Embattled Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen won't seek reelection after calls for his resignation

AUSTIN — Mired by a scandal of his own making, embattled House Speaker Dennis Bonnen announced Tuesday morning he would not seek reelection to the Texas House and would give up his gavel after a growing number of his own caucus had called for his resignation.

“After much prayer, consultation, and thoughtful consideration with my family, it is clear that I can no longer seek re-election as State Representative of District 25, and subsequently, as Speaker of the House," the Republican speaker said in a prepared statement.

Though he will not seek reelection, Bonnen did not immediately resign. He will continue to serve until a new state representative is inaugurated in his district in January 2021. It is unclear how this will affect his duties as leader of the chamber during the interim.

On Monday, a chorus of House Republicans had called for the resignation of the third-most powerful official in Texas government, reaching a crescendo of at least 25 saying they no longer support him remaining at the head of the chamber.

Bonnen’s announcement will put an ignominious end to his 22-year career in the Texas House, to which he won election at 24 years old. Less than a year ago, the Angleton Republican had reached the top of his political career when he swiftly and unexpectedly announced he had the votes to beat seven competitors for the speaker’s gavel.

In his first term, he ruled with an iron fist and pushed through public school funding and property tax bills that Republican leadership had set as their priorities for the legislative session. His leadership on the school funding bill earned the grudging praise of Democrats, who opposed the property tax bill and some of his other priorities as strongly as they endorsed the education legislation.

But two weeks after the session ended, he had a fateful meeting with conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan that led to his downfall.



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