Posts Tagged ‘Glenn Rogers’

More Texas 2024 Primary Results Tidbits

Thursday, March 7th, 2024

Now that the dust has settled a bit, here are some more election tidbits from Tuesday’s primary, most gleaned from The Texan’s tracking page.

  • President Trump got more than twice as many primary votes as Joe Biden.
  • Ted Cruz got more than twice as many votes (1,979,327) as all the Democratic Texas Senate candidates combined (964,250). And even more votes than Trump (1,808,823).
  • Trump and Cruz both won all 254 Texas counties. Joe Biden lost sparsely populated Loving County to Frank Lozada one vote to zero, and King County (small and overwhelmingly Republican) either hasn’t reported Democratic votes or didn’t hold a Democratic primary. (Both Trump and Cruz got over 70 votes in Loving County.)
  • Republican incumbent Christi Craddick won her Railroad Commissioner’s race without a runoff at 50.4%.
  • If you compare the topline race primary results of 2022 (Texas Gubernatorial race) to the Presidential primary results of 2024, Republican votes are up just over 365,000 (2,323,754 in 2024 vs. 1,954,172 for 2022), but Democrats are down over 96,000 votes (979,179 for 2024 vs. 1,075,601 for 2022).
  • The Ken Paxton slate for the Court of Criminal Appeals (David Schenck, Gina Parker, and Lee Finley) all won over their respective incumbents fairly handily.
  • The previously reported Gonzalez/Herrera runoff was the only Texas U.S. House race where the Republican incumbent was pulled into a runoff; all the others won with ease.
  • 2022 saw Republican Monica De La Cruz beat Democrat Michelle Vallejo in U.S. House District 15, the only swing district in Texas after redistricting, by nine points. November is going to see a rematch between the two, as both won their primaries. Given the ongoing border crisis (TX15 runs down to Rio Grande Valley) and both Texas Republican and Trump inroads into Hispanic voters, I would not expect Vallejo to improve on her previous showing.
  • Harris County DA Kim Ogg lost her Democratic Party primary to the more radical, Soros-backed Sean Teare. “Although Ogg had financial support from billionaire donor and criminal justice reform activist George Soros during her first campaign in 2016, Soros did not assist Ogg in her 2020 re-election bid and threw his support to Teare this election cycle. The Soros-funded Texas Justice and Public Safety PAC spent over $1.5 million in the final weeks of the campaign to help Teare unseat Ogg.” Democrats also seethed that Ogg let investigations of corruption among Judge Lina Hidalgo’s staffers go forward. How dare she not treat Democrats as above the law? Teare will face Republican nominee Dan Simons, a former assistant district attorney and defense attorney, in November. Bonus: Ogg had trouble voting because her lesbian girlfriend already cast her ballot for her. As commentor Leland noted, does Harris County not follow Texas voter ID laws?
  • Travis County residents are evidently delighted with more rapes and murders, as they just voted to keep Jose Garza DA.
  • School choice was a big winner Tuesday.

    The 2024 primary election was a major success for school choice advocates in Texas. Several opponents of education reform lost outright, others went to runoffs, and still more were electorally weakened.

    Corey DeAngelis, a school choice advocate and head of the American Federation for Children Victory Fund, released a statement touting six wins and four forced runoffs in the 13 races where his PAC was engaged.

    Throughout multiple called special sessions in 2023, the Republican-led House alternatively delayed and killed Gov. Greg Abbott’s efforts to create school choice in Texas. Ultimately, these efforts culminated with 21 Republicans voting for an amendment by John Raney (R-College Station) to strip school choice from an omnibus education measure.

    Accounting for retirements and with the runoffs still to be decided, only a handful of incumbent Republicans who sided with the teachers’ unions to kill school choice during the legislative session will be returning to Austin in 2025.

