Republican voters in southeast Texas will resolve a tough primary battle over the future of their party on Tuesday that pits state House Speaker Dade Phelan against conservative activist David Covey, who is supported by former President Donald Trump. .
Phelan angered his party’s right flank after overseeing impeachment efforts against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who campaigned on Covey’s behalf. Phelan and Covey advanced to a runoff after neither candidate received 50% in the initial March primary.
Phelan is the most notable of eight GOP state legislators in Texas who were forced into a runoff after nine lost their primaries two months ago. Many were also targeted for defeat by Paxton or Republican Gov. Gregg Abbott over opposition to their school voucher program, exposing deep divisions within the party in the traditionally Republican stronghold.
Phelan, who was first elected in 2014 and became speaker of the House in 2021, has perhaps the most politically precarious job in Texas: House speakers must be elected by their districts and by the 150 members of the Texas House of Representatives . That means a Republican like Phelan must persuade both fellow Democrats and conservative primary voters in his own district to reelect him every two years.
His tenuous balance in the House was upended last year when he oversaw impeachment proceedings against Paxton on corruption charges. The impeachment and subsequent trial in which he participated in the prosecution triggered widespread infighting within the Texas Republican Party and put a target on its back. The state House impeached Paxton, but the state Senate refused to convict him and remove him from office.
Paxton, a staunch Trump ally, has vowed revenge on those who tried to oust him, campaigning against Phelan and dozens of other GOP officials ahead of this year’s primaries while Texas’ old school – including former governor Rick Perry – spoke out in support of Phelan.
Approximately $7 million was spent in the state district in 2023 and 2024, with Phelan’s campaign spending a whopping $3 million while Covey’s campaign spent a little more than half of that.
Outside groups sought to fill the gap on Covey’s behalf: the Club for Growth spent $1.1 million supporting Covey, while the School Freedom Fund spent more than $376,000 targeting Phelan, who oversaw the House’s defeat of the program of school vouchers promoted by Abbott. .
Meanwhile, Trump kept up the pressure, praising Covey’s candidacy at the National Rifle Association convention in Dallas this month and highlighting his endorsement on social media.
“David is leading substantially against the Speaker of the House,” Trump said at the NRA meeting. “We have to remove your speaker so we can get into voter fraud.”
If Phelan loses on Tuesday, “it indicates that Trump and [Lt. Gov. Dan] Patrick and Paxton control the Republican Party in Texas,” said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University near Dallas.
While the Texas Legislature has historically prided itself on being capable of bipartisanship, Jillson said Trump’s influence has caused the legislative body to reflect a shift in the party that has happened nationally.
“This really reflects the broader civil war in the Republican Party,” he added. “Texas politics and the Texas legislature are rapidly evolving toward Congress.”
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
