Texas state legislative Republican primaries, 2018#What is at stake

Elections in Texas, 2018

* General election: Nov. 6
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* Absentee voting deadline: Nov. 7

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Ballotpedia's series on the Texas state legislative Republican primaries

Overview

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Page 1: Election night coverage of primary matchups

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Page 2: Races to watch in the 2018 primaries

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Page 3: Top 10 races in 2018

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Page 4: Factional conflict in the 2018 primaries

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Page 5: What was at stake in the 2018 primaries?

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Page 6: Campaign activity by influencers and satellite organizations

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Page 7: Noteworthy events, timeline, and media coverage of the 2018 primaries

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Page 8: Competitiveness in the 2018 primaries

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Page 9: Campaign finance in the 2018 primaries

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Page 10: May 22 primary runoffs

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Read as one page →

On this page, you will find details on the following events or policy areas implicated in the March 6 primaries:

* The 2019 House speaker's race
* Education finance
* Property tax rates
* Bathroom regulations

## Contents

* 1 2019 state House speaker election
* 1.1 Involvement in primaries
* 1.2 Rule change and speaker commitment pledge
* 1.3 Speaker commitment pledge image
* 1.4 Who signed the commitment form?
* 2 Education finance policy
* 3 Property tax rates
* 4 Bathroom regulations
* 5 See also
* 6 Footnotes

## 2019 state House speaker election[edit]

In October 2017, House Speaker Joe Straus (R) announced that he would not run for re-election, setting up a contest for House speaker in 2019 that could have been influenced by which members won in the 2018 Republican primaries. The 2018 primaries were likely to decide how much the next Texas speaker led like Straus or leaned more toward the anti-Straus wing of the Texas Republican Party.

The Texas House speaker's powers include appointing members and chairs of standing committees as well as refering legislation to committees.[1]

Declared speaker candidates as March 6, 2018

* John Zerwas
* Phil King

Possible speaker candidates[2]

* Drew Darby
* Travis Clardy
* Four Price
* Craig Goldman
* Todd Hunter
* Tan Parker
* Dennis Bonnen
* Ron Simmons

##### Involvement in primaries[edit]

Brandon Waltens of Empower Texans wrote that Zerwas established the Texans for a Stronger Economy PAC to draw support in the speaker's race from candidates in contested primaries. The list of candidates that the PAC supported included Straus allies such as Charlie Geren, Lyle Larson, Ken King, and Sarah Davis. Waltens also wrote that Drew Darby was donating to candidates running in contested primaries and that a rivalry between him and Zerwas (which first played out as they both vied for the chair of the Appropriations Committee in 2017) could be starting for the speaker's race.[3]

#### Rule change and speaker commitment pledge[edit]

On December 1, 2017, most state House Republicans voted for a rule change that would require their members to select a speaker in a caucus meeting and then unanimously support that person on the House floor, where all members, including Democrats, are able to vote for the speaker. The rule required the speaker candidate to be elected by the Republican caucus on a secret ballot. The rule provided for additional votes by the caucus if no candidate earned more than two-thirds support on the first ballot. No enforcement mechanism for the rule was adopted.

The rule change was in response to the tenure of Straus, who had previously won elections to be speaker because a coalition of moderate Republicans and Democrats supported him on the floor while conservative Republicans opposed him. State Rep. Matt Schaefer (R), the chairman of the Texas Freedom Caucus, which opposed Straus' leadership, said the following about the rule change: "From the Freedom Caucus perspective, this is a huge win, but it’s a huge win for the whole Republican caucus. I think we knocked the first domino, but the credit goes to a lot of other members who helped the process along." The Texas Republican Party, including Chairman James Dickey, supported the rule change.

At an unrelated event on December 1, Straus did not an offer an opinion on the rule change, but he did express doubt that Republicans would vote together on the floor without an enforcement mechanism, saying, "I’m not sure that anything can be binding, but it sounds like the state party chairman and others are really kind of whipping this thing up, but I would think the wiser approach would be to change the state Constitution. You can’t bind somebody to vote for a speaker candidate on the floor, so ... whatever."[4]

At the time of the rule change, there were two declared candidates for the speaker race in 2019, Phil King and John Zerwas. King announced in September 2017 that he would challenge Straus for the speakership and made remarks that were critical of Straus' leadership style.[5] After Straus announced that he would retire in October 2017, Zerwas, a Straus ally, announced his candidacy.[6] Zerwas said in an interview with the Texas Tribune that he would be a similar leader to Straus.[7]

