Matthew McDade Phelan (born September 18, 1975) is an American real estate developer and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he serves in Texas House of Representatives representing District 21, which includes most of Jefferson and all of Orange and Jasper counties in the southeast corner of the state. He has been Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives since January 2021.
Dade Phelan | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Phelan in 2024 | |
| Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives | |
| Assumed office January 12, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Dennis Bonnen |
| Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 21st district | |
| Assumed office January 13, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Allan Ritter |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Matthew McDade Phelan September 18, 1975 Beaumont, Texas, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Kimberly Ware |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | University of Texas at Austin (BA) |
Phelan has been blamed by Republicans for the Texas House's rejection of school vouchers and impeachment of attorney General Ken Paxton.[1] Phelan failed to receive a majority of the vote in the primary (43%), but narrowly defeated Dave Covey 50.7% to 49.3% in a runoff on May 28, 2024.[2]
Background
editPhelan is a 1994 graduate of Monsignor Kelly Catholic High School in Beaumont and a 1998 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin.[3]
Texas Legislature
editAs of 2023[update], Phelan is Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. He was previously Chair of the House Committee on State Affairs, on the Natural Resources Committee as Vice-Chair, the Calendars Committee, the Appropriations Committee, Elections Committee as well as the Select Committee on Ports, Innovation and Infrastructure. He is also a founding member of the House Criminal Justice Reform Caucus.[4]
Texas Monthly recognized Phelan as one of the best legislators of 2019.[5]
On December 2, 2020, Phelan was traveling in a private plane to meet Representative Trent Ashby when it crashed on landing during a rainstorm at Angelina County Airport near Lufkin, Texas. There were no serious injuries.[6]
Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives
editOn January 12, 2021, Phelan was elected the 76th Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives.
Voting rights
editOn August 12, 2021, Phelan signed arrest warrants for the 52 Democratic lawmakers who had left the state to deny a quorum. The lawmakers were attempting to block the passage of legislation considered by certain civil rights groups to restrict voting access to voters of color.[7] During the House debate on the bill, Phelan banned Texas representatives from using the word "racism".[8]
Call for resignation and Paxton impeachment
editOn May 19, 2023, a Republican-led House committee came public with an investigation into Ken Paxton that had been ongoing since March of that year.[9] Paxton then called upon Phelan to resign due to "apparent debilitating intoxication" based on a video clip of Phelan struggling to speak during a House session. [10][11] Phelan's office characterized Paxton's statement as "a last-ditch effort to save face" given the timing on the investigation into Paxton going public that same day. That investigation led to the House formally impeaching Paxton on May 27 by a vote of 121–23.[12]
On September 16, 2023, Ken Paxton was acquitted of all sixteen corruption charges brought at the impeachment trial.[13]
2024 election
editOn February 10, 2024, Phelan was censured by the Texas Republican Party for the impeachment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.[14] During the 2024 Republican primary, Phelan was endorsed by former Texas governor Rick Perry.[15] He faced a primary challenge by David Covey, the former Republican Chairman of Orange County. Covey was endorsed by attorney general Paxton,[16] lieutenant governor Dan Patrick, and former U.S. President Donald Trump.[17] As no candidate received a majority of the vote in the first round, a runoff election was held. Phelan won the primary by 50.7% to Covey's 49.3%.[2]
As no Democrat filed to run in the district, Phelan will be unopposed in the general election.[18]
Personal life
editPhelan is Catholic; he and his wife, Kimberly (née Ware) Phelan, have four children.[3] In 2024, the University of Texas at Austin recognized Phelan with the Presidential Citation Award.[19]
Electoral history
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Dade Phelan | 7,942 | 59.90% | |
| Republican | Judy Nichols | 5,316 | 40.10% | |
| Total votes | 13,258 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Dade Phelan | 28,283 | 74.39% | |
| Democratic | Gavin Bruney | 9,739 | 25.61% | |
| Total votes | 38,022 | 100.00% | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Dade Phelan (incumbent) | 54,753 | 100.00% | |
| Total votes | 54,753 | 100.00% | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Dade Phelan (incumbent) | 46,435 | 100.00% | |
| Total votes | 46,435 | 100.00% | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Dade Phelan (incumbent) | 65,689 | 100.00% | |
| Total votes | 65,689 | 100.00% | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Dade Phelan (incumbent) | 0 | 100.00% | |
| Total votes | 0 | 100.00% | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | David Covey | 15,589 | 46.28% | |
| Republican | Dade Phelan (incumbent) | 14,574 | 43.27% | |
| Republican | Alicia Davis | 3,523 | 10.45% | |
| Total votes | 33,686 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Dade Phelan (incumbent) | 12,813 | 50.72% | |
| Republican | David Covey | 12,447 | 49.28% | |
| Total votes | 25,260 | 100.00% | ||
References
edit- ^ Downey, By Renzo (May 23, 2024). "Texas GOP convention kicks off with party leaders attacking Speaker Dade Phelan". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
- ^ a b Despart, Zach (May 29, 2024). "House Speaker Dade Phelan wins runoff, surviving challenge by Texas GOP's far-right forces". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
- ^ a b "About Dade Phelan". texansfordade.com. Archived from the original on December 7, 2014. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
- ^ McCullough, Jolie (July 18, 2019). "After defeats in 2019, a group of Texas lawmakers is teaming up to push criminal justice reform". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
- ^ Sanchez, Carlos; Ratcliffe, R.G.; Hooks, Christopher (June 18, 2019). "2019: The Best and Worst Legislators". Texas Monthly. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
- ^ "Incoming Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan On Plane That Skidded Off Airport Runway". CBS DFW. December 3, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
- ^ Multiple sources:
- Eva Ruth Moravec; Elise Viebeck (12 August 2021). "Texas House speaker signs arrest warrants for Democrats who broke quorum over voting restrictions". Washington Post.
