Texas House to pick new speaker, concluding brutal proxy war

11 Texas House Republicans plotted the ouster of then-Speaker Tom Craddick in 2009 .

In the end, the GOP insurgents won and with the help of a majority of House Democrats , they elected former Rep. Joe Straus of San Antonio as speaker.

One candidate from each camp is seeking the speaker’s gavel.

The Republican party has dominated every branch of Texas government since 2003 but has had a prolonged battle over what ideologies and policies to put front and center, mostly between traditional business-oriented Republicans and its more socially conservative adherents.

Phelan , as the chamber’s leader, became a figurehead of the establishment GOP and was blamed both for the failure of the school voucher bill and for Paxton 's impeachment.

The House speaker appoints committees, chooses who leads those committees and sets the pace for the flow of legislation through the chamber.

Burrows was forced to resign as House GOP Caucus chairman after being caught on tape authorizing a political activist to target 10 fellow Republicans in the primary elections.

Cook has said he will still seek out Democratic support and gained the vote of a Democrat over the weekend .