Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) is projected to have narrowly won his primary runoff on Tuesday, as per Decision Desk HQ. He has defeated a conservative challenger who had the support of former President Trump.
Phelan’s reelection campaign gained national attention when he oversaw the impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) on abuse-of-office charges in the previous year. Although Paxton, a Trump ally, was ultimately acquitted by the state Senate, the trial revealed significant rifts among Texas Republicans, as Trump supporters clashed with the party’s established leaders.
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The Texas GOP criticized Phelan, stating that he should feel ashamed for subjecting the state of Texas to what they called a “political sham of an impeachment.” In response, former President Trump showed his support for conservative activist David Covey as a challenger to the state House Speaker. Trump pointed out Phelan’s involvement in what he deemed a “fraudulent” impeachment.
In a post on Monday, Paxton criticized Phelan and the “Austin establishment” on X, as the runoff races were portrayed as acts of retaliation on behalf of Paxton and Governor Greg Abbott. The governor was also targeting state-level Republicans who opposed his school voucher program. The primaries held two months ago resulted in the defeat of nine Texas GOP lawmakers, while another eight were pushed into runoffs.
Phelan characterized the race as a significant contest for the essence of our district after the March 5 primary results revealed it would go into a runoff.
