Governor Greg Abbott campaigned on Monday for a trio of endangered Texas House Republicans including a powerful lawmaker who Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick accused of trying to undermine a record property tax cut then lying to constituents about his position in the fight last year.
Dallas State Rep. Morgan Meyer - the chairman of the Ways & Means Committee - scored a plug from Abbott at the governor's final stop on Monday in a four-city swing that included rallies for State Reps. John Lujan of San Antonio and Janie Lopez of San Benito. Abbott kicked off the day at an event for Denise Villalobos - a Corpus Christi Republican who's trying to wrestle a House seat from the Democrats in an open race on the ballot less than two weeks from now.
Capitol Inside has contests that pit Lujan and Lopez against Democratic challengers ranked as the top two races to watch for the Legislature's lower chamber in the stretch before the vote on November 5. Lujan is attempting to stave off a furious challenge from Democrat Kristian Carranza while Lopez seeks a second term in the face of opposition from Jonathan Gracia of Rancho Viejo in the Rio Grande Valley.
Meyer is doing battle with Democratic challenger Elizabeth Ginsberg in the race that's ranked as the fourth hottest fight on the House battlefield this fall based on the odds for partisan turnovers. Ginsberg
has a potential weapon that she couldn't anticipated when she filed for the House District 108 race with the stinging criticism that Patrick leveled at Meyer when he sought without success to knock him off in the primary election with his support for challenger Barry Wernick.
Patrick contended that Meyer in his role as the tax-writing panel chair tried to kill a $100,000 homestead exemption at the heart of the property tax reduction package that cleared the Legislature in special session in 2023. Patrick, the Texas Senate president who proposed the record exemption, was infuriated when Meyer touted the six-digit exemption from residential property taxes for homeowners as though he'd conceived the proposal himself.
"That's deceitful and, quite frankly, disgusting," Patrick asserted in a post on X in February. "If Morgan had his way and had killed the $100,000 Homestead Exemption, homeowners would have lost up to $25,000 or more in lifetime tax savings on their home."
Patrick said that Speaker Dade Phelan was compelled to replace Meyer as the lead negotiator on the tax bill. "Morgan Meyer voted for it at the end only after he lost the fight to kill the $100K Homestead Exemption and had no choice," the lieutenant governor alleged. "Barry Wernick is telling voters the truth on this issue. Morgan Meyer is not. Barry Wernick is a man of integrity who will never mislead his voters. Vote for Barry Wernick for HD 108."
But a previous endorsement from Abbott may have carried more weight than Patrick's harsh appraisal based on the results on March 5 when Meyer defeated Wernick by 2 points with 51 percent of the primary vote in HD 108. Abbott has ignored Patrick's accusations and continued to do so at the rally for Meyer this week.
"Rep. @MorganMeyerTX is a conservative fighter who will work with me to safeguard Texas’ values of freedom and opportunity," Abbott said in a social media post on Wednesday.
But Ginsberg apparently sees Meyer's vote for school choice as her campaign arsenal's centerpiece in one of the few swing districts left on the House map. The Democrat has ripped Meyer relentlessly for supporting a draconian abortion ban that forces Texas women to have babies that are conceived during rape or incest.
"@MorganMeyerTX voted for vouchers," Ginsberg said in July on X. "I am one of those candidates running to defeat vouchers in Texas. We need three seats to save our public schools, and HD 108 will be one of them, because this district loves its public schools."
Democrats could take the House majority back with a net gain of 12 seats in the general election early next month. Lujan and Lopez appear to be the most vulnerable incumbents for the GOP in the west wing in Austin. State Rep. Angie Chen Button of Garland is fighting for her political life in a clash with Democrat Averie Bishop in House District 112 as the House race that's ranked third here.
Villalobos appears to be more of a longshot in a battle with former House Democrat Solomon Ortiz Jr. in House District 34. The HD 34 contest has moved into the top 10 House races to watch nonetheless in the 9th spot.
