rightmost flank, many of whom opposed Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment last year or won their seats by defeating members like Cook who had supported it.

They want to further disempower the House’s Democratic minority by putting Republicans in charge of every legislative committee. They also want to speed the passage of conservative legislation and ensure that major GOP bills reach the floor before any Democratic measures.

On paper, other GOP candidates who’d announced challenges to Phelan appeared more representative of the insurgent crowd, including Rep. Shelby Slawson of Stephenville, one of the House’s most conservative members, and Rep. John Smithee of Amarillo, who won plaudits from the far right for vigorously opposing Paxton’s impeachment.

“If you’re a reformer, I’m not sure how they settled on him,” said Rep. Carl Tepper, R-Lubbock, a Phelan supporter.

Now, Cook and Phelan are waging a behind-the-scenes battle for control of the Texas House, each projecting confidence that they have a path to victory despite shaky public support.

In early December, the House GOP Caucus is scheduled to meet to settle on their endorsed nominee for speaker. Under the group’s rules — which are occasionally disregarded by members — whoever gets 60% or more of the votes at the meeting will be the caucus’ endorsed candidate and should receive support from all Republican members when the vote goes to the full House.

Phelan, a Beaumont Republican who has served as speaker for two terms and a House member since 2015, insists he has enough votes to lead the chamber for a third time in January — but he has not produced a list of supporters. Cook is touting 47 Republicans who would back him, short of the threshold required to gain the endorsement of the House GOP Caucus and far short of the 76 lawmakers from either party he would need to win the real speaker’s election on the House floor in January.

His allies remain hopeful that enough Republicans will buckle under the pressure of drawing a career-threatening primary challenge from Phelan’s deep-pocketed political foes if they lend their support to the incumbent speaker. But that threat has not produced any new pledges for Cook since he announced his initial list of supporters, signaling that Phelan could keep the gavel with backing from the chamber’s 62 Democrats and a minority of the Republican caucus.

Cook and Phelan both declined comment for this story.

The caucus meeting is a pivotal moment for Cook’s bid. The 53-year-old lawmaker will either emerge as the clear frontrunner to lead the chamber or potentially be relegated to the doghouse next session for challenging the sitting speaker.

“A coalition builder”

Cook’s roots in the Texas Capitol go back more than 30 years to 1993 when he got his start as a legislative aide for conservative Democrat Rep. Jerry Johnson of Nacogdoches while attending Stephen F. Austin State University.

But his biggest mentor and influence in the Legislature was the late Republican Sen. Chris Harris of Arlington, whom he worked for as an aide in the mid-1990s. The two became law partners at Harris’ family and business law firm, where Cook now works as managing partner.

As a lawyer in Tarrant County, Cook was able to rub elbows with movers and shakers in Texas’ largest Republican county who could help him launch a political career.

In 2008, he won his first election for mayor of Mansfield, a suburb south of Arlington with about 50,000 residents. During his 12 years at the helm, the city’s population grew by more than 40%, part of the explosive growth seen throughout the North Texas suburbs.

Larry Broseh, a longtime Mansfield city council member, said Cook helped usher the city out of its “sleepy, bedroom community era” into a booming suburb marked by mixed-use developments and a growing web of master-planned communities.

He began to show some of the hallmarks of how he would govern as a state legislator, focusing on a conservative approach to the city’s finances and promoting economic growth, over culture wars.

“He was definitely a coalition builder,” Broseh said, describing how the seven-person council typically decided matters with 7-0 or 6-1 votes. “I’ve worked with four mayors throughout my tenure, and by far I think he was the most collaborative person.”

Broseh said he was “surprised as much as the next person” when he heard that Cook was challenging Phelan, in part because Cook had left City Hall for the Capitol so recently. But Broseh contended that Cook’s ability to build alliances and find common ground — underscored by his work as a family law mediator — would serve him well in the race.

In late 2019, Cook launched a primary challenge against longtime Arlington Rep. Bill Zedler, a staunch social conservative and member of the Texas House Freedom Caucus. Zedler bowed out of the race, citing health concerns, and Cook went on to win the seat in 2020.

In his first session the following year, he filed 10 bills, several of which dealt with family law. He passed his first law, making it easier to modify child support and other family legal orders — his only bill to reach the governor’s desk that year.

Cook was more productive during his second term in 2023, when Phelan named him vice chair of the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee and placed him on the Calendars Committee.

That year he filed 69 bills and passed 14 of them, including the Republican priority that allowed courts to remove district attorneys for misconduct if they did not pursue certain types of crimes. The bill, which was signed into law and took effect last September, targets progressive prosecutors in large urban counties who have declined to pursue low-level marijuana possession cases and vowed not to prosecute abortion-related crimes.

Last year, Cook also took two of the most consequential votes of his short legislative career. Near the end of the spring regular session, he was one of 60 House Republicans who voted to impeach Paxton for allegedly accepting bribes and abusing the power of his office, charges on which he was later acquitted by the Senate. Cook was the only member to note in the House record after the vote that he supported some — but not all — of the articles of impeachment.

Later that year, Cook sided with Gov. Greg Abbott’s bid to enact a private school voucher program, voting against an amendment that stripped vouchers from a broader education bill.

Those two votes paved the way for an ugly primary season. To vote for impeachment meant Paxton’s far-right allies were coming for your seat. To vote against vouchers meant that Abbott and a lineup of pro-voucher groups might spend millions to oust you. Despite his impeachment vote, Cook managed to avoid a primary challenge, which kept his name out of the headlines during a period of intraparty mudslinging.

Why Cook?

Capitol observers and legislative colleagues said Cook tends to push his bills through quietly, steering clear of the bomb-throwing tactics intended to attract attention and rile controversy.

