Posted on 03/06/2024 7:57:45 AM PST by 11th_VA
The shockwaves rippled up and down the ballot as incumbent state House members, judges and other state leaders were forced into runoffs or defeated outright
Texas voters on Tuesday handed more power to the insurgent wing of the Republican Party in an expensive and vengeful primary election, punishing GOP lawmakers, judges and a House speaker who defied hard-right state leaders and their supporters in recent years.
The shockwaves rippled up and down the ballot. Most notably, Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, was forced into a runoff with a well-funded challenger, David Covey, after being targeted by ultra-conservative donors and activists, who faulted the second-term speaker for declining to stop the impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton last May.
Paxton backed Covey in the primary, along with many other conservative challengers targeting House members who voted for his impeachment. Joining him in a fight against House incumbents was Gov. Greg Abbott, who targeted those opponents of his signature school voucher program...
Few who landed in the crosshairs of Abbott and Paxton emerged from the bruising primary unscathed.
“What a HORRIBLE night it has become for the corny establishment in Austin,” Michael Quinn Sullivan, publisher of the ultra-conservative Texas Scorecard, wrote on X as the returns came in.
Abbott said in a statement that the election “sent an unmistakable message” that Republican primary voters are in favor of school choice and vowed to continue helping those candidates as they continue their trek to Austin.
“When school choice opponents lost every argument on policy, they resigned to campaign lies—but they couldn’t fool Texas voters,” Abbott said.
Six Texas House Republicans who fought Abbott’s attempt to create a school voucher program in Texas lost their primaries to pro-voucher candidates, while another four were forced into runoffs to defend their rural districts.
Voters also ejected three Republican judges from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s highest criminal court, including Chief Justice Sharon Keller, who garnered less than 40% of the vote. Paxton sought to oust the three judges after they ruled in 2021 that his office didn’t have the power to unilaterally prosecute voter fraud.
"Tonight, Texans have spoken loud and clear,” Paxton said in a statement after judges he campaigned against lost their primaries.
Three Republican members of the Texas State Board of Education were struggling late Tuesday as well, with incumbents Tom Maynard and Pam Little being forced into runoffs and Pat Hardy poised to lose her seat altogether...
The primaries were a mix of ego, personality and policy — and in many cases it was hard to suss out how much each factor played in individual campaigns. In some races, such as the defeats of GOP House members Hugh Shine, Glenn Rogers and Steve Allison, the incumbent was opposed by both Paxton and Abbott.
In others, loyalties were mixed. Paxton, for instance, backed a candidate who forced out state Rep. Jacey Jetton, a Richmond Republican and voucher supporter whom Abbott had endorsed. Paxton also backed Dallas salon owner Shelley Luther, who made a name for herself during the pandemic when she was arrested for defying Abbott’s COVID-19 orders. She won her primary against state Rep. Reggie Smith, R-Sherman, who was targeted both by Paxton and by pro-voucher groups...
Did you see how the “propositions” did? They were all pretty much no-brainers.
YES!! Didn’t have high hopes BUT the invaders situation is VERY VERY STRONG here and texans have had enough! I LOVE MY TEXAS!
“Insurgent”=Candidates with a backbone and conservative principles.
No BI-ASS in this article, right?
Insurgent? …heck, I’ll take that title! It is a badge of honor after last night!
Wow, that very first sentence has:
* insurgent wing
* expensive
* vengeful
* punishing
* hard-right
What about “Our Democracy”? Shouldn’t the writer be extolling how “Our Democracy” is alive, vibrant and WORKED in Texas instead of packing the very first sentence with emotional, negative pejoratives?
Insurgent:
1. Rising in revolt against a government or other established authority.
2. Rebelling against the leadership of a political party.
3. Rising in opposition to civil or political authority, or against an established government; insubordinate; rebellious.
Somebody call?
(Glad to hear the news about Texas.)
Yes, the hate just leaps off the page. See Tagline.
don’t forget “hard-right”, i.e., the appellation applied by the leftist fascist media to non-RINO, actual conservative Republicans ...
you don’t suppose that the texas tribune is a hard-leftist fascist propaganda organ media outlet, do you?
Good point.
I never hear anyone in the mainstream media call the “Squad” the “far left” wing of the democrats...
What is “suss out” according to this angry communist writer?
Please please, President Trump listen to Matthew Boyle, what his advice is to you as far as winning the blue-collar workers in Virginia etc. Please heed his advice. He made a lot of sense and if you want to beat FJB and his hoard of powerful billionaire’s money, and the mediapukes this is the way! he is from the Washington Bureau chief breitbart news, Matthew Boyle. Please, President Trump please listen to the advice he’s giving you if you want to beat the DC swamp along with the powerful rats supporters who are going to come at you like a speeding train in the coming months….advice:You have to go around them! EXCELLENT ADVICE to win this election. SAVE AMERICA 🇺🇸
Would like to have seen Phelan defeated instead of a run-off. One more hurdle to jump.
“... the insurgent wing of the Republican Party”
I think the term is “Republican Base”, otherwise RINOs would have easily been re-elected.
That's the way a pussy says 'figure out'.
Can I steal that phrase for my Tagline? I've been waiting for just the verbiage.
I guess that makes us Deplorable Ultra MAGA Insurgents. That has a nice ring to it.
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