The vote went quickly without a hitch and the incumbent was reelected House Speaker amid near-total bipartisan consensus and hand-shake pledges to work together in the legislative session to follow.
The 145–3 tally to reinstall Rep. Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) to a second term as speaker—the most powerful position in the Texas House—on Jan. 10 was surely a sign that, while Lone Star state lawmakers have differences and divisions, they discard them to get things done.
This is Austin, they said, not Washington. There would be no disturbances here like the discord millions witnessed on live TV on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives days’ before….}