Texas speaker survives as Abbott wins big
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios. Photo: Bill Clark/Getty Images
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan and Gov. Greg Abbott were big winners in a Republican primary runoff Tuesday dripping with intra-party intrigue and rife with policy implications.
Why it matters: Phelan, a Republican from Beaumont, staved off a challenger backed by Attorney General Ken Paxton, eager for revenge after his impeachment in the Texas House last year, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has a running personal spat with the more moderate speaker.
- Former President Trump had also endorsed Phelan's opponent, David Covey.
- Meanwhile, Abbott continued his streak of victories against House Republicans who crossed him on his school voucher effort last year. Five anti-voucher Republicans lost to Abbott-backed GOP challengers in the March 5 primary.
By the numbers: At a March policy conference in Austin, Abbott had said he needed at least two more votes in favor of school vouchers — public money for private school tuition — to guarantee its passage.
- Abbott had stayed out of the Phelan race but spent $2.3 million since the primary supporting pro-voucher candidates in runoffs.
- Three anti-voucher Republican incumbents were ousted Tuesday night: Reps. DeWayne Burns of Cleburne, Justin Holland of Rockwall and John Kuempel of Seguin.
- Only anti-voucher Republican incumbent Gary VanDeaver of New Boston prevailed over his Abbott-backed challenger Tuesday night.
- Three other Republican House incumbents, Lynn Stucky of Denton, Stephanie Klick of Fort Worth and Frederick Frazier of McKinney, also lost, to challengers endorsed by Paxton.
The big picture: Phelan is now poised to retain his speakership, but Abbott likely now can rally Republicans to push his signature issue, which already has buy-in from the state Senate.
Follow the money: Through May 20, Phelan's campaign reported spending $3.8 million on the runoff, more than twice Covey's $1.6 million.
- Abbott spent more than $8 million of his campaign money on the primaries and two pro-voucher groups spent roughly $6 million in the runoff, per the Texas Tribune.
What they're saying: Phelan, cigar in hand at a victory party Tuesday night, said his district "is not for sale," after winning by 366 votes in the most expensive race in Texas House history.
- Abbott's campaign congratulated Phelan and the governor declared that the Legislature "now has enough votes to pass school choice."
What's next: Paxton threatened Tuesday night that lawmakers supporting Phelan for speaker when the Legislature reconvenes next year will be the next political targets.
- He said Phelan had "blatantly stolen" the election because Democrats had supported him.
- Texas has open primaries, which means regardless of which party voters typically favor, they can choose which party's nominees they'd like to select in a primary election.