Shelley Luther Comeback Gives Abbott
Shot to Show He's Serious on Vouchers
Capitol Inside
December 8, 2023
Shelley Luther's emergence as a Texas House contender is putting Governor Greg Abbott's sincerity to the test with a primary rematch that she initiated on Thursday with an incumbent Republican who voted to kill the governor's prized school vouchers bill in special session last month.
Abbott will have a prime opportunity to show that he's serious about school choice beyond poll-fueled rhetoric with the position that he takes in the House District 62 clash that pits GOP State Rep. Reggie Smith of Sherman against Luther in round one in 2024.
Smith was one of 21 House Republicans who joined forces with Democrats to bury the governor's prized education savings accounts proposal with a vote for an amendment that erased it from a larger school funding measure.
Abbott has pitched his support so far to a handful of primary challengers in bids to oust Republicans who opposed ESAs in State Reps. Steve Allison of San Antonio, Travis Clardy of Nacogdoches, Drew Darby of San Angelo, Glenn Rogers of Graford and Hugh Shine of Temple.
Abbott endorsed Stormy Bradley of San Angelo on Thursday for a first-round bout with Darby after pitches for Joanne Shofner of Nacogdoches and Marc LaHood of San Antonio earlier this week for primary showdowns with Clardy and Allison respectively. The governor threw his muscle last week behind Mike Olcott of Aledo and Hillary Hickland of Temple campaigns for the seats that Rogers and Shine are defending in 2024.
Abbott hadn't taken sides by Friday afternoon in contested primaries that feature seven other anti-voucher Republicans in State Reps. Ernest Bailes of Shepherd, Keith Bell of Forney, Justin Holland of Heath, Ken King of Canadian, John Kuempel of Seguin, Stan Lambert of Abilene and Gary VanDeaver of New Boston.
But the governor's commitment to school choice could appear superficial if he refuses to take sides in the HD 62 battle that features Smith and Luther in their second encounter on the ballot in the past two years. Smith staved off a challenge from Luther in the primary in 2022 with almost 59 percent of the vote. Smith lost a special election runoff in an open Texas Senate contest in late 2020.
The dynamics have changed dramatically since that time - and Luther could be a slight favorite this time around with Attorney General Ken Paxton as her most valuable potential supporter as a consequence of Smith's vote for his impeachment in the spring.
Abbott may be prone to avoid the HD 62 race in round one completely in light of Luther's history as his harshest critic during and after she gained fame as a pandemic restrictions protestor who went to jail for defying the governor's lockdown and business closures in the early stages of the covid contagion in 2020. Luther opened her beauty salon in Dallas before Abbott gave the green light for "non-essential" businesses to come back to life.
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick showed no sympathy for Abbott when he offered to pay Luther's bail after she began a seven-day sentence in Dallas County. Paxton pressed for Luther's early release - and the Texas Supreme Court complied by ordering local officials to let her go after one night behind bars.
That caused Abbott to panic - and he responded after the fact by gutting his own pandemic orders in an unapologetic attempt to pander to Luther en route to a dramatic bid to remake himself to be one of the people who were calling him a tyrant and other nasty names on the right. Luther and other conservatives could see through the rhetoric and escalated the criticism.
Luther's surfacing for a rematch leaves Abbott with three basic options for HD 62. He could endorse the incumbent Smith despite his opposition to ESAs. He could hold his nose and back Luther for the sake of demonstrating that he's serious about passing a vouchers bill. Or Abbott could pull a vintage vanishing act like he often does in the face of adversity and heat.
Abbott must decide if his ego and pride are more important to him the school choice, which Luther would support. Luther in the meantime knows that she can't trust Patrick, who turned against her in the Senate District 30 race three years ago after seeking to ingratiate himself with her after she thumbed the nose at the governor.
Luther had a medical scare earlier this year when she was in the hospital for three weeks with a brain aneuryism.
more to come ... |
