Texas Lawyer. General Ken Paxton won the impeachment trial. Super Tuesday wants political revenge.
The Republican, who just six months ago was on the verge of being removed from office, is advancing toward the Texas primary in a dramatic campaign to unseat dozens of members of his own party. They include rank-and-file lawmakers, state judges and one of the most powerful figures in Texas: Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan, who oversaw the historic vote last year to impeach Paxton on corruption charges.
The attempted purge of Paxton is part of a savage fight engulfing the state's dominant political party, where the attacks are blunt and those responsible are personal. Phelan recently responded with a video reminding voters of Paxton's extramarital affair, saying Paxton broke an “oath to his wife and to his God.”
Paxton himself is not on the ballot (he won a third term in 2022), but the House cleanup effort by one of former President Trump's staunchest defenders could reshape the Texas GOP for years to come, tilting even more to the deeply conservative Legislature to the right.
“I've never seen anything like this in the primary,” said Bill Miller, a veteran Republican strategist in Texas. “The party is in civil war. There’s too much going on to call it anything else.”
Paxton has targeted more than 30 Republican incumbents who attracted challengers in the primaries. And he didn't stop there. Flexing his post-acquittal political muscle, the attorney general is seeking to remove three Republican judges from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, one of the most conservative panels in the country, after they limited the powers of his position in a 2021 ruling.
Meanwhile, Paxton is still in legal jeopardy.
He faces trial in April on serious security fraud charges that could land him 90 years in prison if convicted. He is also fighting a subpoena to testify under oath in a civil lawsuit that reflects some of the impeachment charges. And a federal criminal investigation is underway into some of the same allegations.
“By the grace of God I am here today,” Paxton said at a political rally in suburban Dallas last month. “This matters more than anything I've ever done: that we win these races and that we win the Texas House of Representatives.”
Some of Paxton's endorsements, and the millions of dollars they receive from third-party groups, clash with Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's Super Tuesday agenda. The governor has his own list of Republican House members that he is trying to throw overboard, angry that they voted against using tax money for private schools.
The double-barreled attacks have put extreme pressure on those lawmakers who have fallen into the crosshairs of both men.
Abbott focused on a political fight, but “[Paxton] “It's like a mad dog that's just angry at a large majority of members of the House,” said Mark P. Jones, a political science professor at Rice University. “He is willing to back anyone who wants to pose a primary challenge.”
Paxton's main target is Phelan and the symbolic victory that would come with overthrowing the House leadership.
Phelan's two sessions as House speaker were a bonanza for conservatives: As of 2021, Texas passed some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country, supported Abbott's anti-immigration crackdown, banned gender-affirming health care for transgender minors and eliminated diversity. , equity and inclusion programs in higher education.
But it was House Phelan that also launched Paxton's impeachment, and the two men have attacked each other ever since. Paxton has accused Phelan of being drunk at work and has campaigned against Phelan in his home district. Trump has moved on, endorsing Phelan's opponent.
Phelan responded with a scathing campaign ad that recounted some of the impeachment allegations of corruption. She specifically pointed out Paxton's affair with a legislative staffer.
“Vengeful Paxton is the reason Trump got involved in our race,” Phelan says in the 30-second ad. “If Paxton breaks an oath made to his wife and to God, why would he tell Trump, or you, the truth?”
Even if most of Paxton's backed challengers lost, removing a House speaker would be a “political earthquake,” Miller said.
On the court, Paxton has focused on the three justices who were part of an 8-1 majority that stripped the attorney general of the power to prosecute voter fraud without the permission of local district attorneys.
The issue of election fraud closely links Paxton to Trump. Paxton led an effort in 2020 that asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Trump's election loss to President Biden.
Paxton's goal is to unseat two of the court's longest-serving judges: Judge Barbara Hervey was elected in 2001 and Chief Justice Sharon Keller was elected in 1994. Judge Michelle Slaughter was elected in 2018.
“The Court follows the law, period,” Slaughter posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “We cannot and will not be partisan political activists.”
Vertuno is a reporter for the Associated Press.