Bill Miller, a veteran Austin-based lobbyist, described Cook as “a watcher and absorber” with a tendency to keep his cards close to his vest. He said Cook’s style is reminiscent of former House Speaker Joe Straus, who also emerged from the background after just two terms to challenge an incumbent speaker.

“He’s one of the members, I put him in the category of people, they’re smart, they pay attention, and they keep their own counsel,” he said.

Cook sometimes sided with Phelan’s team to beat back ideas pushed by the right wing of the GOP.

Last year, he voted with Republicans and Democrats to redo a vote on a bill that would give tax breaks to businesses that bring jobs to Texas, after some of his far-right colleagues snuck in an amendment targeting transgender health care and abortion access. He later supported the bill’s passage when the amendment was removed.

Cook also supported legislation to legalize sports gambling, which many social conservatives, including some of those now in his camp, oppose.

Luke Macias, a consultant to some of the state’s most socially conservative legislators, said focusing the race on Cook’s record is a mistake.

“The coalition that’s formed has formed around how the House operates,” he said. “It’s not formed around a personality on either side but on structurally changing the Texas House in a way that’s better for every single member.”

On top of removing Democrats from leadership positions, the anti-Phelan coalition also wants the speaker to ensure Republican priorities receive floor votes early in the session, among other demands laid out in their manifesto called the “Contract with Texas,” to which Cook has committed.

Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington, said Cook’s decision to sign onto that pledge, which was drafted by lawmakers pushing for a new speaker, was a major factor in deciding to support him. Tinderholt, one of the chamber’s most hard-right conservatives who is often at odds with House leadership, said he doesn’t always agree with Cook on policy but likes that he treats other House members with respect.

“This quality in David is what makes him a good consensus candidate to unite Republicans,” Tinderholt said in an email. “His governing philosophy is in the middle of our caucus and his track record of treating members with dignity and respect is impeccable.”

Rep. Ellen Troxclair, a Lakeway Republican who is one of Cook’s core supporters, said he won her over in part by showing her and other freshman members respect despite their lack of seniority.

“In an atmosphere that tended to tell freshmen to keep their heads down and mouths shut, David had the opposite approach, where he really wanted to help the new class be successful,” Troxclair said. “I know that was appreciated not just by me but by my other classmates who had similar experiences.”

Cook’s public support has stalled since the late September meeting after which he put out a list of 48 supporters. That number has dropped to 47 after one of his pledges, Republican Steve Kinard of Collin County, lost his challenge to Rep. Mihaela Plesa, a Democrat.

To win the GOP caucus endorsement, he needs 53 votes when the group meets on Dec. 7.

Most of the 41 other House Republicans have yet to voice their support for either GOP speaker candidate. Cook has tried to win over some of those unpledged caucus members, so far to no avail.

With neither candidate touting enough votes for the caucus’ stamp of approval, the possibility of a third GOP contender has gained traction. Some lawmakers are actively calling uncommitted Republicans and those on Cook’s pledge list to see if they would entertain breaking away for a new to-be-determined candidate, according to three sources who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the race candidly. The idea, they said, is to lay the groundwork for someone who could draw support from the pro- and anti-Phelan camps if Cook and Phelan deadlock at the caucus meeting.

Miller, the Austin lobbyist, said the fluid state of the race means that, for now, many members see little upside in voicing public support for either candidate and risking political exile if they pick the losing horse.

“They want to bet right, or more importantly, they don’t want to bet wrong,” Miller said.

Phelan loyalty

The outcome will shape much of the direction of Texas politics next year, with the speaker wielding enormous control over the fate of major bills and billions in taxpayer dollars. Phelan’s reelection would likely ensure a rancorous session between the two legislative chambers, with the Senate controlled by Phelan’s political rival, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who tried to end the speaker’s political career by backing a primary challenger earlier this year. If Phelan is deposed, Patrick and the rest of the GOP’s most conservative faction could have a willing ally in driving a hardline agenda through the Legislature.

Tepper said he has decided to vote for Phelan because he views him as the stronger conservative, particularly on tax policy. He said he likes Cook personally but questioned some of his bills, including proposed changes to background checks for public sector employees. Based on his conversations with the Mansfield lawmaker, Tepper said Cook seemed “very friendly to the cities,” perhaps from his time as mayor. Tepper hopes to continue curbing the power of municipalities, a long-running priority of many Texas GOP lawmakers.

On Sunday, Rep. Jared Patterson, R-Frisco, a Phelan ally, told CBS News Texas that he is “fully supportive” of Phelan serving a third term as speaker. Others say they want to “maintain” the House’s current trajectory, as Reps. Drew Darby of San Angelo and Cole Hefner of Mount Pleasant, told The Texan. They point to conservative wins on abortion, property taxes and more under Phelan’s leadership.

Phelan has also tried to shore up support by adding firepower to his staff, hiring longtime lobbyist Mike Toomey as his chief of staff and bringing on former Gov. Rick Perry as a senior adviser. Perry told KXAN earlier this month that Phelan has “got the votes” to hold onto the gavel.

But with a majority of Republicans behind Cook, Phelan’s current path to 76 votes relies on support from the Democratic minority. And the speaker’s opponents say that the entrance of two Democrats into the speaker’s race — Ana-Maria Ramos of Richardson and John Bryant of Dallas — suggests that Phelan may not have as firm a lock on the Democratic caucus as his camp believes.

Tinderholt, meanwhile, said he believes Cook already has enough backing to reach the 60% threshold for the GOP caucus’ endorsement.

“I believe those votes are already secured,” Tinderholt said, “and the only path that Dade Phelan has to the speakership is to reject the caucus vote and rely on the Democrat caucus to support him on the floor.”

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/27/david-cook-dade-phelan-texas-house-speaker/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.