After electoral wins, Texas House Republicans confident in their agenda, unity

AUSTIN — After holding their majority in the Texas House last November, Republicans in the chamber are confident in their unity, message and agenda one month into this year’s legislative session.

And they plan to use wins from this session to pick up more seats in 2022.

“We want people in the general population to understand what the Republican brand means: freedom, families, prosperity,” said Rep. Jim Murphy, R-Houston, who leads the House Republican Caucus. “Young people, when they think ‘who are the ones thinking about the future?’ It’s us.”

Murphy said Gov. Greg Abbott’s State of the State address on Monday gave lawmakers a good starting point for priority legislation. He said House Republicans support issues like ensuring a strong economic recovery by keeping businesses running, restricting access to abortion and supporting law enforcement.

“We don’t dictate to the members their priorities. Everyone has their own flavors they want to pursue but we generally move in the same direction,” Murphy said. “These are all things that there are a host of bills filed. Some will catch on and some won’t.”

Murphy also said that increased access to broadband internet and telemedicine are issues that have gained traction during the COVID-19 pandemic.

After a fractious interim when caucus members were divided after former chairman Rep. Dustin Burrows and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen were revealed to have targeted fellow Republicans in primary elections, Murphy said the GOP Caucus is united during this legislative session.

“Everybody wants to work together and has said as much to each other. We have a pretty challenging set of circumstances that we will definitely rise to meet,” he said. “We recognize that’s going to take unity – not conformity – we don’t have to do it all in one way, and that’s OK. We’ll disagree, but we’ll have consensus.”

That unity extends to the Senate, which has often been at odds with House legislative priorities over the last decade. Murphy said the caucus has invited Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to speak to its members in an effort to build bridges with the Legislature’s upper chamber.

“It’s very much our intention to engage the senators like never before,” he said. “Like it or not, we get a group grade with our constituents. We can’t have anybody not engaged and contributing.”

Murphy also said the caucus will increase its outreach to constituents this session through social media and email newsletters. Those channels will be used to push the caucus’ vision and convince voters that Republicans are the party of supporting business and public education, Murphy said.

In the past, he said, the party’s brand had been “mischaracterized internally and externally.”

“We need to have our own voice and not have others speak for us,” he said.

The increased engagement will be part of a two-year plan which will begin with the legislative session, carry through in the interim with legislative impacts, and finish, hopefully with additional GOP pick-ups in 2022, Murphy said.

The results of the last election gave House Republicans great confidence.

“Not only was it extremely challenging because of the challenge from Democrats. You had the Trump headwind and the COVID distraction,” he said. “When you take that away for 2022, we think we’ll be in a good position.”

Still, Murphy says big challenges face lawmakers this session, including a pandemic which has changed how legislators interact with one another and the public. But he said he hopes the public will continue engaging with lawmakers.

Murphy also said he hopes to work collaboratively with Democrats on issues where there is common ground.

But the decennial redrawing of electoral districts is not one of those, he said, and he expects some disagreement.

“How do we handle it?

“Gingerly,” he said. “Like an armed bomb.”