Abbott Helping Launch 2024 Campaigns
for GOP Reps Who Tried to Oust Paxton
Capitol Inside
November 28, 2023
Governor Greg Abbott is thumbing his nose at a major longtime ally with his plans to travel to Lubbock on Tuesday night on Tuesday night to stump for a pair of Texas House Republicans who tried to destroy the state lawyer's career this year with a failed impeachment bid.
After a skydiving excursion on Monday in the arms of a professional instructor, Abbott is set to appear at a tandem campaign kickoff for State Reps. Dustin Burrows and Carl Tepper tonight in the Hub City at the American Windmill Museum.
The governor claimed to be an expert on windmills when he blamed them for the Texas grid failure during a record freeze in 2021. But Abbott will be using the venue nonetheless as a stage for a pep rally on school choice in the aftermath of a House vote that killed education savings accounts in the fourth and current special session in 2023.
Burrows and Tepper are two of 58 House Republicans who Abbott endorsed last week for re-election solely due to their votes against an amendment that removed ESAs from a broader education funding measure. The Lubbock lawmakers were also in a group of 60 Republicans who voted to impeach Paxton during the spring.
Tepper - a freshman representative - has yet to draw a primary foe up to now in House District 84. But Paxton has rallied behind challenger Wade Cowan of Brownfield in House District 83 where Burrows is seeking a fifth term in 2024.
Burrows is one of at least two dozen House Republicans who have Abbott in their corner to defend them in the face of opposition from the attorney general. That number could grow in the final two weeks of the filing period for primary campaigns next year.
Abbott is ignoring a terse warning that Paxton issued on Monday to people who thought the GOP controlled Texas for the past 20 years.
"There’s no time to mince my words," Paxton said in a fundraising email. "Our state, and America, is run by Democrats."
Paxton didn't mention the Lubbock Republicans who Abbott will be pumping up tonight. But they would fit the description of the evil that Paxton perceives.
"Even if you’re living in a ‘red’ state like Texas, we’ve seen it first hand. Our representatives don’t care about putting America First," the AG said. "They’d sooner sell out their soul and the concerns of their constituents if it meant they had a SHOT at political advancement.
"RINOs and their establishment allies are siding with Democrats, sabotaging the America First movement, and desperately trying to get rid of the people who ‘dare’ to put America First," Paxton added.
"Establishment pawns like George P. Bush and his family have been primarying patriots trying to oust them from office, ignoring the will of the people," the attorney general said. "Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan is STILL holding on to power, refusing calls to resign, even after EVERYTHING he’s done."
more to come ...
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