Gov. Abbott helps oust anti-voucher incumbents from Texas House
Texas Governor Greg Abbott is celebrating after helping oust five anti-voucher incumbents from the Texas House.
With a handful of other incumbents opting not to run for re-election, it means roughly half of his fellow Republicans who stood in the way of one of his priority issues are on the way out.
It wasn't just time that Gov. Abbott gave on the campaign trail to these candidates, as he also gave them money.
Money has flowed in from other sources as well, and some believe we saw a further shift to the right in Texas on Tuesday.
After Gov. Abbott failed to convince a group of mostly rural Republicans to pass school vouchers in mid-November, he followed through with a stronger negotiating tactic on Tuesday by ousting a handful of those opponents from office.
Following months of campaigning and endorsements aimed at supporting pro-voucher incumbents and challengers, five incumbents who opposed vouchers and saw Abbott endorse their opponent lost their seats.
Another three are headed to a runoff, and five of the candidates who stood in Abbott’s way didn’t run for re-election in the first place.
"I do think this will change the Texas House, in particular, I think it will make it more conservative," SMU political science professor Cal Jillson said. "Even those who survived will see that and conclude that it’s not good politics to stand against Abbott and vouchers, so I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see vouchers in the next legislative session."
The governor’s voucher plan that failed last November, with 21 Republicans standing in the way, would have allowed parents to use tax dollars to send their children to private and religious schools.
Many of those Republicans who opposed vouchers were from rural areas who felt the legislation only benefitted those who live nearer to private schools.
Gov. Abbott’s school voucher plan receives election day boost
The results of Tuesday night’s primaries will make it more likely that a school voucher plan will become law in Texas soon.
One of them, who could not hang on to his seat, was State Representative Glenn Rogers, whose rural district sits west of Fort Worth.
In an op-ed to the Weatherford Democrat Wednesday, he wrote: "This morning, I have no regrets…" while going on to say… "History will prove that our current state government is the most corrupt ever and is ‘bought’ by a few radical dominionist billionaires seeking to destroy public education, privatize our public schools, and create a Theocracy that is both un-American and un-Texan."
Gov. Abbott, meanwhile, made his victory lap, saying Wednesday: "Texans sent a clear message about who they want representing their values in Austin."