Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) was projected to narrowly win his primary runoff on Tuesday, according to Decision Desk HQ, defeating a conservative challenger backed by former President Trump.
Phelan’s re-election bid gained national attention after he presided over the impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) on abuse of power charges last year. Paxton, a Trump ally, was acquitted by the state Senate, but the proceedings exposed deep divisions among Texas Republicans, pitting the party’s Trump supporters against the state’s old guard.
The Texas Republican Party argued at the time that Phelan “should be ashamed” for subjecting the Lone Star State to a “political impeachment sham.” Trump then backed conservative activist David Covey to challenge the state House speaker, citing Phelan’s role in the “fraudulent” impeachment.
“He is bad, bad, bad for the Republican Party and for democracy. We need him beaten and beaten,” Trump said of Phelan in a videoshared on Saturday on his platform Truth Socialurging Texans to vote in the “very important” runoff.
Paxton also criticized Phelan and “the Austin establishment” in aMonday post on Xas the runoff was considered a revenge fight for Paxton and Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R), who also targeted state Republicans who voted against his school voucher program.Nine Texas Republican legislatorsthey were defeated in the primaries two months ago and eight others were forced to run in the second round.
After the March 5 primaries solidified into a runoff, Phelandescribedthe race as “the battle for the soul of our district.”
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