Updated at 2:16 p.m. to include a statement from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

AUSTIN — Mired by a scandal of his own making, embattled House Speaker Dennis Bonnen announced Tuesday morning he would not seek reelection to the Texas House and would give up his gavel after a growing number of his own caucus had called for his resignation.

“After much prayer, consultation, and thoughtful consideration with my family, it is clear that I can no longer seek re-election as State Representative of District 25, and subsequently, as Speaker of the House," the Republican speaker said in a prepared statement.

Though he will not seek reelection, Bonnen did not immediately resign. He will continue to serve until a new state representative is inaugurated in his district in January 2021. It is unclear how this will affect his duties as leader of the chamber during the interim.

On Monday, a chorus of House Republicans had called for the resignation of the third-most powerful official in Texas government, reaching a crescendo of at least 25 saying they no longer support him remaining at the head of the chamber.

Bonnen’s announcement will put an ignominious end to his 22-year career in the Texas House, to which he won election at 24 years old. Less than a year ago, the Angleton Republican had reached the top of his political career when he swiftly and unexpectedly announced he had the votes to beat seven competitors for the speaker’s gavel.

In his first term, he ruled with an iron fist and pushed through public school funding and property tax bills that Republican leadership had set as their priorities for the legislative session. His leadership on the school funding bill earned the grudging praise of Democrats, who opposed the property tax bill and some of his other priorities as strongly as they endorsed the education legislation.

But two weeks after the session ended, he had a fateful meeting with conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan that led to his downfall.

In the June meeting in his Capitol office, Bonnen and one of his top lieutenants, Rep. Dustin Burrows of Lubbock, appeared to offer Sullivan media credentials for his website’s writers if he and his affiliated political group, Empower Texans, would target 10 Republican incumbents in the 2020 primaries. Bonnen and Burrows also disparaged fellow lawmakers, mockingly calling into question the sexual orientation of a Houston lawmaker, and said they “hated” city and county governments.

They denied Sullivan’s allegations, but the drumbeat for Bonnen’s resignation began last week, when Sullivan publicly released a secret recording of the meeting. Burrows was forced to step down as chairman of the House Republican Caucus in August. He still plans to seek reelection.

“Speaker Bonnen lead a very successful 86th session and I thank him for his many years of service to Texas,” Burrows said in a statement to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “His leadership is responsible for great achievements for taxpayers, public education and he has been a great ally for Texas Tech and West Texas. I am proud to call him my friend.”

Sullivan, a frequent and vocal critic of GOP leadership in Texas, said in a tweet: “Disgraced #txlege Speaker [Bonnen] just announced he is not seeking re-election. The unethical stain he placed on the Texas GOP and the House can begin to be cleaned away.”

Disgraced #TxLege Speaker @RepDennisBonnen just announced he is not seeking re-election. The unethical stain he placed on the @TexasGOP and the House can begin to be cleaned away. — Michael Quinn Sullivan (@MQSullivan) October 22, 2019

Calling it both a sad and good day for Texas, Sullivan said Bonnen could have “behaved ethical. He could have recanted privately. He instead chose lies, deceit, dishonor, and ruin. He has gone from 3rd constitutional officer in Texas to a cautionary tale.”

Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statement responding to Bonnen’s announcement that praised the speaker for his conservative achievements in the past session and applauded his “passion and vigor.”

“Looking ahead to 2020, the Republican Party of Texas must unite and work together to retain a majority in the Texas House,” Abbott said. “I am redoubling my efforts to ensure we achieve that goal. All Republican House members have a list of accolades that makes them worthy of reelection, and I will work with each of them to tell that story to voters in their district.”

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who had called for the release of the recording weeks ago, said: "Many Republican House members have stood up in support of new leadership for the Texas House. I stand with Governor Abbott and will work over the next 13 months to elect Republicans and ensure the GOP maintains control of the Texas House — the future of Texas depends on it.”

At the fall retreat for the House Republican Caucus on Friday, lawmakers failed to convince Bonnen not to seek reelection and instead opted to condemn his and Burrows’ actions. But a move by Bonnen to offer his resignation and force a vote at the meeting appeared to stoke the flames of opposition from lawmakers who felt he was putting the caucus in a no-win situation.

On Monday night, five top lawmakers called for “an expedient, deliberate and well-planned transition" to replace him.

Reps. Four Price of Amarillo, Dan Huberty of Humble, Chris Paddie of Marshall, Lyle Larson of San Antonio and John Frullo of Lubbock said they informed Bonnen earlier Monday night they could no longer support him. They said they wanted to go beyond the caucus’s statement Friday night condemning Bonnen’s comments in his meeting with Sullivan.

“It is clear that trust and confidence in the Speaker has significantly eroded among our membership, and the matter has both damaged the reputation of the House and relationships among individual members,” the members said in a prepared statement. “The House Republican Caucus issued an official statement condemning the conduct of Speaker Bonnen and Representative Burrows that we helped draft and fully support; however, we individually and collectively want to further express our belief that a leadership change is necessary.”

The five lawmakers said that House members intend to build on this year’s successful legislative session when they return in 2021 but that they can’t with Bonnen at the helm.

“Without a change in House leadership, the existing damage will continue to metastasize, and our efforts will be overshadowed and become increasingly difficult,” they said in their statement. “This issue is larger than any one individual, office, meeting or statement. Speaker Bonnen is our colleague and our friend; but we believe an expedient, deliberate and well-planned transition is needed for the House and best for Texas.”

The defection by these five lawmakers was significant because Bonnen named four of them — Larson, Paddie, Price and Huberty ― as committee chairmen in this year’s session.

After their statement, the floodgates opened. Reps. Phil King of Weatherford, Sarah Davis of West University Place, Dan Flynn of Van, Hugh Shine of Temple and Jay Dean of Longview also called for Bonnen’s resignation.

“I strongly encourage Speaker Bonnen to resign as speaker and obviously withdraw all support for any effort by him to serve next session as speaker,” King told the Quorum Report.

In a tweet, Davis called on Bonnen to resign and said she would submit a letter to the House Republican Caucus on Tuesday asking for another meeting on the issue. Flynn, one of Bonnen’s strongest supporters just days ago at the caucus retreat, said on Twitter that after hearing concerns from his constituents he could no longer support him.

After hearing the concerns expressed by my constituents in House District 2, I cannot continue my support for Speaker Bonnen as the Leader of the Texas House. #txlege — Dan from Van (@Dan_Flynn) October 22, 2019

Earlier in the day, Reps. Steve Allison of San Antonio and Lynn Stucky of Denton had also called for Bonnen to step down.

By the end of the night, the number of House Republicans calling for a new speaker had grown to at least 25 out of 83. Without the support of those Republicans and without any Democrats crossing the aisle to support him, he’d fall below the 76 votes he would need to retain the gavel.

In his statement Tuesday morning, Bonnen appeared to throw a final jab at those who had publicly called for his resignation. He listed the last names of more than 40 House Republicans who had stayed silent, saying they persuaded him to not seek reelection.

“I care deeply about this body and the work we have accomplished over the years, namely, the outstanding success we achieved in the 86th Legislature,” he said. “My below colleagues have made clear that it is in the best interest of both myself and the House to move on, and I thank them for the respectful and thoughtful way in which they have convinced me to do so.”

But even some of Bonnen’s closest allies said his decision not to return was the correct one, while still heaping praise on him.

Rep. Drew Springer of Muenster tweeted: “After the Caucus retreat & talking [with] scores of colleagues in the last 48 hours it was clear the House needed new leadership to heal & unify the Republicans to maintain the majority. Dennis Bonnen lead a successful 86th & I thank him for his years of service to Texas.”

Rep. Jeff Leach of Plano tweeted: “After extensive communications with my constituents and House colleagues, I have notified Dennis Bonnen that I can no longer support him as Speaker. While he is my friend, the all-important bonds of integrity, honor and trust have been deeply damaged by his actions. And while my hope is that, in due time, those personal bonds might be restored, stepping down from the Speakership and paving the way for new Republican leadership is the right thing to do for the Texas House and for the people we are elected to serve.”

Bonnen’s troubles may not be over. The Texas Rangers on Tuesday completed their investigation into wrongdoing at the meeting and turned over their report to Brazoria County District Attorney Jeri Yenne, according to the Austin American-Statesman. Yenne said she’d decide whether to proceed with a criminal case by the end of the week.

But he and Burrows will no longer have to worry about the Texas Democratic Party’s lawsuit against Sullivan, which could have enveloped them, too. The Democrats’ lawyer, Chad Dunn, said Tuesday that the party was dismissing the suit.

“With the release of the recording in response to our lawsuit last Tuesday and the Speaker’s announcement today that he will no longer seek re-election, we have fully succeeded in what we set out to do,” Dunn said in a statement. “Case dismissed.”

The scandal may also have political ramifications in next year’s crucial presidential elections, in which Democrats are attempting to take the House for the first time since 2003. The Democratic Party has already started using Bonnen’s actions as campaign fodder.

“This is a victory for transparency and accountability. Texans are tired of politicians, like Republican Speaker Bonnen, who use backroom deals, cover-ups and outright lies to pursue power over everything," Texas Democratic Party chairman Gilberto Hinojosa said in a prepared statement. "Now more than ever, it is clear that only the election of Texas Democrats will return ethics and good governance to our great state.”