    As covered yesterday, anti-school choice incumbents defeated include Reggie Smith, Travis Clardy, Glenn Rogers, Ernest Bailes and Steve Allison, while those driven into run-offs include Justin Holland, John Kuempel, Gary VanDeaver and DeWayne Burns

  • Some State Board of Education news. “Pat Hardy, a former teacher and a veteran representing District 11, which covers parts of Fort Worth, lost her seat to challenger Brandon Hall, a youth pastor.” Also: “Another incumbent, Tom Maynard of District 10, which includes Williamson and Bell counties, will go into a May 28 runoff against Round Rock school board member Mary Bone, who describes herself as a conservative champion for Texas kids.” If Bone wins, she’ll probably make a good State Board of Education member, but Round Rock ISD desperately needs more conservatives on the board.
  • Williamson County primary results. I didn’t see any surprises there.
  • Things that make you go “Hmmmm”: “Potential Speaker Candidate Hired by Bank with Ties to Bonnen and Phelan.”

    A lawmaker rumored to be eyeing the speakership in the Texas House is employed by a bank that has connections to current House Speaker Dade Phelan and disgraced former Speaker Dennis Bonnen.

    State Rep. Cody Harris, a Republican from Palestine, was first elected to the House in 2018. At the time, he was a real estate broker for Liberty Land & Ranch LLC.

    In August of 2021, however, Harris added a new item to his resumé—Vice President of Business Development for Third Coast Bank.

    The career change is notable given the bank’s ties to the current and former speaker.

    In late 2019, Third Coast Bank acquired Heritage Bank, where Bonnen had served as President, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer. He currently sits on Third Coast’s Board of Directors.

    Phelan’s brother Lan Phelan was a director of Third Coast from 2013 until at least 2016, according to filings with the secretary of state. A 2021 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed that the bank’s Beaumont location was leased from Phelan’s family investment firm.

    Additionally, the most recent personal financial statement from Dade Phelan shows that he owns shares in Third Coast.

  • Texas 2024 Primary Election Results: Trump Triumphant, Phelan In Runoff, Phelan Cronies Slaughtered

    Wednesday, March 6th, 2024

    Lots of gratifying results came out of yesterday’s primaries. Perhaps the most gratifying is that the Straus-Bonnen-Phelan Axis, which has thwarted conservative priorities for decades, finally had a stake driven through its heart.

    First statewide and national office races:

  • President Trump crushed Nikki Haley in Texas with over 76% of the vote.
  • Indeed, Trump won every Super Tuesday primary save Vermont, where Haley eked out a win.

    Former president Donald Trump seems poised to breeze to the Republican presidential nomination after nearly sweeping the party’s Super Tuesday contests.

    By 11 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Trump had won the Republican presidential contests in at least twelve of the Super Tuesday states: Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Maine, Alabama, Massachusetts, Texas, Arkansas, Colorado, Minnesota, and delegate-rich California.

    Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, meanwhile, earned her first — and likely only — win of the night in Vermont.

    Results from caucuses in Alaska and Utah were still outstanding around 11:30 p.m. ET.

  • The results were so crushing that they managed to drive establishment catspaw Haley from the race.
  • Ted Cruz cruised to a victory with just under 90% of the vote, and will face Democrat Collin Allred in November. Allred won a clear majority in a five-way race, with Roland Gutierrez coming in at very distant second that was more than 40 points behind.
  • U.S. Representative Tony Gonzalez is headed into a runoff with YouTuber and gun rights activist Brandon Herrera.

    In the Republican primary race for Texas Congressional District 23, Brandon Herrera has taken incumbent Congressman Tony Gonzales to a runoff.

    According to unofficial totals, Gonzales captured 46 percent of the vote to Herrera’s 23 percent.

    Leading into the election, much of the discussion centered on Gonzales’ multiple censures from Republican organizations.

    The congressman had been censured by the Medina County Republican Party, which was followed by a censure from the Republican Party of Texas (RPT).

    The RPT censure was only the second time in history the party had used the maneuver for a sitting politician, the first being in 2018 with then-House Speaker Joe Staus (R-San Antonio). House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) then became the third sitting member to be censured by the State Republican Executive Committee when they approved the official resolution in February.

    Gonzales’ censure came after RPT found that he had violated the multiple tenets of the party platform with his votes in Congress.

    The incumbent Gonzales had also been criticized for his stance on border security.

    In December, he penned a letter to both Democratic and Republican federal leadership stating that he believes the border crisis could reach a “point of no return” if lawmakers do not act soon.

    The letter came after a disagreement with Congressman Chip Roy (R-TX-21) over a border security bill Roy introduced to require the detention or expulsion of illegal immigrants, which would prohibit “all asylum” claims. Gonzales has also labeled some of his GOP colleagues “insurgents” and accused 20 Republicans of planning to push “anti-immigrant” legislation under the guise of border security policy.

    The leading issue for voters statewide leading into the primary election is border security and immigration, which is represented by the vote totals in this race.

    Herrera describes himself as a “Second Amendment activist, and social media personality,” known online as “The AK Guy.”

    He proclaimed, “Texas is done with RINO’s,” during the night of the primary election.

    “The war starts now.”

    (Previously.)

  • But in Texas, the big news was that Dade Phalen, the latest in the Joe Straus/Dennis Bonnen cabal that has stayed in power with Democratic Party backing to thwart conservative priorities, is headed into a runoff with David Covey for Texas House District 21, with less than half a point separating the two.

    The Speaker of the Texas House Dade Phelan will be heading to a runoff, after failing to receive the support of a majority of Republican voters in his district.

    Phelan, who was first elected to the House in 2014 and has been speaker since 2021, will face off against former Orange County GOP chairman David Covey in a runoff election that is certain to garner attention from across the state.

    Phelan had been criticized by conservatives for failing to pass conservative priorities, placing Democrats in leadership positions, and leading the charge to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton last year. Former President Donald Trump endorsed Covey, calling any Republican who backed Phelan “a fool.”

    Phelan received 45.8 percent of the vote with Covey earning 45.3 percent.

    Alicia Davis, a Jasper County activist, took 8.9 percent of the vote.

    “The people of House District 21 have put every politician in Texas, and the nation, on notice,” said Covey. “Our elected officials are elected by the people and work for the people, and when they don’t, there will be consequences.”

    “Since 1836, Texans have answered the call to defend liberty and fight for our freedoms. I have every intention of continuing that tradition,” he added.

    Covey was joined by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick at his election night watch party. Patrick, who has been a vocal critic of Phelan, had not officially endorsed Covey.

    But it wasn’t just Phelan! A whole bunch of the Republican state reps who backed Phelan either lost outright or are headed to runoffs:

  • Mike Olcott thumped incumbent Glenn Rogers in Texas House District 60.

    The runoff rematch between state Rep. Glenn Rogers (R-Graford) and Mike Olcott went entirely unlike the first round two years ago, with Olcott defeating the incumbent in a landslide.

    Once Palo Pinto County returns came in, it was clear which way the bout would go. Olcott won Rogers’ home county by 365 votes and cleaned up in the rest of the district.

    Last go-around, Rogers nipped Olcott by a few hundred votes, thanks in large part to support from Gov. Greg Abbott. This time in the rematch, the governor switched sides after Rogers voted against his education savings account plan — opposition to which the incumbent has remained steadfast. On Monday, state Sen. Phil King (R-Weatherford) announced his support for Olcott in the race.

    Rogers outlasted his previous two stiff primary challenges, the first in 2020 for the open seat against Jon Francis, the son-in-law of conservative mega-donors Farris and JoAnn Wilks. Then in 2022 Olcott challenged Rogers, the incumbent, and narrowly lost.

    This time, Abbott has made multiple trips to the district, stating at one that, “There are many reasons we are here today, and one of those is that I made a mistake last time in endorsing Glenn Rogers. And I’m here to correct that mistake. I’m here to make sure everyone knows, I’m here to support Mike Olcott to be your state representative.”

    Olcott swept the top-level endorsements with Abbott, Donald Trump, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).

  • Joanne Shofner absolutely destroyed incumbent Travis Clardy in Texas House District 11, 63% to 37%.

    uring the 88th Legislative session last year, Clardy was one of the House members who voted in favor of stripping education savings accounts from the November education omnibus bill.

    Leading into the election a central issue was how each candidate landed on school choice, as both Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) have based their candidate endorsements on support for education freedom.

    Clardy was also issued a cease and desist letter by Abbott for “representing to the public that Governor Abbott has endorsed you in your bid for re-election,” when in fact Abbott had endorsed his opponent Joanne Shofner, whom the letter called “a true conservative.” Clardy has continued to express vocal opposition to school choice: “Right now, the price to get his endorsement was I had to bend the knee and kiss the ring and say that I will vote for vouchers[.]”

    Shofner, along with both Abbott and Cruz’s support, also had the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.

  • Janis Holt defeated Ernest Bailes in Texas House District 18, 53% to 39%. Colony Ridge was a hot topic in the race.
  • Shelley Luther defeated incumbent Reggie Smith.

    Conservative activist Shelley Luther has won her rematch against incumbent Republican State Rep. Reggie Smith of Van Alystne to represent House District 62 in North Texas.

    House District 62 includes Grayson, Fannin, and portions of Delta and Franklin counties.

    Smith, who has served in the Texas House since 2018, is part of the House leadership team, serving as chair of the House Election Committee under House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont). As chair, Smith either slow-walked or killed several Republican priority measures addressing election security.

    Smith’s record from the past year also includes voting to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton—who was later acquitted by the Senate—and voting against school choice legislation.

    Luther, who made state and national headlines in 2020 when she was jailed after refusing to close her salon during the COVID-19 shutdowns, said previously she looks forward to working with the governor to pass school choice this next session.

  • Marc LaHood defeated incumbent Steve Allison in Texas House District 121, 54% to 39%.

    Allison voted with Democrats to strip a school choice measure from a school spending measure.

    His opposition to school choice drew the ire of Gov. Greg Abbott, who endorsed LaHood.

    During Allison’s two terms, he has earned an “F” rating on the Fiscal Responsibility Index for his votes on fiscal issues. He was also one of the 60 Republican House members who voted to impeach Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

  • Hillary Hickland defeated incumbent Hugh Shine in Texas House District 55, 53.1% to 39.5%.

    Belton mom and pro-family advocate Hillary Hickland has won the Republican Primary Election for House District 55, unseating incumbent State Rep. Hugh Shine of Temple.

    HD 55 encompasses part of Bell County.

    School Choice has defined the HD 55 race, as Shine voted against Gov. Greg Abbott’s proposed school choice package.

    Hickland meanwhile accumulated endorsements from Abbott, former President Donald Trump, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, Attorney General Ken Paxton, Texas Home School Coalition, and Young Conservatives of Texas.

  • Matt Morgan defeated incumbent Jacey Jetton in Texas House District 26, 53.8% to 38.6%.

    Businessman Matt Morgan has defeated State Rep. Jacey Jetton of Richmond in the Republican Primary.

    House District 26 includes part of Fort Bend County.

    The failed impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton featured prominently in the race.

    Jetton was among the Republicans who voted to impeach Paxton.

    Morgan—who fell short to Jetton in a runoff in 2020—quickly earned the endorsement of Paxton. He also had the endorsement of U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls, who called Jetton a “liberal.”

    During his two terms in office, Jetton earned an “F” rating on the Fiscal Responsibility Index for his votes on fiscal issues.

  • Brent Money unseated “incumbent” Jill Dutton in Texas House District 2, reversing the results of the January runoff between the two.
  • Former Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson takes a narrow lead over incumbent Justin Holland into the Texas House District 33 runoff.

    State Rep. Justin Holland (R-Rockwall) and challenger Katrina Pierson will duke it out for another three months after neither eclipsed 50 percent, both advancing to the runoff.

    The pair were neck and neck in the Rockwall County and Collin County portions of the district.

