WASHINGTON (JTA) — Joe Straus, the Jewish Republican who is speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, is retiring, in part because of disunity in his own party. Straus, first elected to the House in 2005, said in a post Wednesday on Facebook that he was leaving the speaker’s seat and the House next year…
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…
Texas lawmakers are getting ready to debate a controversial bill aimed at limiting access of transgender people to public restrooms. At the center of the battle, which could mark a turning point in America’s discussion about transgender rights, stands Joe Straus, Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives and perhaps the last moderate Republican in…
Republican Joe Straus was elected speaker of the Texas House of Representatives in late 2009, but ever since this November’s elections he has been working to fend off challenges to his leadership coming from Tea Partiers and conservatives in his own party. Above the ground, the debate is over politics and conservative values (Straus’ opponents…
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