The newly elected Texas House Speaker, Dustin Burrows, is well positioned to bring school choice to Texas and achieve other long sought conservative goals.

AUSTIN, Texas and LUBBOCK, Texas (KBTX/KWTX/KCBD) - Texas House members Tuesday afternoon elected Rep. Dustin Burrows of Lubbock to one of the most powerful positions in state government, Speaker of the Texas House, for the 89th Texas Legislature.

Texas has a powerful new House speaker after years of escalating Republican infighting. Dustin Burrows won the job on Tuesday with the support of Democrats who favored him over a challenger backed by the GOP’s emboldened hard right.

As people and businesses move to Texas in droves, state Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, has a plan to create a dedicated funding stream to help local utilities purchase more water and upgrade their infrastructure.

Conservative activists in the GOP caucus called any power sharing with the minority party a betrayal of Republican voters.

AUSTIN – Shortly after Lubbock Republican Rep. Dustin Burrows was elected Texas House speaker, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick questioned the legitimacy of his victory and issued a legislative challenge. Perhaps it was a threat. Pass conservative measures or else, Patrick suggested in a social media post and news release.

AUSTIN — Texas House lawmakers elected Republican Rep. Dustin Burrows as speaker Tuesday, shortly after the Legislature’s 89th regular session began.

Burrows bested challenger David Cook (R-Mansfield) in a runoff vote on the first day of the Texas Legislature in Austin.

The 89th Texas Legislative session kicked off with the swearing-in of new Speaker David Burrows, a republican from Lubbock.

The biggest thing to watch on day one of Texas’ 89th legislative session? Who the Texas House of Representatives chooses to be the next House speaker.

AUSTIN — The 89th legislative session began Tuesday with members of the Texas House electing Rep. Dustin Burrows as their new speaker after a month-long divisive battle among Republicans. Burrows won the speaker's race by a vote of 85-55.

The Texas Driving Report by LendingTree has the city of Lubbock ranked No. 4 for the best drivers in the state of Texas.