The Fight for a People's House Starts Now

Texas Rep. Ana-María Rodríguez Ramos represents House District 102, which includes parts of Dallas, Garland and Richardson. Below is an op-ed she submitted recapping her thoughts on the 89th Legislature. 

Texans deserve a government that fights for them. That’s why I ran for Speaker of the Texas House: someone had to stand up and say that it’s time we stopped giving our power away. It’s time we stopped playing by rules written by billionaires and enforced by politicians who answer to anyone but the people. Our communities deserve a real voice in a chamber that’s been shaped for too long by backroom deals and billionaire donors.

For the first time in more than two decades, a Democrat mounted a serious challenge for the gavel on the House floor. I took on that challenge to show that working Texans weren’t going to be ignored. I did it to say what too many were afraid to admit: We can’t keep surrendering power before the fight even begins.

This session laid bare how the Texas House does not work for working families. It wasn’t just the billion-dollar voucher scam, pushed through after Gov. Greg Abbott took a $12 million check from East Coast billionaire Jeff Yass. It wasn’t just the tax giveaways enshrined in our Constitution for Wall Street traders (if Texas voters approve them this November). It wasn’t even the sweeping attacks on civil rights, our LGBTQ+ siblings, public health, and local democracy, though there were plenty of those.

It was the utter surrender of Democratic leverage. When Democrats gave Speaker Dustin Burrows their votes without a fight – 38 in the first round, followed by more on the second ballot – they did so without securing a single policy concession. No deal on vouchers. No protections for public education. No checks on an extremist agenda. 55 Democrats helped 30 Republicans hand power to a man who had already pledged to pass school vouchers and led efforts to strip cities of their right to protect workers. And then they acted surprised when he did exactly what we predicted: consolidated Republican control and opened the gates for the far-right’s entire wish list, straight out of the Project 2025 playbook.

We can’t build a better future if we don’t name and learn from the mistakes of our past.

The people of Texas are not asking us to win every battle. They’re asking us to show up for every battle so we can win the war for our rights and dignity.

To show up when our public schools are under attack, when billionaires try to buy our democracy, when working families’ futures are traded away to maintain the status quo.

Texans are asking us to prove that someone is in their corner — that someone will always stand up and say, "Not on my watch."

This year, 23 of us stood together. We refused to rubber-stamp the status quo. We withheld our votes for Speaker in the first round, calling for real power-sharing and accountability. Critics called us spoilers. Some said we were naive. But the truth is, Republicans entered the session divided, factions within their party jockeying for control and undermining each other.

That kind of split could’ve stopped their agenda in its tracks if Democrats had held firm. Instead, too many rushed to align with the Speaker in hopes of symbolic wins or vice chairmanships, forfeiting their ability to oppose a Speaker whose entire program was built to dismantle public institutions and serve the ultra-wealthy. Burrows won with just 85 votes, thanks to relying on Democratic defections. The math was there. What we lacked was the unity and resolve to follow through.

Moving toward the upcoming special legislative session, we cannot afford to repeat our previous mistakes. Let’s stop negotiating against ourselves. Let’s stop settling for symbolic wins – passing small bills while working families are trampled – and start building lasting influence. Let’s stop handing power to people who serve billionaires and the status quo, and start electing leaders who answer to the people.

That fight starts in our communities, in living rooms, union halls, and town squares. It starts when everyday Texans organize to demand better, when they hold their lawmakers accountable not just for how they vote, but for who they truly serve. If we want a House that answers to the people, not to billionaires or the establishment, then we must build a movement powerful enough to make them listen.

Together, we can reclaim the People’s House, because Texas belongs to all of us, not just the wealthy few. Let’s organize, hold the line, and build the power to make that vision real.