Texas Democrats already angling to be the next House speaker

By Renzo Downey, The Texas Tribune
November 5, 2026

This article was adapted from our premium politics newsletter, The Blast, which delivers exclusive reporting, nonpartisan analysis and the first word on political moves across the state. Subscribe today.

The race for a new Democratic House speaker has begun.

State Rep. Senfronia Thompson launched her campaign Tuesday night before the House had officially flipped. As of Thursday, someone from her camp was touting that she had as many as 65 members ready to back her, according to a Republican member who had been called by someone whipping votes for her.

Thompson is the longest serving Democrat in the House, who is affectionately known by her colleagues as Ms. T.

The GOP source said at least five people supporting Thompson are Republicans. The Tribune has not viewed the list of names.

It takes 76 votes to win the gavel. And if she can hit that number before the session starts on Jan. 12, then she can win before the Legislature begins.

Thompson has scheduled a press conference for 2 p.m. Friday.

State Rep. Joe Moody, a Democrat from El Paso who was closely aligned with GOP House leadership in previous sessions, threw his support behind Thompson on Thursday evening.

“Democrats have won and won big, and now we have to do the job the voters expect and truly deliver for Texas families,” Moody said. “Dean Thompson is the one to make that happen.”

But she’s not without competition. State Rep. Eddie Morales Jr., D-Eagle Pass, announced his candidacy Thursday afternoon.

In a statement, Morales committed that every member’s district will have a voice under his speakership.

“Texas faces critical challenges and we must hit the ground running to solve them,” Morales said. “There is no time to waste. I look forward to earning the votes and trust of my colleagues to deliver results across the state.”

Some in the Democratic caucus believe that someone like Morales could be competitive to Ms. T, because Democrats representing the border are often more moderate and could appeal to Republicans looking to build a coalition now that they’re in the minority.

Wednesday night, about 25 Democrats — mostly members of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus — met to talk through what they want in a speaker, according to two attendees. No specific candidates were mentioned.

Later, the House Democratic Caucus met to discuss their newfound majority.

Two GOP staffers told The Blast that a group of Republican House members held a 4 p.m. Zoom meeting to discuss potentially backing a Democrat in an effort to build a power-sharing coalition.

Another Republican member said Reps. Oscar Longoria, D-Mission, and Morales, approached them about holding out their support, while the speaker’s race takes shape, though neither were pitching themselves at the time.

Longoria, like Thompson, ran for speaker in 2020 — when the Democratic push to flip the House fell short.

But Ms. T could also draw at least a few Republicans to support her.

Rep. J.M. Lozano, a Republican from Kingsville in South Texas, who switched parties in 2012, spoke highly of Thompson in an interview with The Blast on Wednesday.

“We need someone like that to get us through this tumultuous chapter to heal,” Lozano said.

Thompson’s case for speaker centers on her longevity, akin to when Rep. Tom Craddick, R-Midland, won the speakership as the longest-serving member of his caucus when the GOP took the House in 2002.

Ms. T, who was first elected in 1972, comes from the era of bipartisanship in the Texas House. She also garners respect from both sides of the aisle.

When the House unveiled her portrait to hang in the Capitol at the end of last year’s regular session, members of both parties alike urged her not to retire, and Fort Worth Republican Rep. Charlie Geren lauded her in a tearful speech.

“If you pattern your legislative career after Ms. T, you’re gonna be a damn fine legislator,” Geren said at the time.

She is both the longest-serving woman and Black lawmaker in Texas history. If she were to assume the gavel, the state’s Big Three would be all women of different ethnic backgrounds: Gov. Gina Hinojosa, Lt. Gov. Vikki Goodwin and Speaker Thompson.

There’s never been a woman House speaker in Texas.

But at least two staffers have suggested Thompson’s age could be viewed as a liability to her campaign. Thompson will be 88 before the beginning of the next session, and while she is a force on the House floor, the speakership requires intense hours and long travel for countless fundraisers. That will be important for Democrats as they look to defend their majority in 2028.

While it will be Democrats’ largest majority in the House since the 1993 legislative session, several Democratic flips were decided by mere hundreds of votes.

A question that remains is will the next Democratic leader honor the House’s long bipartisan traditions that predated 2025. Or will a new House leader be interested in giving Republicans a taste of their own medicine, after freshman GOP members last year fought so hard to have Democrats barred from holding committee chairmanships.

“We’re gonna see how much the Republicans enjoy no Republican committee chairs and no Republican quorum breaks over in the House,” one Democratic staffer told The Blast. “I’m totally happy to keep up the rules that they chose to adopt as the majority. So, we’ll see how it operates when the shoe’s on the other foot.”

For all the quarrels Republicans had while they were in the majority, Democrats haven’t had to govern as a unified coalition in more than two decades.

“I don’t envy any of the Democratic victors tonight for what they’re walking into,” Hunt said.

Democrats are looking at an 83-67 or 84-66 majority. If a Thompson challenger peels off 20 Democratic supporters, they would have to combine them with 56 GOP supporters to reach the magic number of 76.

Given the roughly two dozen hardliners in the GOP caucus, plus more moderate members who have to make it through tough primary electorates, a coalition leadership team may be hard-pressed to find the necessary votes.

“There is no scenario in which I will vote for a Democrat Speaker,” Rep. Brent Money, R-Greenville, posted on X. “I’ll be working with the patriots in the Texas House and Senate to make sure our children and grandchildren inherit a Texas that’s safe, free, and prosperous.”

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.