Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick threw his massive muscle behind 14 Texas House Republicans for re-election races this week including 10 who voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton last year in a move that the Senate president excoriated as a shameful debacle and epic waste of taxpayer funds and time.
Patrick dished out endorsements for 17 GOP nominees as well in races for the Legislature's lower chamber on the November general election ballot. All but three of 31 Republicans who the lieutenant governor pitched for the House on social media over the course of three days are facing Democrats at the polls this fall.
Seven of the candidates who Patrick endorsed this week are dueling Democratic opponents in contests that are listed among the 20 most competitive fights on the Capitol Inside Texas Races to Watch for the state House in 2024. But the lion's share of contenders on the Patrick slate for the west wing of the statehouse are significant if not prohibitive favorites this fall.
Patrick's picks in top 20 House races include State Reps. Ben Bumgarner of Flower Mound, Caroline Harris Davila of Round Rock, Janie Lopez of San Benito and Matt Shaheen of Plano. Lopez appears to face the toughest challenge of that particular group in a battle with Democrat Jonathan Gracia in a South Texas district where President Joe Biden beat Donald Trump in 2020 by more than 2 percentage pints.
GOP nominees Mitch Little of Lewisville, Keresa Richardson of McKinney and Denise Villalobos of Corpus Christi all scored Patrick endorsements for fall duels with Democrats Detrick Deburr, Tony Adams and Solmon Ortiz Jr. respectively. Ortiz is a substantial favorite over Villalobos as a former House member in the midst of a comeback in an open race this year.
Three of the incumbents who received Patrick plugs - State Reps. Brad Buckley of Salado, Todd Hunter of Corpus Christi and J.M. Lozano of Kingsville - are committee chairman on GOP Speaker Dade Phelan's leadership team. Patrick has been one of Phelan's most ferocious critics since the Senate acquitted Paxton at the end of trial on impeachment charges that the House approved on the final weekend of the regular session in 2023.
But Patrick didn't hold votes for impeachment against nearly two-thirds of the House Republicans who landed endorsements from him this week. The incumbents who Patrick is supporting after voting to impeach the three-time elected attorney general include State Rep. David Spiller - a Jacksboro attorney who had a major supporting role in the impeachment ordeal as a member of the General Investigating Committee that conducted a secret probe before the vote.
Spiller also served in the group of House managers who Phelan selected to prosecute the case against Paxton. Spiller was one of several House Republicans who assured colleagues that the case against the AG was airtight. Sixty Republicans in the House backed impeachment.
The list of Republicans who Patrick is supporting despite votes to votes to impeach also features State Reps. Gary Gates of Richmond and Ellen Troxclair of Lakeway along with Buckley, Bumgarner, Hunter, Lopez, Lozano and Shaheen. Gates and Lozano have apologized to Paxton for trying to blow up his political career with their support for his impeachment.
The Patrick slate has only three GOP members who voted against impeachment in State Rep. Terri Leo-Wilson of Galveston, Harris Davila and Slawson.
Slawson is the only challenger in the current House speaker's contest that reaped an endorsement from the lieutenant governor before Thursday. Patrick added State Rep. James Frank of Wichita Falls to the slate today as a speaker contender who voted to impeach Paxton last year. Frank is a Phelan committee chair as well.
Patrick also endorsed House hopefuls Andy Hopper of Decatur, Shelley Luther of Sherman, Mike Olcott of Aledo, Helen Kerwin of Glen Rose, Hillary Hickland of Belton, Alan Schoolcraft of San Antonio, Matt Morgan of Sugar Land, Janice Holt of Silsbee, Paul Dyson of College Station, Trey Wharton of Huntsville, Daniel Alders of Tyler, Brent Money of Greenville, Wes Virdell of Brady and AJ Louderback of Victoria.
