It's vote-buying. And possibly looking ahead to a potential Dem majority.ralewis wrote: ↑Thu Mar 28, 2019 1:08 pm
I grew up in PA and have only been in TX for 20 years. I can't quite wrap my head around the rationale of appointing a minority party Chair to a committee. Was this to prevent Republicans from having to vote on potentially uncomfortable pro-gun legislation or is there some other Texas political tradition being observed?
While the Republican majority voting by itself could elect a House speaker if it voted together, there are conservative and liberal splits with in the Republicans. If Bonnen depended solely on Republican votes, he would have to make a deal with the conservative elements to get them to vote for him, and that might not happen immediately. The conservative candidates for House speaker would be doing the same thing with the more moderate or liberal Republicans.
Bonnen knows that the Dems know that with a Republican majority the Dems could be shut out altogether. But if Bonnen could convince the Dems to vote for him, he would not even need a majority of the Republicans to vote for him to become Speaker. And that's what he did: he sold out his Republican peers and Party to buy all the Democrats' votes in exchange for giving them influence. He only needed a few more Republican votes to get a majority of the votes in the House, and he no doubt did this with other chair and committee membership appointments.
Straus did the same thing, but Bonnen paid a much higher price -- key committee chairmenships, the 2A, and his integrity.
I also wonder if he may not be thinking that the Dems will take the House in the future, or that is district is trending Dem, so he's positioning himself for the future when he thinks they are in charge and he jumps ship.