Ted Cruz has announced he will campaign for the primary opponents of Republican state house incumbents who voted to kill school choice.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz says he will endorse against the 21 Republicans who voted with Democrats against school choice in the Texas House.
Cruz made the comments during an interview on the Chris Salcedo Show, where he acknowledged that getting involved in state-level races is abnormal for U.S. senators.
“There are 100 senators. To the best of my knowledge, 99 of them do not get involved in state legislative races. And the reason is getting involved in state legislative races in primaries in your state is stupid, it hurts you politically,” said Cruz. “To the best of my knowledge, I am the only one who not only gets involved, but I make a regular practice of it.”
The main factor in Cruz’s endorsements this cycle? Their support for school choice.
“My basic rule is, if you have supported school choice and you are otherwise relatively conservative, you’re quite likely to get my support. If on the other hand, you voted against choice, the odds of getting my support are zero. And I am very likely to endorse your primary opponent. When I do so I don’t do so gently. I cut TV ads and radio ads and I come in and we beat you,” said Cruz.
Earlier this month, 21 Republicans in the Texas House sided with Democrats in killing a school choice proposal. While some of those members have already announced their retirement, Cruz says he is prepared to replace them with more conservative members.
“l’ll tell you this, the 21 Republicans that voted this last session to kill school choice, every one of those 21 I want to make an invitation to their primary opponent: run against them and I will back you.”
“I’m going to do everything I can to beat those 21 Republicans,” he added.
This is not the first time Cruz has endorsed candidates based on their support for school choice. In the 2022 primary, Cruz said it was a “critical factor” in earning his support.
Attorney General Ken Paxton has been endorsing primary opponents of those Republican state reps who voted for his impeachment, a group that includes a lot of overlap with those opposing school choice. Governor Greg Abbott has also started endorsing the primary opponents of GOP reps who voted to kill school choice, but hasn’t announced a blanket policy of opposing them yet.
For years the powers behind Joe Straus, Dennis Bonnen and Dade Phelan have constantly thwarted conservative priorities in the House thanks to a small cadre of squishy Republicans willing to buck the party on central priorities. The combination of the Paxton impeachment farce and killing school choice may finally have prodded key Republicans into replacing those squishes with actual conservatives.
Tags: 2024 Election, 88th Texas Legislative Session, Dade Phelan, Elections, Ken Paxton, Republicans, school choice, Special Session, Ted Cruz, Texas
They’re not “squishes”. They’re infiltrators.
Sorry to be a pedant, but the opening sentence has too many negatives and means the opposite of what you intend it to mean.
[Got it. – LP]
Phelan will be tough to unseat, simply because he can outspend just about anyone they put up and because Jefferson County is a tricky place.
But if enough GOP squishes start hearing footsteps, perhaps finally the House GOP caucus will develop a spine and get rid of the Pledge Card practice of selecting the speaker (which is how Strauss, Bonnen, and Phelan got elected, by relying on Dem votes plus RINOs).
[…] Cruz Campaigning Against Phelan Stooges. “Ted Cruz has announced he will campaign for the primary opponents of anyone running against […]
I say HOORAY for Senator Cruz! He believes in identifying problems and doesn’t hesitate wading right into the fray to help straighten it out. We need to get rid of ALL the lefty RINOs in the Texas Congress…starting with Phelan. If we can’t get him voted out of the House, at least dump him as Speaker! Having him in that position is just as bad as having a Woke Democrat in the position as he sure doesn’t have the welfare of the State nor its Citizens in mind.
Regards,
Lee72
CAPT USN (Ret)