    Holland’s clash with Pierson and London was highly-anticipated. Pierson has the largest profile of any challenger in this 2024 primary, having served as a Donald Trump campaign spokeswoman in 2016. On top of that, London challenged Holland in the 2022 primary, giving him some level of ballot name ID.

    Despite that Trump affiliation, Pierson was omitted from the former president’s endorsement list in Texas races.

    The incumbent found himself in the political right’s crosshairs after three consequential votes: impeaching Attorney General Ken Paxton, striking down Gov. Greg Abbott’s school choice plan, and advancing through committee a proposal to raise the age of purchasing certain semi-automatic rifles to 21.

    Holland far outraised and outspent his two opponents, who combined raised $337,000 to the incumbent’s $1.2 million.

    He was the beneficiary of around $170,000 from Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont), $225,000 from the Charles Butt Public Education PAC, $50,000 from the casino group Texas Sands PAC, $40,000 from Texans for Lawsuit Reform, and $115,000 from the Associated Republicans of Texas.

  • Alan Schoolcraft took a small lead against incumbent John Kuempel in the Texas House District 44 race. “Following election night results, Alan Schoolcraft and John Kuempel will go head to head in a runoff election scheduled for May 28. Schoolcraft received 48.13% of votes while Kuempel received 45.02% of votes.” Schoolcraft was endorsed by President Trump.
  • Mitch Little, Ken Paxton’s impeachment lawyer, appears to have won Texas House District 65 over incumbent Kronda Thimesch . “Little, with Paxton’s backing, defeated State Rep. Kronda Thimesch, who had the backing of Governor Greg Abbott, by about 300 votes.” Which means a recount is likely.
  • In Texas House District 1, Chris Spencer forced incumbent Gary Vandeaver into a runoff, with less than 2.5% separating them.
  • Helen Kerwin takes a seven point lead over incumbent DeWayne Burns into the Texas House District 58 runoff, and only missed an outright win by 1.2%. Kirwin was also endorsed by President Trump.
  • Challenger Keresa Richardson takes a seven point lead over incumbent Frederick Frazier into the Texas House District 61 runoff. Looks like I’ll have to wait until May to use the “Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!” joke…
  • Challenger Andy Hopper takes a narrow lead over incumbent Lynn Stuckey in the Texas House District 64 race into the runoff.
  • Challenger David Lowe was only two points behind Stephanie Klick going into the Texas House District 91 runoff.
  • Given the usual run of only one or two incumbents getting knocked off in primaries (and those usually involved in prominent scandals), having 17 reps meet that fate is a political earthquake on par with Newt Gingrich-lead Republicans capturing the House after 40 years of Democratic rule in 1994. All the outside gambling and other special interest money was on the Phelan Axis side, and they still got stomped. I credit this in large measure to Trump, Paxton, Abbott and Cruz getting involved in statehouse races.

    The Phelan Axis decided that killing school choice and the Paxton impeachment were the hills they wanted to die on, and a large number of them did.

    But not every rep who voted for the Paxton impeachment and/or against school choice lost or got taken to a runoff:

  • Keith Bell defeated Joshua Feuerstein in District 3.
  • Cole Hefner defeated Jeff Fletcher in District 5.
  • Jay Dean defeated Joe McDaniel in District 7.
  • Cody Harris stomped Jaye Curtis in District 8.
  • Trent Ashby thumped Paulette Carson.
  • Steve Toth defeated Skeeter Hubert in District 15.
  • Stan Gerdes beat Tom Glass in District 17.
  • Ellen Troxclair won against Kyle Biedermann in District 19.
  • Terry Wilson beat Elva Chapa in District 20.
  • Greg Bonnen destroyed Larissa Ramirez in District 24.
  • Gary Gates beat Dan Mathews in District 28.
  • Ben Bumgarner won a three-way race in District 63.
  • Matt Shaheen beat Wayne Richard in District 66.
  • Jeff Leach beat Daren Meis in District 67.
  • David Spiller beat Kerri Kingsbery in District 68.
  • Stan Lambert beat Liz Case in District 71.
  • Drew Darby defeated Stormy Bradley in District 72.
  • Dustin Burrows defeated Wade Cowan 2-1 in District 83.
  • Stan Kitzman defeated Tim Greeson by a similar margin in District 85.
  • John Smithee defeated Jamie Haynes in District 86.
  • Ken King walloped Karen Post in District 88.
  • Candy Noble edged Abraham George in District 89.
  • Giovanni Capriglione beat Brad Schofield in District 98.
  • Charlie Geren defeated Jack Reynolds in District 99.
  • Morgan Meyer edged Barry Wernick in District 108.
  • Angie Chen Button decisively Chad Carnahan in District 112.
  • Briscoe Cain stomped Bianca Gracia in District 128.
  • Mano Deayala defeated John Perez in District 133.
  • Lacey Hull defeated Jared Woodfill in District 138.
  • That’s 31 Republican reps that could theoretically reconstitute the Phelan axis, but I’m not sure they have the stomach for it.

