Loyalty prevailed over sanity in GOP primary

Here’s a fun quiz for the hundreds of thousands of Republican voters who ousted-three incumbent judges on Texas’ highest criminal court in Tuesday’s primary: describe what this court does in one sentence.

We bet most couldn’t tell you that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is the court of last resort for all criminal cases, a powerful body that often deals, literally, with matters of life or death, including reviewing every case that results in a death penalty.

But we bet plenty of these voters could tell you exactly what the ousted Republicans on the court failed to do: show absolute loyalty to Attorney General Ken Paxton.

And they’d be right. Justices Sharon Keller, Barbara Hervey and Michelle Slaughter showed absolute loyalty to the Texas Constitution, instead, thinking, correctly, that it’s what members of an independent judiciary are sworn to do. But the Republican Party has changed. Following the rule of law isn’t a virtue anymore when the law is in conflict with the desires of a powerful politician who has the backing of the Almighty Donald Trump.

It didn’t matter that the ousted justices were just doing their jobs when they ruled in an 8-1 decision in 2021 that the Texas Constitution doesn’t allow Paxton or any Texas AG to prosecute voter fraud by himself. He could do it as much as he wanted as long as he worked with local district or county attorneys but he couldn’t strike out on his own.

That got twisted by Paxton to suggest the justices were pro-election fraud or that they were RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) or that the justices (yes, even Slaughter whose judicial hero is Clarence Thomas) weren’t conservative enough.

Being conservative isn’t the issue. They were plenty conservative. They just weren’t crooked. And that’s what it takes these days — in some cases, not all — to stay safe as a Republican incumbent in state politics. If you’re a judge, you’ve got to ignore the Constitution. If you’re a

House member, you’ve got to ignore mounting evidence of Paxton’s corruption in an impeachment inquiry.

Some GOP incumbents, such as state Rep. Mano DeAyala, told us his integrity wouldn’t let him look past the facts. He did the right thing. He voted for Paxton’s impeachment. And somehow, despite Paxton’s best efforts, DeAyala survived, beating his Paxton-backed challenger.

Most judges don’t have the name ID of a popular state House incumbent. They’re more vulnerable to Paxton’s retribution. But what makes GOP primary voters so eager to enable that kind of vendetta? What makes good American voters who care enough about their country to go and vote look past Paxton’s own horrific liabilities?

Simple: Trump.

He says grovel. And some Republicans say “how low?”

Paxton has no low, as we know. He’s sunk to levels never seen in Texas politics, at least during our lifetimes. And he’s taking this state — and some fine conservative elected officials — down with him.

To their credit, the three judges who lost their primaries Tuesday hadn’t backed away from their decision in the voter fraud decision to win over partisan voters. Here’s what Hervey told us in her endorsement screening last month when asked why the court ruled against Paxton.

“I think it’s a simple matter, actually: because we read the Constitution to deny the attorney general that power,” she said. “That discretion belongs to the local prosecutors.”

Imagine that — a party that once lionized conservative originalist judges such as Antonin Scalia is now tossing out judges for modeling his judicial philosophy.

Paxton did his part, very publicly recruiting challengers and maneuvering behind the scenes to start a political action committee aimed at ousting Keller, Hervey and Slaughter. Then Trump dealt the death blow, endorsing all of their challengers exactly one week before the primary election.

A straight-forward political hit job that would make John Gotti blush.

For Keller, at least, there were some mitigating circumstances. She was a weak candidate with a checkered ethical record facing off against David Schenck, a qualified former appellate court judge whom we endorsed in spite of Paxton's support because of his experience and the fact that he insisted the attorney general didn’t recruit him. Hervey and Slaughter’s opponents, on the other hand, simply don’t belong on the bench. Gina Parker, who ran against Hervey, is a civil and criminal lawyer from Waco and a Republican Party activist who currently owns a dental manufacturing company. Lee Finley, who challenged Slaughter, is a Marine Corps veteran and a criminal defense attorney from Collin County, Paxton’s home turf.

Sadly, Texas’ judiciary is not the only political arena where incumbents fell victim to a loyalty litmus test on Tuesday. Gov. Greg Abbott made no secret of his desire to push out the 21 Republican lawmakers who — wisely, we argued — sided with House Democrats and voted against his school voucher plan. As of Wednesday, eight of those 21 state reps were defeated, with four more headed for runoffs.

House Speaker Dade Phelan, who made enemies of Abbott, Paxton and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is also headed toward a runoff against GOP activist David Covey. Paxton and Patrick, along with — surprise! — Trump, endorsed Covey. Apparently, Phelan, a House speaker who delivered major partisan victories banning abortion and allowing permitless carry of handguns, isn’t Republican enough for many Republicans in his district.

Or, like we said earlier, he’s not crooked enough. He didn’t block Paxton’s impeachment and he didn’t ramrod through Abbott’s voucher plans, which he knows many rural Republicans do not support. That’s leadership. That’s respecting what used to be called The Will of The House. And that, today, can be fatal in the Texas GOP.

If you're looking for a silver lining in the Texas GOP blood oath primary, look no further than Harris County, where several Republican incumbents who voted to impeach Paxton prevailed. Along with DeAyala, there were Reps. Briscoe Cain and Lacey Hull, who won their races easily against far more extreme primary opponents. In Plano, Republican state Rep. Jeff Leach, who gave one of the closing arguments in favor of impeaching Paxton, also handily defeated his opponent.

These results indicate there are still some voters who value integrity in their representatives. We implore the Republicans who despise the party’s mafia-esque turn to make their voice heard this November. Cast ballots for Senate and House candidates who value political independence. Seek out judicial candidates who cherish the Constitution and have a record to back it up. That might mean, in the case of the criminal high court races, either voting for the Democrat or leaving the race blank. But isn’t that better than rewarding Paxton’s corruption?

Even in Texas, we still have hope that sanity can prevail. But it needs your help.

Rule of law loses to rule of Trump in voting out judges and lawmakers