Lubbock Republican state Rep. Dustin Burrows clinched the Texas House speakership Tuesday with 85 votes in the 150-member chamber.

The 89th legislative session began Tuesday with members of the Texas House voting for their new speaker after a month-long divisive battle among Republicans. It's the first vote lawmakers will conduct during the 89th regular legislative session after being sworn in.

Lubbock Rep. Dustin Burrows on the House floor shortly after securing votes needed to lead the chamber. Every legislative session, the 150-member Texas House of Representatives votes on which of them will take on the role of House speaker. It’s not just ...

AUSTIN — Texas House lawmakers elected Republican Rep. Dustin Burrows as speaker Tuesday, shortly after the Legislature’s 89th regular session began.

The trial lawyer from Lubbock has served in the House since 2015, slowly building his stature and overcoming a scandal in 2019.

Conservative activists in the GOP caucus called any power sharing with the minority party a betrayal of Republican voters.

Rep. Dustin Burrows is elected Texas House Speaker, winning with support from Democrats, amid GOP internal tensions.

AUSTIN — Newly elected Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, struck a conciliatory tone in his victory speech after defeating David Cook, R-Mansfield in what split the GOP.

Burrows bested challenger David Cook (R-Mansfield) in a runoff vote on the first day of the Texas Legislature in Austin.

Since then, the vast majority of House speakers have been elected by acclamation or with more than 140 votes. Even Rep. Dade Phelan, whom hard-right Republicans forced from seeking a third term, received 143 votes in 2021 and 145 in 2023.

The hotly contested race for leader of the House divided Texas Republicans and produced threats of political retribution against those who supported

TEXAS, USA — Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, was elected Texas House speaker Tuesday, shortly after the 89th Texas Legislative session started. Burrow was selected as the next Texas House Speaker over Reps. David Cook, R-Mansfield and Rep. Ana-María Rodríguez Ramos, D-Dallas. Ramos was eliminated in the first runoff.