Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows is spending his first general election as speaker running an unusually costly and visible defense of the Republican majority, The Texas Tribune reported Wednesday.
Campaign finance reports cited by the Tribune show that Texas Conservative Majority, the speaker's main leadership PAC, took in nearly $8 million after the late-May runoffs and put roughly $10.3 million behind 38 Republican candidates, in the form of contributions, polling, ads and block-walking. A second Burrows-aligned group, Texas Freedom Alliance, put $1.6 million into digital ads and text messages.
Some of that money has gone to North Texas. The PAC gave more than $205,000 to state Rep. Candy Noble of Collin County, the Tribune reported; Donald Trump won her district by 17 points in 2024.
The math
Republicans have run the chamber since 2003. The current split is 86 Republicans and 62 Democrats, and the two open seats were last held by Republicans. To win control, Democrats would have to pick up 14 seats.
State Rep. Christina Morales of Houston, who chairs the House Democrats' campaign arm, said taking the House has long been the aim, but on a conservative count the party expects to gain five to eight seats. "We have been playing defense in Texas for 30 years, but now we have the Republicans on their heels," she said on a press call.
Burrows spokesperson Kim Carmichael said the speaker "knows this is no time for half-measures" and believes that supporting members' campaigns is a basic responsibility of the job.