On December 21, the Texas Monitor reported that Republican state House candidates were being asked to sign a form pledging them to vote for the House speaker candidate chosen by the Republican Caucus during the floor vote for speaker in 2019. Phil King supported the pledge, saying, "Forty-four states have House caucus votes [for speaker]. It’s a reasonable way to elect the speaker." As of December 21, John Zerwas had not signed the pledge and neither had other Straus allies, including Charlie Geren and Sarah Davis. Zerwas said in an interview with the Texas Tribune that he would not commit to voting for the caucus' choice on the House floor and said that the new process should acknowledge the preferences of Democrats. According to the Monitor, about one-half of the 182 Republican state House candidates had signed the pledge.

The New Leadership PAC—which opposed Straus' leadership—supported the pledge, with treasurer Don Dyer saying, "Any incumbent who doesn’t sign the pledge has made themselves an adversary of ours. It is the No. 1 thing on our list of what we expect Republicans to be."[8]

In late November 2017, an anonymous inquiry was submitted to the Texas Ethics Commission asking whether the speaker commitment pledge amounted to legislative bribery. The state Republican Party attempted to find if a Republican representative was the source of the inquiry by submitting an open records request to all 150 state House members.[9]

On January 10, 2018, the Texas Monitor reported that 115 House Republicans had signed the pledge, including Straus allies Four Price and Dan Huberty. Among the 67 members who had not signed the pledge was Straus ally Charlie Geren. The Monitor found that two-thirds of campaign contributions to non-signers had come from political action committees and their related organizations.[10]

#### Speaker commitment pledge image[edit]

This is an image of the speaker commitment pledge that candidates were asked to sign. See it here on the Texas Republican Party's website.

#### Who signed the commitment form?[edit]

Click [Show] to see the list of candidates who signed the form according to the Texas Republican Party.[11]