    Of those, Bell, Dean, Lambert, Darby, King and Geren were the only ones to vote both for the Paxton impeachment and against school choice. Michael Quinn Sullivan (who I’m pretty sure is ecstatic at the numbers of Phelan enablers taken down yesterday) has identified Burrows and Harris as the two most likely Phelan axis members to attempt to take the gavel next year, and Geren and Capriglione have always struck me as among the biggest supporters of the axis. But a lot of those other names strike me as “soft” axis supporters who might be persuaded to support an actual Republican for speaker, least the same fate befall them as all the other Phelan backers taken down.

    All in all, it was a very, very good day for Texas conservatives.

    Trump Endorses More Texas House Candidates

    Wednesday, February 21st, 2024

    Naturally, the day after I put up my guide to Texas House Republican primary races, President Trump drops a bunch more endorsements.

    As early voting begins in the Republican primary election in Texas, former President Donald Trump has issued a series of endorsements of candidates running for the Texas Legislature.

    In a series of posts on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump revealed the endorsements, which included four challengers to incumbent members he called “RINOs” (Republicans in Name Only).

    Those candidates include:

  • Mike Olcott, challenging State Rep. Glenn Rogers (R–Staford) in House District 60
  • Helen Kerwin, challenging State Rep. DeWayne Burns (R–Cleburne) in House District 58
  • Alan Schoolcraft, challenging State Rep. John Kuempel (R–Seguin) in House District 44
  • Liz Case, challenging State Rep. Stan Lambert (R–Abilene) in House District 61 [Note: This is typo. Case is running in District 71. — LP]
  • Trump gave his “complete and total endorsement” to each candidate, citing their opponents’ votes to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton and opposition to school choice as reasons for doing so.

    Additionally, Trump endorsed Brent Hagenbuch for the open Senate District 30 being vacated by retiring State Sen. Drew Springer (R–Muenster).

    After I post this, I’m going to go back and add the Trump endorsements to yesterday’s roundup.

    All Texas GOP Reps Voting Against School Choice Retire Or Draw Primary Opponents

    Wednesday, December 13th, 2023

    Over the last month, I’ve posted several times on the need to primary and defeat every one of the Dade Phelan toadies who voted to kill school choice. It looks like we’re off to a good start, as the close of the filing period saw every one of them retire or draw a primary challenger.

    Every Republican who opposed school choice in the Texas House now finds themselves facing a challenger in the upcoming Republican primary.

    Despite being a priority of the Republican Party of Texas and Gov. Greg Abbott, last month 21 Republicans joined Democrats in voting to remove a school choice program from a school spending proposal.

    Now each of those 21 members are either leaving the legislature or facing intraparty opposition.

