The Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the Texas House of Representatives.
For more information about the office and powers of the Speaker see Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives.
Speakers of the House of Representatives in the Congresses of the Republic of Texas.
Name | Term in office | Congress |
---|---|---|
Ira Ingram | 1836–1837 | 1st |
Branch Tanner Archer | 1837 | 2nd |
Joseph Rowe | 1838 | |
John M. Hansford | 1838–1839 | 3rd |
David Spangler Kaufman | 1840–1841 | 4th |
5th | ||
Kenneth Lewis Anderson | 1841–1842 | 6th |
Nicholas Henry Darnell | 1842–1843 | 7th |
Richardson A. Scurry | 1843–1844 | 8th |
John M. Lewis | 1844–1846 | 9th |
Speakers of the House of Representatives in the Legislatures of the State of Texas.
Name | Party | Term in office | Legislative sessions |
---|---|---|---|
William Crump | Democratic | February 16, 1846 – March 3, 1846 | 1st |
John "Red" Brown | Democratic | March 3, 1846 – March 9, 1846 | |
Edward Thomas Branch | Democratic | March 9, 1846 – March 16, 1846 | |
William Crump | Democratic | March 16, 1846 – May 1, 1846 | |
William H. Bourland | Democratic | May 1, 1846 – May 11, 1846 | |
Stephen W. Perkins | Democratic | May 11, 1846 – December 13, 1847 | |
J. W. Henderson | Democratic | December 13, 1847 – November 5, 1849 | 2nd |
Charles G. Keenan | Democratic | November 5, 1849 – November 3, 1851 | 3rd |
David Catchings Dickson | Democratic | November 3, 1851 – November 7, 1853 | 4th |
Hardin Richard Runnels | Democratic | November 7, 1853 – November 5, 1855 | 5th |
Hamilton Prioleau Bee | Democratic | November 5, 1855 – November 2, 1857 | 6th |
William S. Taylor | Democratic | November 2, 1857 – January 18, 1858 | 7th |
Matthew Fielding Locke | Democratic | January 18, 1858 – November 7, 1859 | |
M. D. K. Taylor | Democratic | November 7, 1859 – November 4, 1861 | 8th |
Constantine W. Buckley | Democratic | November 4, 1861 – December 7, 1861 | 9th |
Nicholas Henry Darnell | Democratic | December 7, 1861 – January 14, 1862 [1] | |
Vacant [1] | January 14, 1862 – February 2, 1863 | ||
Constantine W. Buckley | Democratic | February 2, 1863 – November 2, 1863 | |
M. D. K. Taylor | Democratic | November 2, 1863 – August 6, 1866 | 10th |
Nathaniel Macon Burford | Unionist [2] | August 6, 1866 – April 25, 1869 [3] | 11th |
Vacant [3] | April 25, 1869 – February 8, 1870 | ||
Ira Hobart Evans | Republican | February 10, 1870 – May 10, 1871 | 12th |
William Henry Sinclair | Republican | May 10, 1871 – January 14, 1873 | |
M. D. K. Taylor | Democratic | January 14, 1873 – January 13, 1874 | 13th |
Guy Morrison Bryan | Democratic | January 13, 1874 – April 18, 1876 | 14th |
Thomas Reuben Bonner | Democratic | April 18, 1876 – January 14, 1879 | 15th |
John Hughes Cochran | Democratic | January 14, 1879 – January 11, 1881 | 16th |
George Robertson Reeves | Democratic | January 11, 1881 – September 5, 1882 | 17th |
Charles Reese Gibson | Democratic | 1883–1885 | 18th |
Lafayette Lumpkin Foster | Democratic | 1885–1887 | 19th |
George Cassety Pendleton | Democratic | 1887–1889 | 20th |
Frank P. Alexander | Democratic | 1889–1891 | 21st |
Robert Teague Milner | Democratic | 1891–1893 | 22nd |
John Hughes Cochran | Democratic | 1893–1895 | 23rd |
Thomas Slater Smith | Democratic | 1895–1897 | 24th |
L. Travis Dashiell | Democratic | 1897–1899 | 25th |
James S. Sherrill | Democratic | 1899–1901 | 26th |
Robert E. Prince | Democratic | 1901–1903 | 27th |
Pat Morris Neff | Democratic | 1903–1905 | 28th |
Francis William Seabury | Democratic | 1905–1907 | 29th |
Thomas Bell Love | Democratic | 1907–1909 | 30th |
Austin Milton Kennedy | Democratic | 1909 | 31st |
John Wesley Marshall | Democratic | 1909–1911 | |
Sam Rayburn | Democratic | 1911–1913 | 32nd |
Chester H. Terrell | Democratic | 1913–1915 | 33rd |
John William Woods | Democratic | 1915–1917 | 34th |
Franklin Oliver Fuller | Democratic | 1917–1919 | 35th |
Robert Ewing Thomason | Democratic | 1919–1921 | 36th |
Charles Graham Thomas | Democratic | 1921–1923 | 37th |
Richard Ernest Seagler | Democratic | 1923–1925 | 38th |
Lee Satterwhite | Democratic | 1925–1927 | 39th |
Robert Lee Bobbitt | Democratic | 1927–1929 | 40th |
Wingate S. Barron | Democratic | 1929–1931 | 41st |
Fred Hawthorne Minor | Democratic | 1931–1933 | 42nd |
Coke R. Stevenson | Democratic | 1933–1937 | 43rd |
44th | |||
Robert Wilburn Calvert | Democratic | 1937–1939 | 45th |
Robert Emmett Morse | Democratic | 1939–1941 | 46th |
Homer Lakerby Leonard | Democratic | 1941–1943 | 47th |
Price Daniel | Democratic | 1943–1945 | 48th |
Claud H. Gilmer | Democratic | 1945–1947 | 49th |
William O. Reed | Democratic | 1947–1949 | 50th |
Thomas Durwood Manford Jr. | Democratic | 1949–1951 | 51st |
Reuben E. Senterfitt | Democratic | 1951–1955 | 52nd |
53rd | |||
Jim T. Lindsey | Democratic | 1955–1957 | 54th |
Waggoner Carr | Democratic | 1957–1961 | 55th |
56th | |||
Jimmy Turman | Democratic | 1961 | 57th |
Byron M. Tunnell | Democratic | 1963 | 58th |
Ben Barnes | Democratic | 1965–1969 | 59th |
60th | |||
Gus Franklin Mutscher | Democratic | 1969–1972 | 61st |
62nd | |||
Rayford Price | Democratic | 1972–1973 [4] | 62nd |
Price Daniel Jr. | Democratic | 1973–1975 | 63rd |
Bill W. Clayton | Democratic | 1975–1983 | 64th |
65th | |||
66th | |||
67th | |||
Gib Lewis | Democratic | 1983–1993 | 68th |
69th | |||
70th | |||
71st | |||
72nd | |||
Pete Laney | Democratic | 1993–2003 | 73rd |
74th | |||
75th | |||
76th | |||
77th | |||
Tom Craddick | Republican | 2003–2009 | 78th |
79th | |||
80th | |||
Joe Straus | Republican | 2009–2019 | 81st |
82nd | |||
83rd | |||
