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Rural RINOs on the Verge of Extinction
with Northeast Texas Rep's Exit Plans
Capitol Inside
December 1, 2025
An era ended in Austin on Monday without a hint of fanfare when Republican State Rep. Gary VanDeaver of New Boston announced that he will not be seeking re-election in 2026 after nearly a dozen years as member of the Texas Legislature's lower chamber.
VanDeaver - the last of the unapologetic moderates from rural Texas in the Capitol's west wing - cleared the way for a wide open race for the House District 1 seat in the state's northeast corner with the decision to call it quits without another bid.
Texarkana Republican Chris Spencer is running in HD 1 again after losing to VanDeaver in a primary runoff election last year. Josh Bray of Paris entered the ring of contenders for the HD 1 seat on Monday in the immediate wake of the incumbent's decision to give it up when his term ends in January 2027.
Paris Democrat Sean Huffman is lone Democrat in the competition up to now for the HD 1 post in a longshot bid in a district where President Donald Trump and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz scored more than three of every four votes in the general election in 2024.
Spencer appears to be the favorite in the northeast Texas contest with VanDeaver no longer as an obstacle in his path. Spencer launched the comeback campaign during the summer with a six-digit war chest - and he added endorsements from nine House Republicans who've viewed the incumbent as an adversary to his cache for the fight in 2026. After thanking VanDeaver for his service and wishing his family well, Spencer shifted sights to Bray as the immediate threat now.
"It is clear Josh Bray who announced his campaign today is poised to carry the torch for liberal Obama-era values like the ones he voted for on the Democratic primary ballot in 2008," Spencer said in a statement on the incumbent's departure. "I'm confident voters will see right through his rhetoric."
Bray isn't the only Texas candidate facing criticism for participating in the Democratic primary here in 2008 when Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were dueling for the presidential nomination in a battle that was still close at the time. U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Houston has been on the defensive for such a move in his quest for the upper house of Congress in a primary showdown with U.S. Senator John Cornyn and Attorney General Paxton.
Governor Greg Abbott was Spencer's most prominent supporter in the unsuccessful bid last year. But Abbott's name was missing from a list of endorsements that Spencer unveiled today amid the news that VanDeaver was out of the race. Spencer's backer list included Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, the far-right True Texas Project, a dozen local elected leaders and conservative activist Dale Huls, who finished third in the GOP primary election in the HD 1 race in 2024 with 11 percent of the vote.
State Reps. Daniel Alders of Tyler, Briscoe Cain of Deer Park, Andy Hopper of Decatur, Mitch Little of Lewisville, Brent Money of Greenville, Keresa Richardson of McKinney, Tom Oliverson of Cypress, Tony Tinderholt of Arlington and Cody Vasut of Angleton have pitched their support to Spencer as well.
VanDeaver and Spencer advanced to overtime in the primary in 2024 with 46 percent and 43 percent of the vote respectively in the first round when Huls was eliminated. VanDeaver staved off the challenger from Spencer in the runoff election with almost 54 percent of the vote.
VanDeaver was one of five House Republicans who the State Republican Executive Committee voted in August to censure by adopting resolutions that emerged from local party organizations. The SREC declined to censure Speaker Dustin Burrows and several other Republicans who'd been targeted in local resolutions for the same exact violations of party rules and principles as those who it sanctioned.
VanDeaver dismissed the censures as laughable.
VanDeaver was one of three GOP representatives who survived Abbott's school vouchers retribution crusade in the 2024 primary elections. The other two - State Reps. Drew Darby of San Angelo and Stan Lambert of Abilene - dropped their opposition to school choice in the regular session this year when VanDeaver and former Speaker Dade Phelan were the only two Republicans to vote no on vouchers.
As the Public Health Committee chairman, VanDeaver played a key role during the summer in a fight over hemp products with THC. VanDeaver served as the belated House sponsor of the Senate legislation that would have banned retail sales of THC drinks, edibles and flower for smoking. But the bill died in his committee without hearings or votes during both special sessions in 2025.
“The opportunity to serve in the Texas House has been one of the greatest opportunities in my life,” he said in a news release. “Throughout my six terms, I have been privileged to serve under the leadership of four outstanding Speakers, and alongside hundreds of fellow members who are the most selfless servant leaders the state has to offer.
“While much of my work over the last decade has been with a focus on making Texas better, I have always tried to view that work through the lens of ensuring rural Texas, and especially our little corner here in Northeast Texas is positioned for the brightest future possible,” the outgoing lawmaker added.
more to come ...
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