San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Alleged misconduct surfaces in primary
Former state Rep. Kyle Biedermann, who is mounting a comeback bid for the Legislature, defended a lawmaker expelled from the Texas House last year for allegedly giving a 19-year-old aide alcohol and having an inappropriate sexual relationship with her.
Biedermann, a Fredericksburg Republican who served in the Legislature from 2017 to 2023, is challenging Rep. Ellen Troxclair in the GOP primary.
At a Kendall County Tea Party event last week, Biedermann lamented the House’s treatment of former Rep. Bryan Slaton of Royse City, according to a recording posted on social media by The Texan. “If you’re part of the leadership, you’re covered. If you’re not part of leadership, like Bryan Slaton, you’re out in 24 hours,” he said.
Wally Kinney, an attendee who supports Troxclair, then asked: “Are you saying Bryan Slaton was out because he wasn’t part of the club? But he had sex with an underage person.”
“Want me to tell you how many people have done that in the House?” Biedermann replied. “I’ll start naming them right now.”
“Was he convicted?” Biedermann continued. “What was his crime? Is it a crime to have sex with a 19-year-old woman?”
The woman, who worked in Slaton’s office, was above the age of legal consent but was not old enough to drink alcohol.
A House ethics panel that investigated the incident found Slaton had “engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with a subordinate” and that the behavior was “induced” by alcohol that he provided to her. He was expelled from the chamber in a unanimous vote and was the first lawmaker ousted in nearly a century.
The video of Biedermann’s remarks does not include anyone’s face. But Kinney, the chair of the Texas State Securities Board, confirmed to the Texas Tribune that he had asked the question and Biedermann responded.
Biedermann did not respond to a request for comment. He issued a statement on social media asserting that “affairs run rampant in the Austin swamp,” and House GOP leaders “selectively punish impropriety, and that was the point I was making.”
Troxclair, R-Lakeway, called her opponent’s comments “disgusting.”
Biedermann has been caught up in several public scandals in recent years — including his attendance at the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol and his decision to wear a “gay Hitler” costume to a charity event before he was elected to public office.
Biedermann’s campaign has taken two additional hits in recent days, after Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told him to stop using their likenesses in his campaign ads.