84th | |||
85th | |||
Dennis Bonnen | Republican | 2019–2021 | 86th |
Dade Phelan | Republican | 2021–present | 87th |
Burford was a Democrat…
In politics he has always been a firm and consistent Democrat of the true Jackson type.
…every office filled by an elected official incapable of taking the Test Oath would be considered vacant on April 25, 1869
The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section II, of the U.S. Constitution. By custom and House rules, the speaker is the political and parliamentary leader of the House and is simultaneously its presiding officer, de facto leader of the body's majority party, and the institution's administrative head. Speakers also perform various other administrative and procedural functions. Given these several roles and responsibilities, the speaker usually does not personally preside over debates—that duty is instead delegated to members of the House from the majority party—nor regularly participate in floor debates.
Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn was an American politician who served as the 43rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a three-time House speaker, former House majority leader, two-time House minority leader, and a 24-term congressman, representing Texas's 4th congressional district as a Democrat from 1913 to 1961. He holds the record for the longest tenure as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving for over 17 years.
The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful arm of the Texas government not only because of its power of the purse to control and direct the activities of state government and the strong constitutional connections between it and the Lieutenant Governor of Texas, but also due to Texas's plural executive.
The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. There are no term limits. The House meets at the State Capitol in Austin.
Thomas Russell Craddick is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives representing the 82nd district. Craddick was Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives from January 2003 to January 2009. He was the first Republican to serve as Speaker since Reconstruction.
The 20th Texas Legislature met from January 11 to April 4, 1887, in regular session, and from April 16 to May 15, 1888, in a called session. All members of the House of Representatives and a portion of the members of the Senate were elected in the 1886 general election.
The 1st Texas Legislature convened from February 16 to May 13, 1846, in regular session. Members of the House of Representatives and Senate were elected in December 1845, after an election on October 13, 1845, that ratified the proposed state constitution.
The 80th Texas Legislature met in regular session beginning 9 January 2007. All members of the House of Representatives and 16 members of the Senate were up for election on 7 November 2006 in the general election.
The 4th Texas Legislature met from November 3, 1851 to February 7, 1853 in its regular session and one called session. All members of the House of Representatives and about half of the members of the Senate were elected in 1850.
The 11th Texas Legislature met from August 6, 1866, to November 13, 1866, in its regular session. All members of the House of Representatives and about half of the members of the Senate were elected in 1865.
William S. Taylor (1795–1858) was an American politician that served in the Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas State Legislatures, and was Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives briefly in the Seventh Texas Legislature. Taylor, at 62, is the oldest person to assume the office of Speaker of the Texas House.
Constantine W. Buckley was an American politician in Texas who served two non-consecutive terms as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives between 1861 and 1863.
Nathaniel Macon Burford was an American politician in Texas who served as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives between 1866 and 1869. Burford was also an attorney and a state district judge, and during the Civil War, he raised and led the 19th Texas Cavalry Regiment.
The 62nd Texas Legislature met from January 12, 1971, to May 31, 1971, in regular session, and again in four more special called sessions. All members present during this session were elected in the 1970 general elections.
The 63rd Texas Legislature met from January 9, 1973, to May 28, 1973, in regular session, and again in a special called session from December 18, 1973, to December 20, 1973. All members present during this session were elected in the 1972 general elections.
The 65th Texas Legislature met from January 11, 1977, to May 30, 1977, in regular session, and again in two special called sessions. All members present during this session were elected in the 1976 general elections.
The 68th Texas Legislature met in regular session from January 11, 1983, to May 30, 1983, and in two subsequent special called sessions. All members present during this session were elected in the 1982 general elections.
The 72nd Texas Legislature met from January 8, 1991, to May 27, 1991, and in four subsequent special called sessions. All members present during this session were elected in the 1990 general elections.
The 56th Texas Legislature met from January 13, 1959, to May 7, 1959, and in three special sessions from May to August of that same year. All members present during this session were elected in the 1958 general elections. This is the most recent legislature in which the membership belonged exclusively to the Democratic Party.