Updated at 6:30 p.m. with a profile of Bonnen at the bottom of the story.

AUSTIN —State Rep. Dennis Bonnen on Monday mowed down all remaining opponents, winning the support of virtually all members of the staunchly conservative Texas Freedom Caucus and claiming he'll replace retiring Republican Speaker Joe Straus as the GOP-controlled chamber's helmsman.

Bonnen, who is from Angleton, said he has pledges from 109 of the House's 150 members that they will vote to elect him speaker when the Legislature convenes in January. The list, which Bonnen released late Monday, named 78 Republicans and 31 Democrats. Next session, 83 Republicans will be seated in the House.

If the pledges hold, Bonnen would have a supermajority in the House GOP caucus. He currently holds the chamber's No. 2 job as speaker pro tem.

"The speaker's race is over, and the Texas House is at work," he told reporters at a Capitol news conference.

Bonnen, 46, who just won a 12th term representing his Southeast Texas district, said school finance will be the top priority of the next session.

"Having talked to numerous members, I can guarantee you that," he said. "It is time Texas took on the challenge of fixing our broken school finance system, and the Texas House will be leading, with all of us, to get that done."

Late Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott congratulated Bonnen on appearing to have the votes.

"I know from my dealings with Chairman Bonnen that no one works harder or more passionately for Texas," Abbott said. "There are a number of important and pressing issues facing Texas as we head into this next legislative session, including reforming school finance and elevating our education system, and I look forward to working [with] the new Speaker and the entire House of Representatives to address these topics and much more."

As he spoke, Bonnen was flanked by 11 current or soon-to-be House members of both parties, including former Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland.

Among the others were three from North Texas — Republican incumbents Craig Goldman of Fort Worth and Jeff Leach of Plano and Democratic newcomer Rhetta Bowers of Rowlett. In an upset last week, Bowers won the seat being vacated by GOP Rep. Cindy Burkett of Sunnyvale. Burkett gave up her seat to mount an unsuccessful race for Texas Senate.

Bonnen, who as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee has served as the House's top tax policy writer, clashed in 2015 with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the Senate.

On Monday, he, offered an olive branch.

"We stand ready to work with the governor, and of course we want to work with our friends and partners in the Senate and the lieutenant governor," he said.

Patrick released a statement congratulating Bonnen.

"I know Dennis shares my commitment and the governor's commitment to property tax and school finance reforms and I look forward to working with him on those issues and many of the other urgent challenges we are facing in the state," he said. "If the governor, the speaker and the lieutenant governor are on the same on page there is nothing Texas can't do."

Bonnen stood firm in rejecting talk from some staunch conservatives that under his leadership only Republicans would serve as committee chairmen.

Asked if he would name any Democrats as heads of the House panels, Bonnen replied, "I made it very clear [when announcing last month] that I would honor the tradition of the House of being a bipartisan chamber. I am committed to continuing that legacy of greatness that makes the Texas House stand out from other legislative bodies."

"Whether your name is on the list today or not is unimportant," he said, speaking to House members not present. "We're going to be the House. When the House stands together, it does great things."

Straus, who doesn't get to take part because he exits the House in January, nevertheless issued a written statement praising Bonnen.

"I have confidence in his leadership, intelligence and commitment to the Texas House," said Straus, a San Antonio lawmaker who served a record-tying five sessions as speaker.

Having worked very closely with Dennis Bonnen, I have confidence in his leadership, intelligence and commitment to the Texas House. Full statement: https://t.co/Gxj5gGiA0B #txlege — Joe Straus (@SpeakerStraus) November 12, 2018

But House Democratic Caucus Chairman Chris Turner of Grand Prairie stopped short of an outright endorsement.

"House Democrats remain committed, as we always have, to working with anyone who is willing to put the voters of Texas first," he said in a written statement.

"We expect any speaker to let members represent their district, and to prioritize real solutions for all Texans," he said. "I'm encouraged that Rep. Bonnen said that school finance will be the House's number one priority. That is in line with what our caucus has communicated consistently with all speaker candidates over the past year."

Neither Turner nor Dallas Rep. Rafael Anchia, a Democrat who is chairman of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, were on Bonnen's pledge list.

Nor was Bedford GOP Rep. Jonathan Stickland, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, which strongly criticized Straus last year. Other than Irving Rep. Matt Rinaldi, who lost his re-election bid last week, 11 of the dozen original members of the caucus are returning and are on Bonnen's list.

The Freedom Caucus and tea party-style activists, along with Patrick and at times Abbott, have criticized Straus' leadership as too centrist.

On Monday, though, caucus member Leach said Bonnen was the best person to lead the House next year.

"The people of Texas are counting on us to put our petty differences aside and go to work for them" on big issues like public education, providing tax relief, public safety and transportation, Leach said.

Bonnen's announcement ended an intense, several-week-long period of maneuvering. Late last month, he threw his hat in the ring after a group of about 40 Republicans met in Austin to recruit him to join the race.

Before he stepped to the dais of the Speaker's Committee Room at the Capitol on Monday, five other candidates for speaker had dropped out and endorsed him.

First to do so was House Appropriations Committee Chairman John Zerwas, R-Richmond, last month.

Over the weekend, Amarillo Republican Four Price, Weatherford Republican Phil King and former House Republican Caucus Chairman Tan Parker of Flower Mound followed suit. On Monday afternoon, Dallas Democrat Eric Johnson, widely considered a longshot, dropped out and threw his support behind Bonnen.

