TEXAS, USA — Texas Governor Greg Abbott has endorsed dozens of Republican House members who are up for reelection, but he is leaving 21 of them off the list. Those currently not being backed by the Governor are mostly rural Republicans who voted to take school vouchers out of the education bill during the fourth special session.
Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University (SMU), said ethics have been put aside and politics has taken over.
"In politics, if you have sources of influence or power, you use those to move other people to places they wouldn't normally go on their own," Jillson explained. "So, you expect the governor to try to use his influence."
So far the Governor's influence hasn't worked on rural Republicans and Democrats. Abbott's "school choice" agenda has failed five times now. The Republican governor has made it clear that he would oppose House Republicans who block his legislative priority.
Gov. Abbott endorsed 58 Texas House Republicans running for reelection, all of whom sided with him on a key vote days earlier in his yearlong push for school vouchers. Rep. Hugh Shine of District 55 and Rep. Kyle Kacal of District 12 were not on the list.
Jillson said not having an endorsement from the Governor most likely won't hurt the representatives that much.
"They are close to their districts, well known in their districts and are likely to be returned by their constituents," Jillson added. "I think that these Republican rural members of the Texas House have been looking at the voucher issue for many years. They know what their constituents think about it and they're voting that constituency. They are voting small towns, and the governor has had no ability to blow them off that position."
Jillson said Abbott has few options left if he wants to get "school choice" made into law. Jillson said Abbott needs to bargain with rural Republicans, or compromise with them because "he can't push them around."
Jillson also said the Governor could make this a battle for the primaries in 2024.
"All the Governor could do, really, is to take the 25 or 30 million that he has in his political war chest and start distributing it to primary opponents to those Republican officeholders, but I will be very surprised if he goes that far," Jillson said.
The education bill is now back in House committee and the members won't reconvene until Nov. 27.
Previously, Abbott has suggested he would call up to five special sessions, and if the proposal still did not reach his desk, he would turn it into an issue for the primaries.
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