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Matthew McDade Phelan, better known as Dade Phelan, is a state legislator for the Beaumont area and the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives.
Phelan announced November 4 that he had secured the backing of a majority of his fellow House members to become speaker – just a day after the general election, and before all of the results were even tallied.
“I have secured the supermajority of the Republican caucus,” he said at a news conference. “However, in Texas, we set politics aside and work for the benefit of all Texans… Therefore, I’m also proud to announce a broad coalition of support from the Democratic caucus as well.”
“The race is over.”
After that, Phelan formally become speaker at the start of the legislative session in January 2021.
Phelan, 45, is an attorney, real estate developer, and broker belonging to a prominent South Texas family. Through various firms, he own numerous properties in Beaumont and other coastal cities, including a stake in 606 acres in the southeast of Jefferson County.
Phelan is the great-grandson of John Henry Phelan, an oilman and philanthropist associated with Texas’ Spindletop field, which famously gushed sky-high with oil for nine days in 1901.
A political ally of the outgoing House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, Phelan is also a part-owner of Third Coast Bank SSB of Humble, which acquired Bonnen’s Heritage Bank of Pearland last year. Phelan’s brother Lan Phelan is a director of Third Coast.
The bank merger made Bonnen vice chairman of Third Coast.
Phelan is married and has four sons. He is a Roman Catholic. He has served on the boards of Southeast Texas CASA, the Jefferson Theater, and Texas Lyceum.
Committee Experience
Phelan serves as chair of the House State Affairs Committee, co-chair of the State Water Implementation Fund Advisory Committee, and co-chair of the Texas Infrastructure Resiliency Fund Advisory Committee.
Previously he served on the Natural Resources Committee as vice-chair, Calendars Committee, Appropriations Committee, Elections Committee, and on the Select Committee on Ports, Innovation and Infrastructure.
Phelan first worked in the legislature as an aide in 1994.
Legislative Record
After winning election to the Texas House in 2014, Phelan authored two bills that became law in 2015. One bill was only local in scope, and the other increased the criminal penalty for sexually assaulting a disabled individual (HB 2589).
He picked up the pace in 2017, authoring and securing passage of seven bills, including one about commercial shrimping, an election-related bill, and a bill relating to windstorm insurance. A consumer protection bill written by Phelan that year was vetoed by the governor (HB 2774). It would have created a new crime for installation of faulty tires on vehicles. Governor Abbott said that this went against the state’s recent criminal justice reforms.
In the most recent legislative session, Phelan authored ten bills that became law, including a consumer protection bill, HB 1941, which gave the Attorney General’s Office authority to bring a suit against freestanding emergency rooms for charging “unconscionable prices.”
He also authored a law about debris management after a disaster (HB 5); a law suspending certain handgun laws during a state of disaster (HB 1177); and a law prohibiting local governments from setting standards for building materials that are stricter than national model codes, such as any ordinance that requires all buildings to be made out of brick (HB 2439).
Phelan joined two Democrats and one Republican in authoring a bill establishing an industrial apprenticeship workforce fund, administered by the Texas Workforce Commission (HB 2784).
Winning the Speaker’s Race
Phelan came to power much as the outgoing Speaker Dennis Bonnen did in 2018, as a dark-horse candidate who declared his candidacy only late in the game.
GOP House members met in Temple on October 25 and in Austin November 1, after which Phelan filed to run for speaker, becoming the seventh lawmaker in the contest. His opponents included Trent Ashby (R-Lufkin), Geanie Morrison (R-Victoria), and several Democrats.
Phelan’s coalition was similar to Bonnen’s. He had the backing of Bonnen’s brother Greg, who is also a lawmaker, as well as other political allies of the outgoing speaker. As explained by this publication in 2018, “The largest number of Bonnen backers belong to a mid-caucus group of conservatives who are neither at the far right nor Straus-style centrists.”
“The significance of Bonnen’s bid therefore lies in the possibility that he could emerge as a compromise candidate who is able to stave off GOP infighting between Tea Party conservatives and a Straus successor faction aligned with Democrats.”
Joe Straus, Speaker of the House from 2009 to 2018, initially came to power through a deal with the Democratic Caucus, unseating the more conservative Republican Tom Craddick.
