AUSTIN — Tea party-backed first-term state Rep. Scott Turner says he wants to unseat fellow Republican Joe Straus as speaker of the Texas House, The Austin American Statesman reported Saturday.
It’s the latest in a string of challenges Straus has faced from the right since assuming the post in 2009, none of which ultimately proved serious. But Turner’s announcement is unusual in that it comes so early — the Texas Legislature is not scheduled to reconvene until January 2015.