Lubbock celebrates native Dustin Burrows’ rise to Texas House speaker

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LUBBOCK — The biggest city in the South Plains is nearly 400 miles from the Texas Capitol. And yet, it feels closer than ever now that state Rep. Dustin Burrows is the Texas House speaker.

It’s become a point of pride for the area. Burrows is the first speaker from west of Interstate 35 — a symbolic divide in the state — since Midland’s Rep. Tom Craddick, who stepped down in 2009. Before him, former state Rep. Pete Laney, a Democrat from Hale Center, was heralded for his bipartisanship as speaker.

Burrows’ win has also brought a sense of optimism to an area that can get lost in the shuffle of business at the Capitol. The lawmaker was born and raised in Lubbock, where he showed pigs at livestock shows and later served as a livestock judge himself. He earned two degrees from Texas Tech University, and honored his alma mater at the Capitol in 2023, along with his fellow Lubbock Rep. Carl Tepper.

His constituents say he knows and understands the needs in West Texas, along with the rural communities surrounding it, including water supply, agriculture, and property tax relief. With a rural lawmaker at the helm of the Texas House, West Texans are hopeful their needs will be acknowledged more this legislative session. As speaker, Burrows has wide discretion over what legislation wins approval in the state’s lower chamber.

“We’re glad to see someone sitting in the speaker’s office that’s got some rural roots,” said David Gibson, a past president of the Texas Agriculture Council and a corn producer in Burrows’ district. “He and his staff have a real understanding of agriculture and water issues, and his door’s always been open to us in agriculture.”

Burrows graduated from Monterey High School and Texas Tech University. He is prominently featured in local commercials for the Lubbock law firm he works at — even while the Texas GOP ran commercials last month in the area calling him a sell-out for challenging the party’s favored nominee state Rep. David Cook.

After a monthslong battle within the Republican party for the seat, Burrows emerged with the gavel in hand thanks in large part to Democrats. A majority of Republicans supported Cook of Mansfield. Burrows’ victory was not celebrated universally among Republicans. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the Texas Senate, said Burrows was handed the speakership by Democrats.

Some of that sentiment was closer to home. Residents in the Panhandle, just north of Burrows’ district, called the lawmaker “Dade Phelan v.2,” a reference to the last House speaker, on social media and expressed disappointment in the outcome. Rep. Caroline Fairly of Amarillo supported Burrows, while her fellow longtime Rep. John Smithee voted for Cook.

It’s an interesting progression. Just five years ago, Burrows resigned as the chair of the House GOP Caucus for colluding with then-Speaker Dennis Bonnen and a right-wing activist group to oust other GOP members in an upcoming primary. With work in the legislature just starting, all eyes — from the far-flung rural pockets of the state to politically-centric Austin — are on Burrows and his leadership abilities.

“His whole lawmaker profile is almost like somebody who failed, but got back up on their feet and excelled,” said Drew Landry, a government professor at South Plains College. “This is the type of leadership everybody can relate to.”

Burrows has long boosted local projects in the House. He helped lead the efforts to start the Texas Tech University School of Veterinary Medicine. Burrows also established an endowment fund worth billions of dollars to fund research projects at Texas Tech and other university systems.

That doesn’t mean areas outside of West Texas will be neglected. Landry, who was Burrows’ Democratic opponent in 2018, thinks he will let every representative have a say. This includes Democrats — something Burrows’ fellow Republicans were against to begin with. Burrows expressed as much after his win.

“I commit to you today, every member will have a voice,” Burrows said after winning the speakership. “Every district will have a seat at the table.”

Burrows said he would let the Republican-led chamber vote who can lead committees, and the House voted on their rules last week. Under the new rules, committees will only be led by a member from the majority party — Republicans — while the minority party will have vice chairs.

This gives Democrats some power-sharing abilities in the chamber, though not as much as having them chair committees. Still, Burrows received criticism for the change. Landry said there will likely be more disagreements between Burrows and Lt. Gov. Patrick. However, unlike the times when Patrick and Phelan regularly traded insults on social media, Landry said Burrows isn’t the type to do the same.

“Speaker Burrows is a tight-lipped guy, he’ll only talk when he really has something to say,” Landry said. “It would seem uncharacteristic for Burrows to have a public fight, but this is an uncharacteristic position.”

In the weeks leading up to the vote, political action committees sent text message ads against Burrows, some of which reached the rural Texas Panhandle. Suzanne Bellsnyder, a former legislative affairs consultant and owner of the Hansford Reporter Statesman newspaper, said she was angry when she received text messages slamming Burrows.

“We don’t get a lot of news or information,” Bellsnyder said. “So the ability of that billionaire group to buy marketing and push it into our communities angered me on some level.”

Bellsnyder, a Spearman resident, is a lifelong Republican and says she has never voted against the party. Still, she couldn’t get behind the tactics the state GOP was using, including threats to censure lawmakers who supported Burrows. Bellsnyder said the tactics are less effective in rural Texas — areas that are full of small towns and tight-knit communities, which give residents a chance to really know their lawmakers.

“It just doesn’t stick because we know better,” Bellsnyder said. “It’s what makes our smaller regions more impactful than others, because we do know our people.”

Bellsnyder became a vocal advocate for Burrows through social media. Her arguments largely revolved around what rural Texas needs to survive, and how she didn’t think Cook was going to help them. Going against Burrows was going against the best interests of rural communities, Bellsnyder said.

She also took notice of where the representatives she supported stood on the issue — and they were backing Burrows.

“Where were all the rural Republicans that I identify with? They were in Burrows’ camp,” Bellsnyder said.

Since the speaker vote, the ads against Burrows have stopped. The commentary took longer to taper off.

True Texas Project, a far-right group, took to social media to call Burrows’ election “illegitimate” because he was chosen by a majority of Democrats. Others have labeled him as a “RINO” — or a Republican in name only — despite his role in passing laws that suggest otherwise. This includes laws that limit the power of cities and counties to pass progressive policies, lowering property taxes, and rallying against stricter gun laws.

“That is a completely false narrative that’s baseless,” said David Bruegel, chairman of the Lubbock County GOP. “He has been steadfast in support of party issues. Not just as a “Yes” vote, but by authoring and championing legislation.”

Burrows’ hometown supporters were proud to see the representative prevail. Lubbock Mayor Mark McBrayer congratulated Burrows, saying the city is fortunate to have a “strong, conservative leader” and he’s looking forward to the city council working closely with him.

“There was never any doubt that West Texas stood behind Dustin,” McBrayer said in a statement to the Tribune. “We need his strong voice and leadership in Austin.”

Landry, the government professor, said Burrows is the ultimate West Texas story. What he does with the power remains to be seen.

“Burrows has faced challenges both within and outside of his party,” Landry said. “I think he feels pretty comfortable because he’s won all of them.”

Disclosure: Texas Agriculture Council and Texas Tech University have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.