CONTROL OF TEXAS Rep. Brian Harrison: “The only way Texas turns blue is if Republicans believe it never could.” True. And there's another danger Republicans need to confront: Electing more Republicans than Democrats doesn't necessarily mean Republicans control the government. Texas Republicans have held a majority in the Texas House for more than two decades. Yet disputes over who actually controls the House have continued, particularly when it comes to electing the Speaker and assigning committee leadership. Consider what happened with Dustin Burrows. The Republican caucus selected David Cook as its nominee for Speaker. Burrows nevertheless pursued the position and ultimately won with the support of 36 Republicans and 49 Democrats. Republicans had the majority. Democrats supplied the votes that made Burrows Speaker. And the controversy didn't end there. Republican voters had overwhelmingly expressed their opposition to Democratic committee chairmanships. House leadership subsequently eliminated Democratic committee chairs but created vice-chair positions that only Democrats could hold. Critics saw this as a way around the voters' expressed wishes. The anger was hardly confined to a handful of activists. Burrows was loudly booed when he appeared before the Republican state convention. This raises a fundamental question: What good is electing a Republican majority if that majority doesn't consistently exercise the authority voters elected it to exercise? Republicans cannot assume that controlling the ballot box automatically means controlling the institutions of government. A Republican majority that cannot be held accountable to Republican voters risks becoming a majority in name only. The people of Texas have the power to hold their elected representatives accountable. The ballot box is where that accountability becomes real.