In Texas, liberal Republicans have been losing their power each election cycle. Every legislative session the state moves a little to the right, and the uniparty’s grasp loosens.
Texas is moving to the right in almost every arena due to the successful conservative takeover of the Republican Party of Texas, a historically conservative Texas Senate, as well as increasingly more sophisticated conservative activists and organizations. The GOP voter base is requiring Republicans, regardless of how conservative they actually are, to campaign on policies further right than the status quo. This moves the Overton Window beyond the control of moderate Republicans, who still hold power in the state’s lower chamber.
The increasing conservative victories have caused the Democrat caucus and liberal GOP leadership to reach a point of desperation. This session they hatched a plan to rush through a last-minute impeachment of the most conservative Attorney General in the nation.
Only 72 hours before the vote took place, GOP members were told if they dared vote against the impeachment, it would be interpreted as a direct vote against the speaker. The same speaker who was elected with Democrat support to bypass the process which requires the GOP caucus to choose a speaker. Two dozen Republicans ignored this threat and opposed the Democrat-lead effort to overturn an election. More Democrats voted for the impeachment than Republicans.
During the last session, after the Texas Senate passed a ban on sex-change surgeries for children, the Texas House cut a deal with Democrats and killed the bill. After the session ended, Greg Abbott started getting hammered for the failure of the legislature to pass the ban, the Governor declared the transitions as child abuse.
Ken Paxton published an official opinion providing Abbott with the cover he needed to take this action. This Attorney General opinion completely undid the deal cut by GOP leaders Dade Phelan, Dustin Burrows, Stephanie Klick, and the Democrats (all 3 of these Republicans voted to impeach Paxton).
The Impeachment of Ken Paxton has been a goal of Democrats since he led the nationwide effort to challenge the results of the presidential election of 2020. Paxton was one of the most active and vocal Attorney Generals in the nation. Chris Turner, the chairman of the Democrat Caucus, called for his impeachment over it.
So where does this leave us?
Now the impeachment heads to the Texas Senate, a chamber that, in recent history, has been far more respectful of the choices voters make. They’ve shied away from empowering Democrats and focused instead on passing a myriad of conservative policies, most of which were killed in the Texas House.
Following this legislative session, Dan Patrick rightfully criticized Dade Phelan for running his chamber in a way that intentionally benefits the Democrat agenda.
The liberal media hates Dan Patrick and the conservative Senators that are pushing Texas to the right. They have begun an all-out assault on the chamber in an effort to declare anything short of impeachment a corrupt conclusion. They are gaslighting the upper chamber, in a final effort to take some amount of power back into more moderate GOP hands.
So why does this matter for the rest of the country?
Well, if Democrats can be the tail that wags the dog in Texas, then where can’t they use this tactic?
If you don’t think there are enough liberal Republicans in any given Red state who could undue every election they lose to conservatives, then you have a very poor understanding of the current state of GOP legislatures across this country.
This is the final play in the playbook for the dying vestiges of RINO legislators who have shared power with Democrats for a generation. Ultimately, they have to overturn election results. When the GOP voters turn on the establishment, and elect officials too conservative for them, they have to get rid of the opposition. Their only path is to team up with Democrats to keep their power.
Democrats in Texas used to think they had a chance at winning a statewide office. Those dreams have become less tethered to reality for them as Republican victory margins have grown. But I truly don’t think they expected to be handed such a strong win on a silver platter as the impeachment of Ken Paxton.
Now voters are speaking out aggressively. The Texas GOP is standing up against this sham impeachment, with many local Republican parties stepping up as well. Conservative activists and groups are calling out this charade and the people of Texas are increasingly upset.
If this impeachment is upheld in the Texas Senate, it will be the spark that ignites a bigger civil war than anything witnessed during the Tea Party battles in 2010 or the populist versus neocon battles of today. It will be a true revolt of patriots versus a uniparty system that seeks only its own survival, at the expense of the society it was meant to serve.
Luke Macias is a Texas based political consultant who has helped elect the most conservative public servants across the state. He’s worked from the local level to statewide campaigns. He’s a full spectrum conservative. He has helped elect some of the strongest conservative legislators that are in the Capitol today. He has run nearly 100 campaigns for conservatives at every level of government.