List of speakers of the Texas House of Representatives

Last updated August 05, 2024

The Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the Texas House of Representatives.

Republic of Texas

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	2nd
John M. Hansford	1838–1839	3rd
David Spangler Kaufman	1840–1841	4th
David Spangler Kaufman	1840–1841	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

State of Texas

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	7th
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	11th
Ira Hobart Evans	Republican	February 10, 1870 – May 10, 1871	12th
William Henry Sinclair	Republican	May 10, 1871 – January 14, 1873	12th
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	31st
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
Coke R. Stevenson	Democratic	1933–1937	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
Reuben E. Senterfitt	Democratic	1951–1955	53rd
Jim T. Lindsey	Democratic	1955–1957	54th
Waggoner Carr	Democratic	1957–1961	55th
Waggoner Carr	Democratic	1957–1961	56th
Jimmy Turman	Democratic	1961	57th
Byron M. Tunnell	Democratic	1963	58th
Ben Barnes	Democratic	1965–1969	59th
Ben Barnes	Democratic	1965–1969	60th
Gus Franklin Mutscher	Democratic	1969–1972	61st
Gus Franklin Mutscher	Democratic	1969–1972	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

Notes

1 2 Darnell resigned some time in 1862 to fight in the Civil War, and Buckley was apparently not re-elected until the beginning of the First Called Session on February 2, 1863
↑
Two sources, one contemporary, say Burford was a Democrat:
- Perez, Joan Jenkins. "Burford, Nathaniel Macon". Handbook of Texas Online . Retrieved January 25, 2007. Burford was a Democrat…
- "Burford, Nat. Macon". Biographical Encyclopedia of Texas. New York: Southern Publishing Co. 1880. pp. 72–3. OCLC 1843096 . Retrieved January 25, 2007. In politics he has always been a firm and consistent Democrat of the true Jackson type.
1 2 Moneyhon, Carl H. "Reconstruction". Handbook of Texas Online . Retrieved January 25, 2007. …every office filled by an elected official incapable of taking the Test Oath would be considered vacant on April 25, 1869
↑ Price served as Speaker for the 2nd through the 4th Called Sessions

Related Research Articles

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 3rd Texas Legislature met from November 5, 1849 to December 3, 1850 in its regular session and two called sessions. All members of the House of Representatives and about half of the members of the Senate were elected in 1849.

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 10th Texas Legislature met from November 2, 1863 to November 15, 1864 in its regular session and two called sessions. All members of the House of Representatives and about half of the members of the Senate were elected in 1863.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Catchings Dickson</span> American politician (1818–1880)

David Catchings Dickson was an American politician and physician in early Texas who served as the ninth Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives and as the fourth Lieutenant Governor of Texas. He was also a State Senator and unsuccessfully ran for governor of Texas.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicholas Henry Darnell</span> American politician

Nicholas Henry Darnell was an American politician in Tennessee and Texas. He was the only person to serve as Speaker of the House of the Republic of Texas House of Representatives and the State of Texas House of Representatives. He was a member of the Tennessee General Assembly prior to his move to Texas, and during the Civil War raised and led the 18th Texas Cavalry Regiment, which was also known by the name of "Darnell's Regiment."

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 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 81st Texas Legislature began meeting in regular session on January 11, 2009. The regular session adjourned sine die on June 1, 2009.

References

Legislative Reference Library of Texas (May 6, 2006). "Speakers of the Texas House of Representatives, 1846-present". Archived from the original on July 25, 2010. Retrieved January 11, 2007.
Sorensen, Stephanie S. (2006). "Speakers of the Texas House of Representatives" . Retrieved January 23, 2007.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[Darnell-1] 1 2 Darnell resigned some time in 1862 to fight in the Civil War, and Buckley was apparently not re-elected until the beginning of the First Called Session on February 2, 1863

[2] Two sources, one contemporary, say Burford was a Democrat:
Perez, Joan Jenkins. "Burford, Nathaniel Macon". Handbook of Texas Online . Retrieved January 25, 2007. Burford was a Democrat…
"Burford, Nat. Macon". Biographical Encyclopedia of Texas. New York: Southern Publishing Co. 1880. pp. 72–3. OCLC 1843096 . Retrieved January 25, 2007. In politics he has always been a firm and consistent Democrat of the true Jackson type.

[mwAsM] Perez, Joan Jenkins. "Burford, Nathaniel Macon". Handbook of Texas Online . Retrieved January 25, 2007. Burford was a Democrat…

[mwAsw] "Burford, Nat. Macon". Biographical Encyclopedia of Texas. New York: Southern Publishing Co. 1880. pp. 72–3. OCLC 1843096 . Retrieved January 25, 2007. In politics he has always been a firm and consistent Democrat of the true Jackson type.

[Burford-3] 1 2 Moneyhon, Carl H. "Reconstruction". Handbook of Texas Online . Retrieved January 25, 2007. …every office filled by an elected official incapable of taking the Test Oath would be considered vacant on April 25, 1869

[4] Price served as Speaker for the 2nd through the 4th Called Sessions

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]