It’s a Long Way to the Top (if You Wanna Oust the Pols)

Twenty-five years in and the state of Texas has only elected two governors in the st Century two lieutenant governors and two attorney generals The current governor was elected AG in to succeed the first GOP attorney general since Reconstruction who himself ascended to the United States Senate and has remained in that seat ever since In the current era s attorney general who succeeded the now-governor is now ramping up for a likely primary campaign to oust noted U S senator Such is the age of Republican domination in Texas largely marked by remarkable entrenchment in the statewide power structure interrupted by occasional bursts of incestuous conflict There are no term limits for these offices in the Lone Star State but that didn t prevent a healthy level of churn among the top ranks of statewide office throughout the greater part of Texas political history even in the bygone era of Democrats one-party rule John Cornyn and Mitch McConnell in Tom Williams CQ Roll Call CQ Roll Call via AP Images Not so much with Republicans Under red rule Texas has not just returned to a one-party state it s a one-party state controlled by just a very limited politicians who ve used their longevity to consolidate unprecedented levels of power Governor Greg Abbott has methodically expanded the once-limited realm of gubernatorial authority and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has reshaped the once independent-minded Senate into a body of one For those top two this is a time for cementing legacies and they seemingly have no intent of leaving anytime soon Abbott is singularly focused on passing school vouchers into law a protocol goal that eluded his two GOP predecessors And if he wins a fourth term in he ll be on the precipice of surpassing his predecessor Rick Perry as the state s longest serving top executive Patrick who was at various times rumored to be considering a primary challenge against Abbott appears to have grown content with mastering his green-carpeted domain in the Texas Senate The lite guv also declares to be all in on running for a fourth term While he ll almost certainly be unable to surpass Lieutenant Governor Bill Hobby Jr s record -year reign Patrick surely has a limited things up his sleeve to cap his career The logjam at the top has also extended to the lesser statewide positions such as the comptroller land commissioner and agriculture commissioner Those relatively entry-level positions have long served as a training ground for higher office But with such entrenchment the only way for ambitious Republicans to move up is to try to take out one of their superiors a dicey option Texas Land Commissioner George P Bush tried to do it with an imperiled Attorney General Ken Paxton in he failed miserably and now his political career is all but over His replacement Dawn Buckingham seems to be using the office as a launch pad for future higher office as well Comptroller Glenn Hegar who was long harboring aims for governor or lieutenant governor apparently grew tired of waiting In March he accepted a post as chancellor of the Texas A M University System replacing John Sharp another former comptroller Within hours of that news GOP candidates were already rolling out their campaigns to take the open office in the elections The former tea-party state senator and failed guv challenger Don Huffines is promising to wield the comptroller s office as a DOGE-like weapon Longtime Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick a more traditional conservative and heir to her ex-speaker father s political fortune has also jumped at this rare opportunity for a promotion The headliner for the Republican primaries though will be an especially rare showdown between two heavyweights Paxton versus U S Senator John Cornyn It s a battle that s been simmering for years now as the two have traded potshots back and forth Paxton has teased a probable challenge to Cornyn for particular time blasting him as an anti-MAGA establishment swamp creature who helped enact new gun laws and supported U S aid to Ukraine during the Biden presidency In early April Paxton made it official that he s taking on Cornyn who s held the seat for over years Paxton-world has commissioned polls showing him well ahead of Cornyn in a primary and the press-averse AG has gone on a media tour that includes not just his typical MAGA podcast circuit but also Washington insider outlets and even The New York Times I think I can win if I have million Paxton advised the Capitol Hill tabloid Punchbowl News I think it s just time He s had his chance He hasn t performed well and the voters know it You can go a long time without people paying attention And they re paying attention now While Cornyn lost his bid for the long-coveted Republican Majority Leader position he hasn t lost his taste for politics In late March he officially reported his fourth reelection campaign with a video in which he firmly latched on to s ill-fitted coat tails President Trump demands a partner who is battle-tested he intoned It s no less an awkward tact than his last reelection in when he remixed his old campaign jingle Big John to include a nod to Big Don Much like his crestfallen mentor Mitch McConnell the Corndog has struggled to approach Trump s takeover of the GOP Soon after January th the senior senator in a move he likely regrets in the current era declared it was time for Trump to move on That s a weakness that Paxton who is something of a cult hero in MAGA-world is hoping to exploit The timing may be perfect for the long-embattled AG as he has shed himself of all his legal baggage securities fraud charges settled impeachment charges acquitted a years-long Department of Justice study reportedly closed And with Trump back in the White House Paxton no longer even has a federal executive to incessantly sue Various of his top deputies have already been hired away by the new administration What better time to go to Washington And what you may ask about that long-suffering opposition force in this one-party state Democrats hopes of pulling off statewide preeminence in Texas have been rather thoroughly decimated over the last three cycles SIGN UP FOR TEXAS OBSERVER EMAILS Get our latest in-depth reporting straight to your inbox Sign Up But as dependably the party will start to convince itself that the next voting process will be different And of module one can reliably find reason for a shred of optimism The cycle was a accident for Democrats all across the country And the shellacking of Beto O Rourke in came on highly unfavorable terrain for a Democrat in Texas The elections could play out similarly to the anti-Trump midterms that fueled Dems best performance in fresh history That made for rough sledding for junior U S Senator Ted Cruz If Paxton the GOP s weakest statewide general-election candidate does win the Senate primary he could fare even worse than Cruz should Dems field a compelling opponent far from a given Paxton s Senate bid also means that the attorney general s office will be up for grabs The winner of the GOP primary will all but certainly be someone with no statewide profile quite possibly a far-right Paxton acolyte without the benefits of incumbency Those odds could be the closest to even that a Texas Dem is going to get The post It s a Long Way to the Top if You Wanna Oust the Pols appeared first on The Texas Observer