The conservative Republican attorney general is waging a bruising campaign to oust dozens of his fellow GOP lawmakers in the upcoming Super Tuesday primary.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton beat impeachment. On Super Tuesday, he wants political revenge.

The Republican, who just six months ago was on the brink of removal from office, is charging into Texas’ primaries on a dramatic campaign to oust dozens in his own party. They include rank-and-file legislators, state judges and one of the most powerful figures in Texas: Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan, who oversaw the historic vote last year to impeach Paxton on corruption charges.

Paxton’s purge attempt is part of a wild brawl engulfing the state’s dominant political party, where the attacks are blunt and the haymakers personal. Phelan recently punched back with a video reminding voters of Paxton’s extramarital affair, saying Paxton broke an “oath to his wife and God.”

Paxton himself is not on the ballot — he won a third term in 2022 — but the clean-the-House effort by one of former President Donald Trump ‘s most vocal defenders could reshape the Texas GOP for years to come, tilting the deeply conservative Legislature further to the right.

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    5•9 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    They include rank-and-file legislators, state judges and one of the most powerful figures in Texas: Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan, who oversaw the historic vote last year to impeach Paxton on corruption charges.

    Paxton’s purge attempt is part of a wild brawl engulfing the state’s dominant political party, where the attacks are blunt and the haymakers personal.

    Paxton himself is not on the ballot — he won a third term in 2022 — but the clean-the-House effort by one of former President Donald Trump ‘s most vocal defenders could reshape the Texas GOP for years to come, tilting the deeply conservative Legislature further to the right.

    Flexing his post-acquittal political muscle, the attorney general is trying to remove three female Republican judges from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, one of the most conservative panels in the country, after it limited the powers of his office in a 2021 ruling.

    Abbott concentrated on a policy fight, but “(Paxton) is like a rabid dog that simply is angry at a large majority of House members,” said Rice University political science professor Mark P. Jones.

    Phelan’s two sessions as House speaker were a bonanza for conservatives: Since 2021, Texas has passed some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country, supported Abbott’s headline-making anti-immigration crackdown, banned gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, and eliminated diversity, equity and inclusion programs in higher education.

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