Austin, Texas — AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has dismissed impeachment proceedings. On Super Tuesday he wants political revenge.
The Republican, who was on the verge of being removed from office just six months ago, is storming into the Texas primaries with a dramatic campaign to oust dozens of members of his own party. They include rank-and-file lawmakers, state judges and one of the most powerful figures in Texas: Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan, who oversaw last year’s historic vote to impeach Paxton on corruption charges.
Paxton’s purge attempt is part of a wild brawl engulfing the state’s dominant political party, with the attacks blunt and the haymakers personal. Phelan recently hit back with a video reminding voters of Paxton’s extramarital affair, saying Paxton had broken an “oath to his wife and God.”
Paxton himself is not on the ballot — he won a third term in 2022 — but the effort to clean out the House by one of former President Donald Trump’s most outspoken defenders could reshape the Republican Party in Texas for years to come, leaving deeply conservative Legislature further to the right.
“I’ve never seen anything like this primary,” said Bill Miller, a longtime Republican strategist in Texas. “The party is in a civil war. There’s too much going on to call it anything else.”
Paxton is targeting more than 30 Republican incumbents who have attracted major challengers. And he didn’t stop there. Using his political muscle after the acquittal, the attorney general is seeking to remove three female Republican judges from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, one of the nation’s most conservative panels, after it challenged the powers of his office in a 2021 ruling limited.
Meanwhile, Paxton remains in legal jeopardy.
He will be tried in April on charges of security fraud, which could carry up to 90 years in prison if convicted. He is also fighting a subpoena for sworn testimony in a civil lawsuit that mirrors some of the charges. And there is an ongoing federal criminal investigation into some of the same allegations.
“By the grace of God I am here today,” Paxton told a political rally in a Dallas suburb last month. “This is more important than anything I’ve ever done: that we win these races and that we win the Texas House.”
Some of Paxton’s endorsements, and the millions of dollars flowing to them from outside groups, clash with Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s Super Tuesday agenda. The governor has his own list of Republican House members he’s trying to throw out because he’s angry that they voted against using taxpayer money for private schools.
The double-barreled attacks have put extreme pressure on lawmakers who happen to have fallen in the crosshairs of both men.
Abbott focused on a policy fight, but “(Paxton) is like a rabid dog that is simply angry at a large majority of the members of the House of Representatives,” said Mark P. Jones, a professor of political science at Rice University. “He is willing to support anyone who wants to. to meet a primary challenge.”
Paxton’s biggest target is Phelan and the symbolic victory that would come from overthrowing the leadership of the House of Representatives.
Phelan’s two sessions as House speaker have been a treat for conservatives: since 2021, Texas has passed some of the nation’s most restrictive abortion laws, supported Abbott’s anti-immigration efforts, banned gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, and eliminated diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in higher education.
But it was Phelan’s House that also sparked Paxton’s ouster, and the two men have been attacking each other ever since. Paxton has accused Phelan of being drunk on the job and has campaigned against Phelan in his home district. Trump has gone ahead and endorsed Phelan’s opponent.
Phelan responded with a scathing campaign ad detailing some of the allegations of corruption during the impeachment. It specifically mentioned Paxton’s affair with a legislative staffer.
“Vengeful Paxton is the reason Trump got involved in our race,” Phelan says at the 30-second mark. “If Paxton wants to break an oath to his wife and God, why would he tell Trump – or you – the truth?”
Even if most of Paxton’s backed challengers lose, taking out a House speaker would be a “political earthquake,” Miller said.
Inside the courthouse, Paxton took aim at the three judges who were part of an 8-1 majority that stripped the attorney general’s authority to prosecute voter fraud without permission from local prosecutors.
The issue of voter fraud closely ties Paxton to Trump. Paxton led an effort in 2020 that asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Trump’s election defeat to President Joe Biden.
Paxton’s goal is to remove two of the court’s longest-serving judges: Judge Barbara Hervey was elected in 2001 and presiding judge Sharon Keller was elected in 1994. Judge Michelle Slaughter was elected in 2018.
“The Court follows the law, period,” Slaughter posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “We cannot and will not be partisan political activists.”