    Retiring reps are:

  • Kyle Kacal
  • Andrew Murr
  • Four Price
  • John Raney
  • Ed Thompson
  • Reps who have drawn primary opponents, and the opponents they’ve drawn (plus the opponent’s campaign website, where known), are:

  • Steve Allison: Marc LaHood, Michael Champion
  • Ernest Bailes: Janis Holt, Stephen Missick
  • Keith Bell: Joshua Feuerstein
  • DeWayne Burns: Helen Kerwin, Lyndon Laird
  • Travis Clardy: Joanne Shofner
  • Drew Darby: Stormy Bradley
  • Jay Dean: Bonnie Walters, Joe McDaniel
  • Charlie Geren: Jack Reynolds
  • Justin Holland: Dennis London, Katrina Pierson
  • Ken King: Karen Post
  • John Kuempel: Greg Switzer, David Freimarck, Alan Schoolcraft
  • Stan Lambert: Charles Byrn, Liz Case
  • Glenn Rogers: Mike Olcott
  • Hugh Shine: Hillary Hickland, David Ford
  • Reggie Smith: Shelley Luther
  • Gary VanDeaver: Dale Huls, Chris Spencer
  • If you’re a Texas conservative in a position to donate to campaigns (a tough ask for some here in the Biden Recession), now would be a good time to check out these candidates and help defeat some of Dade’s toadies.

    Texas House To School Choice: Drop Dead

    Saturday, November 18th, 2023

    If you were wondering if the left-leaning cabal behind Dade Phelan would ever let any form of school choice pass the Texas house, now you know.

    Following a year of anticipation and four special sessions, the hopes of school choice being passed on the floor of the Texas House have been dashed after an amendment stripped education savings accounts (ESAs) from this special session’s education omnibus bill.

    The amendment offered by Rep. John Raney (R-College Station) was initially signed by 16 other members before being passed by a vote of 84 to 63.

    Members then voted to lock that change in and prevent the removal from being reconsidered at a later time, a motion which passed by the same margin as Raney’s amendment.

    Of the 85 Republicans in the House, those voting in favor of the ESA removal amendment included:

  • Rep. Steve Allison (R-San Antonio)
  • Rep. Ernest Bailes (R-Shepherd)
  • Rep. Keith Bell (R-Forney)
  • Rep. DeWayne Burns (R-Cleburne)
  • Rep. Travis Clardy (R-Nacogdoches)
  • Rep. Drew Darby (R-San Angelo)
  • Rep. Jay Dean (R-Longview)
  • Rep. Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth)
  • Rep. Justin Holland (R-Rockwall)
  • Rep. Kyle Kacal (R-College Station)
  • Rep. Ken King (R-Canadian)
  • Rep. John Kuempel (R-Seguin)
  • Rep. Stan Lambert (R-Abilene)
  • Rep. Andrew Murr (R-Junction)
  • Rep. Four Price (R-Amarillo)
  • Rep. John Raney (R-College Station)
  • Rep. Glenn Rogers (R-Graford)
  • Rep. Hugh Shine (R-Temple)
  • Rep. Reggie Smith (R-Sherman)
  • Rep. Ed Thompson (R-Pearland)
  • Rep. Gary VanDeaver (R-New Boston)
  • The ESA removal amendment was supported by all 64 House Democrats.

    The names of some of those Republicans voting against school choice should be familiar, as they’ve thwarted Republican priorities in the past:

  • Allison, Kacel, King, Kuempel, Lambert, Price and Raney all voted to create a “Office of Health Equity Policy” in the Texas Department of State Health Services.
  • Allison, Bailes, Clardy, Kacel, King, Lambert, Raney and VanDeaver all voted against banning taxpayer-funded lobbying.
  • Geren was Joe Straus’ righthand man for years, and once had an aide file a false child protective services act against his primary opponent, and was one of the main instigators of the vendetta against Ken Paxton.
  • All of them except Clardy, Price and Thompson voted in favor of the Paxton impeachment.
  • Primarying everyone on that list (and, of course, Phelan) would be a good start.

    Following the vote, Governor Greg Abbot declared that “the small minority of pro-union Republicans in the Texas House who voted with the Democrats will not derail the outcome that their voters demand,” but it remains unclear how he can move his school choice agenda after this gutting.

    Abbott has said he’ll veto and education bills without ESAs. He’s also threatened to keep holding special sessions until school choice passes. We’ll see if he follows through.