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| @DanPatrick conducts reconnaissance at Colony Ridge with less than 2 weeks to get grasp on last-minute session issue |
Colony Ridge Could Be Set Up for Gov
as No-Win Session Issue Born in Panic
Capitol Inside
September 30, 2023
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton appeared to be controlling the strings this week when Governor Greg Abbott bought into right-wing conspiracies on scheming drug lords and migrant invaders and vowed to put an entire Texas community on the call for a special session that he set to begin October 9.
Patrick sought to the feed the governor's penchant for panic last week with a horrifying portrayal of the the Colony Ridge development near Liberty as a sign of cartels plotting "the takeover of our country" in an interview on an AM radio station in Houston. Then Paxton chimed in on Colony Ridge on the same radio show with a demand for immediate action at the state Capitol when Abbott summons lawmakers back.
Abbott overreacted in epic fashion like Patrick and Paxton could expect when the state's top leader took a sudden interest in Colony Ridge and vowed to include it in the upcoming session agenda on the day after the attorney general admonished the Legislature to intervene.
This has all the makings of a trap for a myriad of reasons that Abbott has failed to anticipate. The governor is calling legislators back into session without any hint of a gameplan or clues on what he expects them to do about Colony Ridge. Abbott is scrambling frantically to ease fears on the far right about the subdivision as a staging ground that drug cartels are using to build a army of migrants in a plot to seize control of the Lone Star State.
But Colony Ridge could be quicksand for the Republican governor who's acted as though he'd been oblivious to concerns among conservatives about an unofficial sanctuary city that's skirting a state ban. Abbott could face questions on a possible conflict in light of the fact that developer is a seven-digit contributor.
After watching a House impeachment case unravel en route to a predictable crash, Abbott could be setting himself for a historic disaster after raising expectations high on the right without any apparent evidence to back up the slanderous accusations that he parroted blindly in a panic.
Patrick and Paxton emerged from the attorney general's impeachment trial with an alliance that they'd never had before as superficial allies. Both would prosper if Abbott fails. The AG and his wife - GOP State Senator Angela Paxton of McKinney - both have eyes on bids for higher offices as result of the attention and name identification they've gained.
An Abbott implosion would make it easier for Angela Paxton to win a race for governor in 2026. Paxton the state lawyer appears to be testing the waters for a U.S. Senate seat that year. Patrick's stock would soar if he's re-elected and the Paxtons win the only two higher slots on the ballot in three years.
Patrick's wild Orson Welles impersonation could be a prelude for a War of the Worlds for the governor - who could be the number one and most unexpected target on the Paxton impeachment revenge tour if the conservative hysteria on Colony Ridge isn't a thinly-veiled set up.
Abbott and Patrick have sought to maintain an appearance as allies even though appear to be savvy enough to never trust the other. The governor has been Paxton's head cheerleader when it comes to filing as many lawsuits as possible against Democratic President Joe Biden and his administration. Paxton took the torch from Abbott who gained his first taste of fame by suing Barack Obama at every opportunity. Paxton and Abbott - ironically - claimed to be major advocates for tort reform.
But the AG emerged in early 2022 as the number one enemy in the eyes of the Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC when it tried and failed to knock him out in the GOP primary election. The TLR challenger finish third in round one in the AG's race with Louie Gohmert in a close fourth. After giving up a safe seat in Congress for a statewide bid that had no chance for success, Gohmert acknowledged this week in an interview that the Paxton impeachment trial turned out to be political. He didn't say whether that the suicidal ending to his long political career had been a political event as well.
But Abbott thought he could play it safe on the Paxton impeachment saga with a vanishing act and presumed stance of neutrality. Abbott declined throughout the process to tell his constituents whether he believed that Paxton was a crook or a political leader who was being unfairly targeted. But all of the other elected Republicans officials in Texas were forced to take a position on the first attempted impeachment of a statewide official here in more than a 100 years. Abbott could be dreaming if thought his hideout through the most important event here in his lifetime would immunize him from backlash.
But Abbott effectively abandoned Paxton during the impeachment - and it may be naive for the governor to think he's in good favor with the AG now. Abbott appeared to think he would win if he simply called the vouchers special session and blame its failure on Phelan and the House. But now it looks like Patrick and Paxton are setting the governor to take the fall on Colony Ridge.
The developer of Colony Ridge - William "Trey" Harris - donated $1.4 million to Abbott's re-election campaign. Harris said the attacks on the subdivision are a product of racist ignorance.
Harris has contributed to Republican lawmakers in the Houston area including State Reps. Briscoe Cain of Deer Park, Mike Schofield of Houston, Will Metcalf of Conroe and Ernest Bailes of Shepherd. GOP State Senator Brandon Creighton of Conroe has been a beneficiary of the Colony Ridge developer's largess as well.
more to come ... |
