Texas election results leave Republicans fractured

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan narrowly survived a primary runoff against fellow Republican David Covey, despite Donald Trump urging voters to oust him amid an ongoing civil war within the Party Texas Republican.

The Associated Press called the Texas House District 21 race for Phelan late on May 28, and Decision Desk HQ reported that Phelan had 50.7 percent of the vote to 49.3 percent. from Covey, with about 97 percent of the results recorded as of 4:50 a.m. ET on Wednesday.

The Texas Republican Party has been rocked by infighting between hardline supporters of Trump’s Make America Great Again movement and more traditional politicians. In September, the impeachment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, another Republican, deepened the conflict.

Phelan presided over the trial, at which Paxton was acquitted of charges of corruption and abuse of official capacity. Four months earlier, the GOP-controlled Texas House of Representatives impeached him by a vote of 121 to 23, resulting in his suspension from office. All 150 seats in the Texas House of Representatives will be up for election in November.

After his acquittal, Paxton began what the dallas morning News he called “an ever-expanding revenge tour,” targeting Texas Republicans he held responsible for the impeachment, including Phelan.

After the runoff, Paxton wrote in X that Phelan’s victory was assured by Democratic voters and called for a closed Republican primary.

“The Democrats just re-elected Dade Phelan,” he said. “We must close our primaries. Now.”

Phelan wrote in sale, and our securities are not up for auction.

“I owe a deep debt of gratitude to every voter and volunteer whose tireless dedication turned that vision into tonight’s resounding victory.”

On Monday, Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee, wrote in Truth Social that Phelan had inflicted an “absolute embarrassment” on Texas and the Republican Party.

“David Covey is running against Dade Phelan, the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, who led the fraudulent impeachment of the recently re-elected and overwhelming Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton,” Trump wrote.

After referencing comments Phelan made about voting for Trump for the third time, the former president added: “However, words do not mitigate the utter embarrassment President Phelan inflicted on the state of Texas and our Great Republican Party! Therefore, David Covey has my full opinion.” and full endorsement for Texas State House District 21: Texas, get out and vote tomorrow!”

news week has reached out to Speaker Dade Phelan and David Covey’s campaigns for comment via email outside of normal business hours.

In March, Covey defeated Phelan by 46 percent of the vote to 43 percent in the Republican primary. The race went to a second round because none of the candidates surpassed the 50 percent threshold.

During the campaign, Covey repeatedly questioned Phelan’s conservative credentials and criticized him for appointing Democrats to chair some legislative committees, as is standard practice in the Texas House of Representatives.

Reacting to the outcome of the March primary, Covey said, “The days of Republicans empowering Democrats are over.” Phelan, meanwhile, said “a wave of outside influence” had been deployed against him.

Some Covey supporters nicknamed Phelan RINO, a Republican in name only, during the campaign.

According Texas monthlyFormer Texas Governor Rick Perry, a Phelan supporter, accepted the description, saying, “I think he’s kind of sexy, frankly, if you think about it. In Africa, he’s one of the baddest kids on the block.”