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[[University of Texas at Austin]]}}

[[University of Texas at Austin]]}}

'''Matthew McDade Phelan''' (pronounced FEE-lun, born September 18, 1975), a [[real estate]] developer from [[Beaumont]], is a [[RINO]] who became the first [[Speaker]] of the [[Texas]] House of Representatives in 52 years to be forced into a runoff in his own primary, which he lost 46-43% to a 34-year-old [[conservative]] challenger.<ref>https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/07/dade-phelan-texas-speaker-david-covey-paxton/</ref><ref>https://results.texas-election.com/races</ref>

'''Matthew McDade Phelan''' (pronounced FEE-lun, born September 18, 1975), a [[real estate]] developer from [[Beaumont]], is a [[RINO]] who became the first [[Speaker]] of the [[Texas]] House of Representatives in 52 years to be forced into a runoff in his own primary, after initially losing 46-43% to a 34-year-old [[conservative]] challenger.<ref>https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/07/dade-phelan-texas-speaker-david-covey-paxton/</ref><ref>https://results.texas-election.com/races</ref>

Phelan represents District 21 (located in the southeastern corner of the state, an area commonly known as the '''Golden Triangle''')  Unlike the [[U.S. House of Representatives]], where the party in the majority elects the [[Speaker of the House]] without cross-over voting allowed, the Speaker of the Texas House is typically elected mostly by [[Democrat]]s and [[liberal]] [[Republicans]], even though the Republican Party holds the majority. The same scenario existed in Louisiana prior to the election in 2023 of Republican [[Jeff Landry]] as governor.

Phelan represents District 21 (located in the southeastern corner of the state, an area commonly known as the '''Golden Triangle''')  Unlike the [[U.S. House of Representatives]], where the party in the majority elects the [[Speaker of the House]] without cross-over voting allowed, the Speaker of the Texas House is typically elected mostly by [[Democrat]]s and [[liberal]] [[Republicans]], even though the Republican Party holds the majority. The same scenario existed in Louisiana prior to the election in 2023 of Republican [[Jeff Landry]] as governor.