To debate or not debate? Dade Phelan, David Covey trade blame over lack of political forum

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan and his Republican primary runoff challenger, David Covey, are both accusing each other of avoiding a date on the debate stage ahead of the marquee state House election next month.

In a new advertisement released Thursday, Covey, an oil and gas consultant and former Orange County GOP chairman, is continuing his line of attack against Phelan, challenging both the speaker's conservative bona fides and his border security credentials in accosting him for avoiding a debate.

"Dade Phelan has dodged every debate and public forum since the beginning of this race because he cannot defend his embarrassing record on border security,” Covey said in a statement Thursday.

Phelan, however, contends that Covey is skirting an opportunity to address Southeast Texas voters in a televised debate, painting his intraparty challenger as a political pawn for outside interests.

Over the past month Phelan has reiterated on several occasions that he is game for a debate, and accepted an invitation by the CBS and Fox TV stations in Beaumont looking to broadcast a forum between the two candidates May 7.

Phelan's campaign has called Covey's claims about reaching out to the incumbent to schedule a debate false and highlighted that as of Thursday the challenger's campaign has yet to respond to the TV stations' official debate invitation, which was sent April 1.

"Another day, another completely unsubstantiated lie from David Covey," Cait Wittman, Phelan's communications director, told the American-Statesman. "Covey’s lies are as baseless as they are tiresome, and about the only thing voters can reliably expect from him if elected."

Ducking or dodging? No political debate set for Phelan, Covey ahead of runoff

While Phelan has accused Covey of "ducking" the debate, Covey has returned fire in kind, saying Phelan is "dodging" an opportunity to address voters' concerns ahead of the May 28 runoff election.

In the March 5 primary, Covey bested Phelan by roughly 3% of the vote in House District 21, along the Texas Gulf Coast, forcing Phelan to become the first House speaker to face a runoff since the 1970s.

A political target of both Attorney General Ken Paxton after the House's May vote to impeach the state's top lawyer and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in the aftermath of a bruising legislative year at the Capitol, Phelan's opponent has garnered the unabashed support of both Republican leaders in his bid to oust the speaker from the lower chamber.

Criticizing and down playing Patrick's and Paxton's interest in the race, Phelan over the past month has gone on the offensive against Covey, painting his challenger as being solely responsible for keeping voters from hearing the candidates debate.

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"It’s been 19 days since Ducking David Covey started hiding from SETX voters by REFUSING a local televised debate and for 19 days, Ducking David has neglected to accept the invitation, negotiate, or answer to House District 21 voters," Phelan posted to X in early April. "Instead, he is making up excuse after excuse to avoid facing me directly."

Phelan has also pushed hard against Covey's accusations that the incumbent is soft on border security, and has touted the House passage, under his leadership, of Senate Bill 4 — a far reaching border policy that allows local and state law enforcement officers to arrest, detain and deport people suspected of entering the country illegally through Texas — while also appropriating billions in funding to Gov. Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star, an $11 billion border security initiative.

"David Covey’s habit of telling lies, and repeated attempts at gaslighting Southeast Texans into believing them, are all qualities that make him the best candidate for the position of a snake oil salesman — not State Representative for House District 21," Wittman said.

It remains unclear whether the two candidates will participate in a public debate ahead of the election. The last day to register to vote for the runoff is Monday. Early voting begins May 20.

"Dade Phelan has dodged debates since the beginning of the race for Texas House District 21," Covey said on Thursday in announcing his newest campaign ad. "Why? Dade Phelan can’t defend his liberal record to the people of Southeast Texas."

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Nick Maddux, a general consultant for Covey, in a statement Thursday reiterated the campaign's frustration with Phelan over the debate and took issue with the arrangements for the April 1 offer from the news stations and over its potential moderator.

"He has been unwilling to answer to constituents," Maddux said of Phelan. "He simply cannot defend his liberal record to the people of Southeast Texas."

The speaker's second challenge

If Phelan comes out ahead in the runoff, he'll likely face a separate challenge to his speakership from Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress, who announced last month that he would seek the House's top spot in 2025.

Echoing the concerns of the House's far-right flank, Oliverson contends, as Covey does, that Phelan has afforded Democrats too much power in the chamber by offering the minority party committee chairmanships and that Republicans, who hold a majority, should have sole responsibility in electing House leadership and deciding policy.

Regardless of the outcomes in the upcoming runoff election and potential speakership battle, Phelan has already made a reluctant piece of House history in being forced into a runoff.

The most recent Texas House speaker to be ousted in his own party's primary was Rayford Price, a conservative Democrat, in 1972. He was defeated by a progressive Democrat, Fred Head, who was a sitting House member who moved to Price's district to challenge the speaker, according to "The House Will Come to Order," a history of the Texas House speakership published in 2010.

Statesman reporter John Moritz contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas election: House speaker, challenger at odds over lack of debate