The remaining candidates, Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, and Rep. Travis Clardy, R-Nacogdoches, withdrew from the race Monday night. A Darby spokesman said on Twitter that Darby "texted encouragement to Chairman Bonnen," and Clardy said he looks forward to talking to him.

I am supporting Dennis Bonnen for Speaker. A Coastal friend. — Todd Hunter (@toddahunter) November 12, 2018

The speaker is chosen on the first day of a regular session by all 150 members. However, since Straus sidelined Craddick in 2009 with the backing of a lot of Democratic members, staunchly conservative GOP state representatives and party activists have demanded that the Republican caucus should select the next speaker in private meetings.

Last December, the House Republican Caucus changed its bylaws to require a candidate for speaker to receive the support of two-thirds of the caucus, at least in the first two rounds of voting. The person with the fewest votes would be dropped after each round. On the third round, the required threshold would drop to three-fifths of the caucus.

The change reflected staunch conservatives' desire to have the speaker selected purely by Republicans, eliminating any influence from Democrats. The GOP caucus is scheduled to meet Dec. 1.

But Rice University political scientist Mark Jones said that meeting is now probably drained of all drama.

"The writing's on the wall," Jones said several hours before Bonnen's news conference.

"When you have Phil King dropping out, Walter 'Four' Price dropping out, it's effectively a done deal. ... Bonnen should have no problem winning the GOP caucus nomination and then cruising to the floor," he said.

Zerwas, who said he hopes to stay on as the House's top budget writer but has no assurances from Bonnen that he will, also said the race is over.

"He certainly is very close to the number that he needs if he's not already there," he said.

Ideologically, Bonnen is "right in the middle" of the House GOP caucus, Jones said.

"There are probably some Freedom Caucus members who are not going to be happy with Bonnen being in the position and also some Team Straus members who would have preferred" Price, Darby or Zerwas, he said. "Bonnen is a Republican speaker that an overwhelming majority of the GOP caucus can get behind."

Bonnen needed personal ties and an acceptable political philosophy, Jones said. But he also needed to check a third box — that he'll defend the chamber's prerogatives.

"Something that many, even very conservative Republicans in the House want is they want somebody who will stand up to Dan Patrick and not be afraid to challenge him if needed," Jones said.

Last year, Patrick pushed a bill to restrict transgender Texans' bathroom use, as well as legislation on private school vouchers and tighter restrictions on cities' and counties' ability to raise more money from property taxes. For many House Republicans, those were unwelcome votes to cast — as party members and powerful interests back home, such as corporate leaders and school superintendents, had mixed views.

In last Tuesday's midterms, Democrats drafting on U.S. Senate hopeful Beto O'Rourke's strong performance at the top of their party's ticket posted a net gain of a dozen House seats. That trims the GOP majority in the chamber to 83, from 95 last session. Democrats surged from just 55 seats to 67.

"After the beating that Republicans took, I don't think any Republicans want to see any GOP civil war that further weakens the party," Jones said. "They only have an eight-seat majority now in the House."

Bonnen is 'combative,' 'a tough guy,' lobbyists say

Bonnen very well could be the next speaker of the House.

Nothing is certain until the gavel falls from the hand of the Texas secretary of state — who traditionally presides over the chamber's first vote on opening day, the vote for speaker — and a winner is announced.

The absence of several strong House personalities from Bonnen's pledge list Monday hints there could be more machinations before the Jan. 8 vote.

For now, though, Bonnen is the candidate to beat.

Bonnen, first elected to the House in 1996 when he was 24, worked for the House sergeant at arms while he was an undergraduate at St. Edward's University in Austin. Today, he is chairman and chief executive of Pearland-based Heritage Bank, which according to DepositAccounts.com is the 201st-largest bank in Texas.

"He's a commanding person. He's a tough guy," said lobbyist Bill Miller, co-founder of Hillco Partners, a top Austin lobbying firm. "If you go to him, be prepared — and be prepared to be argued with."

Bonnen has some Greek ancestors, Miller said he learned recently.

"Greeks rule," he said he joked with Chris Pappas, head of Houston-based Pappas Restaurants, which include Pappadeaux Seafood and Pappasitos Cantina.

"He's well-equipped to read the chamber [and be] a strong personality who will represent the House with the Senate," Miller said.

Bonnen's district in southern Brazoria and all of Matagorda counties is home to oil refineries, chemical plants and other heavy industrial facilities.

In the tax cut fights of recent sessions, Bonnen was seen as the champion of "heavy metals," the highly capitalized companies that pay both local property taxes and state business-franchise or "margins tax."

Under former Speaker Craddick, Bonnen got his first committee chairmanship, of House Environmental Regulation — an apt one, given his district.

Luke Metzger, executive director of Environment Texas, said since 2005, Bonnen has a lifetime rating of 21 percent on his group's scorecard — meaning that's how often "he has sided with the environmental side," Metzger noted. That compares with an 85 percent rating for Johnson and those of other speaker candidates who were GOP allies of retiring speaker Straus — Darby, 42 percent; Zerwas, 45 percent; and Price, 48 percent.

"I remember him being quite combative with ... pro-environment witnesses," Metzger said of Bonnen as the House's top writer of environment-related legislation. "They definitely faced a tough reception from him."