Texas Lawmakers Ante Up For A Special Session of Texas Hold 'Em

DALLAS, TX — If you thought the shootout at the O.K. Corral got messy, pull up a chair.

Texas House Democrats may have an ace hidden in a boot somewhere, but they will be playing every card in the deck to either capsize or alter the voting rights bill that brought them out of summer recess.

Already, the Dems have sent House Speaker Dade Phelan a wish list of agenda items, including a plea to have public hearings that are fully transparent on the election proposal, Senate Bill 7, which has both conservatives and progressives licking their chops.

Should the GOP prevail, Texas will have what are arguably some of the most restrictive laws on the books governing who gets to vote, how, when and where.

Should the Democrats somehow pull off a magic trick like their quorum-busting walkout in May that torpedoed the bill, it will be another perceived blue crack in Texas' Red Wall of Invincibility that Republicans like to project.

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Another part of the letter to Phelan seeks a pledge from the Beaumont Republican not to advance any agenda items until the Legislature's funding vetoed by Gov. Greg Abbott — in retribution for thwarting his wishes — is restored.

And, while the letter drafted by Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio was signed by only half of the chamber's Democrats, it does provide some insights into strategies for the battle to come.

The House Dems tried to call Republican Phelan to a duty higher than party affiliation:

“It is a time-honored tradition for the Speaker to defend the position of the House and not bow in deference," it summarizes, "especially when the policy in question was cultivated by leaders from both sides of the aisle as specified by you and your leadership team. "

It concludes by reminding Phelan that it is "important that you communicate in no uncertain terms your intention to continue to stand up for the House and not allow the Lieutenant Governor to set the tone and the pace for the session, as he attempted to do in the final days of the 87th Regular Session.”

Clearly, the progressives believe that spilling more light on what this bill actually does will cause what little popularity it has to plummet. But, if that's their only gambit, they will likely lose.

Because Republicans already don't care what Democrats think of their bill, and they certainly don't care what people who didn't vote for them think of it, either. They govern through gerrymandering and placating their base with the reddest meat this side of the Rio Grande.

So — one way or another, this is shaping up to be a bloodbath for someone, with the most probable losers being the voters of Texas.

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