A list of 83 supporters released by Phelan on November 4 included both Democrats and Republicans but excluded some of the Tea Party wing of Republicans as well as many of the chamber’s most liberal Democrats, who likely weren’t approached for their support.
Also missing from the list are many of the key figures from the Joe Straus era, some of whom harbored ambitions to become speaker in 2018 before Bonnen outmaneuvered them: Drew Darby, Dan Huberty, Tan Parker, and Four Price, for example. This suggests either that Phelan didn’t approach these lawmakers for their support, or that they didn’t agree to support him.
In 2018, many of Bonnen’s key supporters in the speaker’s race were younger or middle-aged business-minded social conservatives from suburban areas or small cities, like Jeff Leach, an attorney; Greg Bonnen, a physician; Craig Goldman, a businessman; Giovanni Capriglione, an investor; and Phelan himself.
They outflanked other speaker candidates with generally older, rural backing. Leach, Greg Bonnen, Goldman, and Capriglione all backed Phelan this year, as did Cody Vasut, the successor to Speaker Dennis Bonnen in his district (Bonnen did not run for reelection).
Phelan’s initial list of 83 supporters was missing quite a few GOP representatives from rural areas, like ‘Doc’ Anderson, Cecil Bell, Travis Clardy, and Ernest Bailes. Some of them may have been supporting the candidacy of Trent Ashby, who represents a largely rural East Texas district.
In all, about 30 Democrats backed Phelan’s bid, among them Rafael Anchía, Ana Hernandez, Joe Moody, and Senfronia Thompson. These four served in leadership roles in the Bonnen era, with Thompson chairing the Public Health Committee, Hernandez serving as vice chair of Phelan’s own State Affairs Committee, Moody serving as Speaker Pro Tem and vice chair of the powerful Calendars Committee, and Anchía chairing the International Relations and Economic Development Committee.
Freedom Caucus Split
One key difference between the 2020 speaker’s race and the 2018 race was the level of division within the Freedom Caucus, which did not keep a united front over the speakership.
In 2018, Bonnen attracted minimal support from the hard-right, libertarian-leaning Freedom Caucus. Some of its members antagonized him throughout his speakership.
Phelan this year has attracted greater support from this group. However, that’s not necessarily because Phelan is ideologically any closer to the Freedom Caucus than Bonnen was; the Freedom Caucus-aligned Empower Texans rates Phelan an “F” on its legislative scorecard.
One factor is that the Freedom Caucus itself has moderated its opposition to the GOP mainstream. Jonathan Stickland, the group’s most combative member, did not seek reelection. Major donors to the caucus funded fewer challengers in GOP primaries this year, as GOP factions sought to close ranks in the face of a Democratic threat.
A major downturn in oil prices is also hitting the pocketbooks of oilmen who have funded many of the current and former Freedom Caucus members. A company heavily indebted to the Wilks brothers, once called the “largest political donors in America,” recently filed for bankruptcy.
Another factor could be regional: Phelan’s supporters include the Freedom Caucus chair, Mayes Middleton, whose coastal district adjoins Phelan’s native Jefferson County, as well as Briscoe Cain, also from a nearby county. Other Freedom Caucus supporters include Matt Krause, Matt Shaheen, Valerie Swanson, and Steve Toth.
The members of the caucus opposing Phelan are Matt Schaefer, Tony Tinderholt, and Kyle Biederman. Last week Biederman left the caucus, citing differences within the group over the speaker’s race and frustration over the ascendance of what he called a “Team Bonnen” candidate.
Speaker Plans
During a brief November 4 press conference at the Texas Capitol to announce his win in the speaker’s race, Phelan gave few clues about what he would prioritize during the upcoming legislative session.
He said, “I love the Texas House of Representatives, and we’re going to maintain its integrity and its bipartisan work ethic. And we will come together to face a budget deficit, COVID-19, and redistricting next session together. And that’s my promise to every member of the Texas House.”
He said that he would set his priorities after speaking further with other House members.
“Everyone has different goals this session and different things they want to accomplish. This was a very short speaker’s race, obviously. Typically this lasts a year. This lasted a week. So the opportunity to go out and meet members one-on-one to hear what was impacting their community — that was not able to be accomplished. But it will be between now and session.”
“I want voices from all corners of the state to weigh in on that, and our new members-elect.”
