EXCLUSIVE – Ahead of President-elect Trump’s inauguration, conservatives in the most populous red state in America are launching a new Texas Republican Leadership Fund (TRLF) to elect “true” conservatives to crucial leadership roles.
Despite being led by a strongly conservative Republican governor and having a commanding majority in the legislature, the last four Texas House speakers have been elected through the support of Democrats. The result has been Democrats exercising an outsized level of power and influence in the largest Republican state in the nation. An inside track with the Texas speaker also gives Democrats significant control over some of the most important issues affecting the nation, such as enforcement of Texas’ more than 1,250 miles of border.
Alex Fairly, the TRLF’s principal donor, told Fox News Digital it is time for that to change.
TRLF, which is officially registering with the Texas Ethics Commission Tuesday and launching with $20 million of initial funding, has the support of many of Texas’ most influential leaders who are intent on making the state the definitive leader in conservative politics.
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A Texas flag attached to a bike waves in downtown Austin with the state Capitol dome in the background. (Reuters)
While he hopes that all Republicans in the Texas House will stand with the caucus to elect a conservative leader, Fairly said the $20 million will be available for use in the primaries and upcoming 2026 general election to hold elected officials “accountable” if they side with a Democratic-backed speaker.
According to Fairly, Texas conservatives are fed up with lukewarm Republicans cutting backroom deals with Democrats in the state legislature. And as Trump prepares to return to the White House in January, he said it will be more important than ever for Texas to support the new administration’s agenda through strong conservative leadership at the state level.
“Texas leads the way on many of the biggest conservative issues,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any question that having a Republican majority in the House… has a massive impact on what happens across the country and supporting President Trump and his agenda.”
This comes amid an ongoing battle in the Texas legislature over who will be the next speaker of the House. The most recent speaker, Rep. Dade Phelan, who came to power in 2021, dropped out from consideration after facing intense criticism from Republicans for failing to pass key conservative priorities such as school choice and for his role in the unsuccessful impeachment effort against vocal Trump ally Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
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Speaker Dade Phelan presides over the House, Aug. 26, 2021, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Now, the Texas House of Representatives is set to elect a new speaker on Jan. 14. There are two frontrunners: Phelan ally Rep. Dustin Burrows and Rep. David Cook, who is backed by more hardline conservatives.
After going to the Democratic side of the aisle to help him secure the necessary 76 votes to win the speakership, Burrows declared the race over.
However, Burrows’ attempt to bargain with Democrats has caused outrage from many conservatives, even including Donald Trump Jr., who said the move was not in line with voters’ election night “mandate” to Republicans.
“It’s unbelievable what is happening in Texas right now,” he said on X. “There is a group of so-called Republicans cutting a deal with liberal Democrats to elect a speaker instead of uniting behind the Republican nominee, @DavidCookTexas! Unbelievable! Republicans have a mandate!”
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Fairly said that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott “carried the load for most of the nation” on the border security issue during the “darker years” of the Biden administration. (Shelby Tauber/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Fairly, who is an entrepreneur and health care executive who has been a vocal supporter of school choice, says the race for the speakership is not set in stone. This time, he believes there is strong resolve among Texas Republicans to stop moderates from handing over control to the Democrats.
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“In spite of the progress made in this past election cycle toward… conservative priorities, there may still be work to do in the next primary cycle,” he said. “These funds will be available to help expand a true Republican majority.”
“Democrats don’t give their votes away for free, they want things in return,” he went on. “So, we end up with a House that’s not really run by the majority, it’s co-run by Democrats and a minority of Republicans. It just puts Texas in just such a weak position to accomplish what we could if we really were led by a majority of Republicans.”
“This time we’re bringing this out into the light.”