Johnson County Republicans voiced opposition to Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, during a Tuesday night meeting.

State Rep. Rob Orr, R-Burleson, stated at the meeting that he is “committed” for now to supporting Straus’ bid to retain the speaker’s position when the January legislative session begins. A position by Orr that several attending Tuesday’s meeting strongly opposed.

About 85 residents attended the meeting, held at Johnson County Republican headquarters in Cleburne.

Many Republicans, local and statewide, have argued Straus is not conservative enough and needs to be replaced as speaker.

The executive committee members of the JCRP voted on three items Tuesday. The first was unanimous adoption of a resolution recently passed by the Harris County Republican Party.

Simply put, the resolution calls for the release of all state representatives from any pledges. That is, promises to support and vote for a specific representative for the office of House speaker.

The resolution goes on to call for a special Republican caucus at which members [in a secret vote] would select one Republican representative for the office of speaker.

The third prong of the resolution calls for members of the Republican caucus to pledge to support the winner of [the caucus vote selection] when the full House, Republicans and Democrats, officially vote for the speaker.

A second resolution, requesting that Straus step down for “the good of the party due to the allegations against him,” passed by an 11-4 vote.

A resolution urging Orr to support state Rep. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, in the speaker’s race failed by a 5-10 vote.

“Multiple [executive committee members] voted against that due to the fluidity of the race and possibility of others entering,” said Wynne Loveless, JCRP secretary and executive committee member. “But it was understood that the crowd was in the super majority opposed to Straus.”

Orr said he intends to do what’s best for his district, which includes Johnson and Bosque counties.

“They [JCRP] called for us to have a caucus vote, so I will try to push for a caucus,” Orr said on Wednesday. “Tuesday night was a lively meeting with lively conversation. I appreciate the comments and will continue to still listen to comments across the district.

“Currently, I’m pledged to Speaker Straus and will stay committed to him unless I talk to him personally. But I am listening to the constituents and, when the time comes to take a vote, will take everything into consideration and vote in the best interests of Johnson and Bosque counties.”

Several present at the meeting said the pledge system is old and should be eliminated.

Orr addressed that concern the following day.

“The pledge is, if you’re happy with the session, you pledge your support to that speaker when they are not [presently] in the race for speaker,” Orr said. “Your integrity and word are of utmost in the legislature, and you don’t switch without first talking to the person you have the pledge with.

“Pledges also involve matters other than the speaker’s race. I’ve made a pledge to balance the budget with no new taxes, and a pledge to pass the Voter ID bill.”

Orr also voiced concerns with a vote on the matter by the Republican caucus.

“The [Texas] Constitution calls for a vote on the first day of session to elect a speaker,” Orr said. “A Republican caucus vote would be by secret ballot, and I question how that would work, because as conservatives we’re for transparency and open government. That vote would also have to happen before the actual vote [of the full House]. We have 22 freshmen representatives who have not been sworn in yet. So I’m not sure they would even be able to vote in the caucus yet.”

Orr said he’s not sure the speaker’s race is even that much of a contest given that Straus presently has about 120 pledges compared to about 12 for the next closest opponent.

For a representative to renege on a pledge could impair committee assignments, and legislation the party is working on, Orr said.

“I believe people elected me to do what’s right for the district, and I have two counties, Johnson and Bosque,” Orr said. “The Bosque County Republican Party has publicly said they will support the decision I make.”

BCRP Chairman Tom Bratcher confirmed as much on Thursday.

“We’ve encouraged our people to express their opinions and let Rob know how they feel,” Bratcher said. “But Rob has more info about what’s going on up there than I do, and he’s been a very conservative representative and real good for Bosque County, and we’re going to support him in his decision.”

Attendees at the Johnson County meeting were not so sure.

The failure of the Voter ID bill’s passage in the last session is at least partially Straus’ fault, JCRP Precinct 7 Chairwoman Freda Adams said.

“Conservative groups are looking toward Texas,” Adams said. “Because we have the best chance of digging out of this mess of any of the states. We want to make sure we don’t negate what the voters wanted. You hear the eyes of Texas are upon you. In this case, it’s the eyes of the country are upon us to see what we do.”

Adams said she doesn’t trust Straus and thinks he’s an opportunist.

Precinct 12 Chairman Chad Kidder asked what Straus can do for the party that a more conservative speaker couldn’t. Kidder said he disagrees with Straus’ appointments of Democrats to committees, something Kidder said impairs Republicans ability to pass conservative legislation.

“I did love to see such a heavy turnout at the meeting,” Kidder said. “To see so many people still participating in the process even after the election.”

Precinct 32 Chairman Baker Hughes, who also serves as president of the Texas patriot tea party, voiced concern on Straus’ stance on right-to-life and other moral issues, and said Straus doesn’t qualify to stand as speaker under those issues.

Several others cited Straus’ alleged support of abortion. A charge a representative with Straus’ office labeled false on Friday.

“Speaker Straus is opposed to abortion except in cases of rape, incest or harm to the mother’s life,” Spokeswoman Tracy Young said. “The speaker also supports restrictions including parental notification and parental consent.”

TPTP board member Keith Kelly said he discussed the speaker’s race with Orr in November and at the time urged members of his group to let it play out. Having looked at Straus more closely in the last 30 days, Kelly said he now hopes to see a new speaker take office, especially given the huge majority House Republicans secured in the November election.

“Think of how much more we can get done if we have a very conservative leader as speaker,” Kelly said. “And I ask which speaker is best to defend Texas from all the legislation being pushed down on us from Washington D.C.

“I will say Rob’s been very consistent and conservative, and I’m going to have his back. I was kind of disappointed, don’t think he needs to be threatened [over his choice for speaker].

“What I’d like to see is for Speaker Straus to release all the representatives from any pledges they made two years ago, and have a heads-up race and whoever wins, wins.”