Image by Texas Observer

The Jewish leader of Texas’ State House of Representatives helped crush an anti-transgender “bathroom bill,” cementing his reputation as a moderate Republican in a state where the party has increasingly drifted rightward.

“I’m not embarrassed to say that I know how to govern without being an extremist,” House Speaker Joe Straus told the New York Times in July, when the bathroom bill was in hot contention and the far-right was calling for his ouster.

The so-called bathroom bill was the pet idea of lieutenant governor Dan Patrick, who convinced governor Greg Abbott to call a special session in the summer for the legislature to consider the matter and other far-right priorities.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Straus effectively killed the bill, and other items around taxes and spending on the Abbott agenda, leading the governor to publicly place the speaker in the cross-hairs.

“There’s no evidence he’s going to change his mind on it, and that’s why elections matter,” Abbott said in a radio interview after the bathroom bill’s failure.

Straus, who has been speaker for eight years and comes from a family of wealthy Republican fundraisers, has shrugged off the threat.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount