LUBBOCK, Texas — Dustin Burrows, a state representative from Lubbock, resigned as the House GOP Caucus Chairman. The resignation was announced Friday and Stephanie Klick will replace Burrows as the chair.

Burrows and Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen were publicly accused in July of offering media credentials to a conservative activist group in exchange for targeting certain Republicans for public criticism.

Michael Q. Sullivan is the CEO of the conservative activist group Empower Texans. Sullivan claimed to have secretly recorded a meeting between himself, Bonnen and Burrows.

Bonnen publicly apologized for saying terrible things. Burrows has not so far made a public statement.

The Lubbock County Republican Party issued the following statement:

The Lubbock County Republican Party respects Representative Burrows’ decision to resign as the Chair of the Texas Republican Caucus.

Representative Burrows has led the way in supporting conservative issues in West Texas and securing a vet school for Texas Tech.

The Lubbock County Republican Party continues to support our elected officials who strive to instill conservative values into our community.

We renew our call for Empower Texans to release the unedited audio in full, so the allegations can be addressed and everyone can move on.

The Texas House Republican Caucus released the following correspondence.

August 16, 2019

Dear Members:

The executive committee has met and accepted the resignation of Rep. Dustin Burrows as Caucus chair. Pursuant to Section 7.06 of the Bylaws of the Texas House Republican Caucus (the “Bylaws), Rep. Stephanie Klick, as Caucus vice chair, was elevated to chair and shall serve in that capacity until the next biennial election of caucus officers prior to the commencement of the 87th Legislature Regular Session.

Pursuant to Section 7.06 of the Bylaws, an election of the membership to replace the Caucus vice chair shall conclude on September 13, 2019. Voting will be by mail or electronically as is our customary practice during the interim, and further details regarding nominations and voting procedures will be forthcoming from Jordan Wat.

Please do not hesitate to contact any of us with your questions.

Best regards,

Stephanie Klick, Chair

Dan Huberty, Treasurer

Craig Goldman, Secretary

Scott Sanford, Policy Committee Chair

Texas Democratic Party Executive Director Manny Garcia issued the following statement:

Where there is smoke, there is fire. Presumably Chair Burrows had good reason to resign. Texans deserve full transparency. It’s time for the full recording to be released.

While the Texas Republican Party is plagued with a deepening scandal, Texas Democrats remained focused on winning back the House.