- Ura, Alexa (2021-05-07). "Texas GOP's voting restrictions bill could be rewritten behind closed doors after final House passage". The Texas Tribune.
But both the original SB 7 and the original provisions of HB 6 were opposed by civil rights groups who raised the prospect that the legislation violates federal safeguards for voters of color. Republicans' efforts to further restrict voting in the state come as their presidential margins of victory continue to thin and Democrats drive up their votes in diverse urban centers and growing suburban communities.
- Ura, Alexa (2021-03-22). "Texas Republicans begin pursuing new voting restrictions as they work to protect their hold on power". The Texas Tribune.
Senate Bill 7 is part of a broader package of proposals to constrain local initiatives widening voter access in urban areas, made up largely by people of color, that favor Democrats.
- "New GOP-led voting restrictions move forward in Texas". CBS News/AP. 1 April 2021.
The bill is one of two major voting packages in Texas that mirrors a nationwide campaign by Republicans after former President Donald Trump made false claims about election fraud. Voting rights groups say the measures would disproportionately impact racial and ethnic minority voters.
- Wines, Michael (2021-04-01). "Texas lawmakers advance a bill that would make voting more difficult, drawing comparisons to Georgia". The New York Times.
Critics of the Senate bill said most of its provisions were less about making voting secure than about making it harder, particularly for urban voters and minority voters, two groups that tend to vote for Democrats.
- Barragán, James (2021-04-01). "In overnight vote, Texas Senate passes bill that would make it harder to vote". Dallas Morning News.
[President of the Texas Civil Rights Project] said many of the bill's provisions would disproportionately affect voters of color. The extended voting hours in Harris County, for example, were mostly used by voters of color. Fifty-six percent of voters who cast ballots in late night hours were Black, Hispanic or Asian, according to the Texas Civil Rights Project.
- Coronado, Acacia (2021-05-30). "EXPLAINER: How Texas Republicans aim to make voting harder". Associated Press.
Advocates say the changes would disproportionately affect minorities and people with disabilities.
- Gardner, Amy (2021-05-30). "How the new Texas voting bill would create hurdles for voters of color". Washington Post.
While Senate Bill 7 would have wide-ranging effects on voters across the state, it includes specific language that critics say would disproportionately affect people of color — particularly those who live in under-resourced and urban communities.
- Jasper Scherer; Zach Despart (1 May 2021). "GOP bills target Harris County's efforts to expand voting. Here's how that played out in the 2020 election". Houston Chronicle.
Voting rights experts say the bills — which include measures that would apply only to the state's most populous counties, all of which are predominantly nonwhite — would discriminate against voters of color.
- Nick Corasaniti (24 April 2021). "Republicans Target Voter Access in Texas Cities, but Not Rural Areas". New York Times.
The Republican focus on diverse urban areas, voting activists say, evokes the state's history of racially discriminatory voting laws — including poll taxes and "white primary" laws during the Jim Crow era — that essentially excluded Black voters from the electoral process. Most of Harris County's early voters were white, according to a study by the Texas Civil Rights Project, a nonprofit group. But the majority of those who used drive-through or 24-hour voting — the early voting methods the Republican bills would prohibit — were people of color, the group found.
- Paul J. Weber (15 April 2021). "Houston's expanded voting becomes target of GOP restrictions".
The effort is one of the clearest examples of how the GOP's nationwide campaign to tighten voting laws can target Democrats, even as they insist the measures are not partisan. With Americans increasingly sorted into liberal urban areas and conservative rural ones, geography can be an effective proxy for partisanship. Proposals tailored to cities or that take population into account are bound to have a greater impact on Democratic voters.; The county exemplifies the GOP's slipping grip on fast-changing Texas. In 2004, former President George W. Bush, who is from Texas, easily won Harris County and Republicans ran every major countywide office. But recent years have been routs for Democrats, whose wins now extend down the ballot to local judicial races.
- ^ Scully, Rachel (August 27, 2021). "Texas state House Speaker bans the word 'racism' amid voting bill debate". The Hill. Retrieved August 27, 2021.
- ^ "House panel investigating AG Ken Paxton's office; Paxton calls on Speaker Dade Phelan to resign". Texas Tribune. May 23, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
- ^ Heckman, Elizabet (23 May 2023). "Texas Attorney General Paxton calls on state House Speaker Dade Phelan to resign after 'apparent intoxication'". Fox News. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
- ^ "Dade Phelan allegedly drunk on House floor". KDFW. 24 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
- ^ "Ken Paxton was impeached by the Texas House. See how each representative voted". Texas Tribune. May 27, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
- ^ Weber, Paul J.; Lozano, Juan A. (September 16, 2023). "Republican Texas AG Ken Paxton is acquitted of corruption charges at historic impeachment trial". Associated Press. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
- ^ Downen, Robert (February 10, 2024). "Texas GOP leaders reverse course, ban antisemites from party". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ Huff, Jess (February 29, 2024). "Rick Perry stumps for Speaker Dade Phelan in final days of primary election". The Texas Tribune.
- ^ Brent, Kim. "Texas Attorney General endorses challenger to Speaker Phelan". Beaumont Enterprise. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
- ^ Stringer, Matt (January 30, 2024). "Trump Endorses David Covey, GOP Challenger to Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan". The Texan.
- ^ Despart, Zach (May 31, 2024). "How Texas Speaker Dade Phelan won his runoff". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
- ^ Lee, Adrienne (2024-02-02). "4 Longhorns Recognized With University's Presidential Citation Award". UT News. Retrieved 2024-05-07.