Last udpated January 31, 2018

Speaker committment form signatures

District | Candidate | Signed form?
1 | Gary Van Deaver | No
2 | Bryan Slaton | Yes
2 | Dan Flynn | Yes
3 | Cecil Bell Jr. | No
4 | Ashley McKee | Yes
4 | Keith Bell | Yes
4 | Stuart Spitzer | Yes
4 | Earl Brunner | No
5 | Cole Hefner | Yes
6 | Matt Schaefer | Yes
6 | Ted Kamel | Yes
7 | Jay Dean | No
8 | Cody Harris | Yes
8 | Linda Timmerman | Yes
8 | Thomas McNutt | Yes
9 | Garrett Boersma | Yes
9 | Chris Paddie | No
10 | John Wray | No
11 | Danny Ward | Yes
11 | Travis Clardy | No
12 | Kyle Kacal | No
13 | Ben Leman | Yes
13 | Daniel McCarthy | Yes
13 | David K. Stall | Yes
13 | Jill Wolfskill | Yes
13 | Marc S. Young | Yes
14 | Jeston Texeira | Yes
14 | Sarah Laningham | Yes
14 | John Raney | Yes
14 | Rick Davis | No
15 | Steve Toth | Yes
15 | Jackie Waters | Yes
16 | Will Metcalf | Yes
17 | John P. Cyrier | No
18 | Emily Cook | Yes
18 | Ernest Bailes | No
19 | James White | Yes
20 | Terry M. Wilson | Yes
21 | Dade Phelan | No
23 | Mayes Middleton | Yes
23 | Wayne Faircloth | Yes
24 | Greg Bonnen | No
25 | Damon Rambo | Yes
25 | Dennis Bonnen | No
26 | D.F. "Rick" Miller | No
28 | John Zerwas | No
29 | Ed Thompson | Yes
30 | Geanie W. Morrison | No
32 | Todd Hunter | Yes
33 | Justin Holland | No
34 | Chris Hale | Yes
42 | Luis De La Garza | No
43 | J.M. Lozano | Yes
44 | John Kuempel | No
45 | Amber Pearce | Yes
45 | Amy Akers | Yes
45 | Austin Talley | Yes
45 | Ken Strange | Yes
45 | Naomi Naraviz | Yes
46 | Gabriel Nila | Yes
47 | Jay Wiley | Yes
47 | Patricia Vredevelt | Yes
47 | Paul D. Workman | Yes
49 | Kyle Austin | Yes
52 | Christopher L. Ward | Yes
52 | Cynthia Flores | Yes
52 | Jeremy Story | Yes
53 | Andrew S. Murr | Yes
54 | Brad Buckley | Yes
54 | Larry S. Smith | Yes
54 | Scott Cosper | Yes
55 | Brandon Hall | Yes
55 | CJ Grisham | Yes
55 | Hugh D. Shine | Yes
56 | Charles "Doc" Anderson | Yes
57 | Trent Ashby | No
58 | DeWayne Burns | Yes
59 | Chris Evans | Yes
59 | J.D. Sheffield | Yes
60 | Mike Lang | Yes
60 | Gregory Risse | No
60 | Jim Largent | No
61 | Phil King | Yes
62 | Brent Lawson | Yes
62 | Kevin Couch | Yes
62 | Reggie Smith | Yes
63 | Tan Parker | Yes
64 | Lynn Stucky | Yes
64 | Mark Roy | Yes
65 | Kevin Simmons | Yes
65 | Ron Simmons | Yes
66 | Matt Shaheen | Yes
67 | Jeff Leach | Yes
68 | Drew Springer | Yes
69 | James Frank | Yes
70 | Scott Sanford | Yes
71 | Stan Lambert | No
72 | Lynette Lucas | Yes
72 | Drew Darby | No
73 | Dave Campbell | Yes
73 | Kyle Biedermann | Yes
78 | Jeffrey Lane | No
81 | Brooks Landgraf | No
82 | Tom Craddick | Yes
83 | Dustin Burrows | Yes
84 | John Frullo | Yes
85 | Phil Stephenson | Yes
86 | John Smithee | Yes
87 | Drew Brassfield | Yes
87 | Four Price | Yes
88 | Jason Huddleston | Yes
88 | Richard Beyea | Yes
88 | Ken King | No
89 | Candy Noble | Yes
89 | John Payton | Yes
91 | Stephanie Klick | Yes
92 | Jonathan Stickland | Yes
93 | Matt Krause | Yes
94 | Tony Tinderholt | Yes
95 | Stephen A. West | No
96 | Bill Zedler | Yes
97 | Craig Goldman | Yes
98 | Armin Mizani | Yes
98 | Giovanni Capriglione | Yes
99 | Bo French | Yes
99 | Charlie Geren | No
102 | Chad Carnahan | Yes
102 | Scott Kilgore | Yes
102 | Linda Koop | No
103 | Jerry Fortenberry | No
105 | Dinesh Mali | No
105 | Rodney Anderson | No
106 | Clint Bedsole | Yes
106 | Jared Patterson | Yes
107 | Deanna Maria Metzger | Yes
107 | Brad Perry | No
107 | Joe Ruzicka | No
108 | Morgan Meyer | No
112 | Angie Chen Button | No
113 | Jonathan Boos | Yes
113 | Jim Phaup | Yes
113 | Charlie Lauersdorf | No
114 | Lisa Luby Ryan | Yes
114 | Jason Villalba | No
115 | Matt Rinaldi | Yes
116 | Fernando Padron | Yes
117 | Carlos Antonio Raymond | Yes
117 | Michael Berlanga | Yes
118 | John Lujan | Yes
120 | Ronald Payne | Yes
121 | Adrian Spears | Yes
121 | Matt Beebe | Yes
121 | Carlton Soules | Yes
121 | Charlotte Williamson | Yes
121 | Marc K. Whyte | Yes
121 | Steve Allison | No
122 | Chris Fails | Yes
122 | Lyle Larson | No
124 | Johnny S. Arredondo | No
126 | E. Sam Harless | Yes
126 | Gail Stanart | Yes
126 | Kevin Fulton | Yes
127 | Dan Huberty | Yes
127 | Reginald C. Grant Jr. | Yes
128 | Briscoe Cain | Yes
129 | Dennis Paul | Yes
130 | Tom Oliverson | Yes
131 | Syed S. Ali | No
132 | Mike Schofield | No
133 | Jim Murphy | Yes
134 | Susanna Dokupil | Yes
134 | Sarah Davis | No
135 | Gary Elkins | Yes
136 | Tony Dale | Yes
138 | Dwayne Bohac | Yes
144 | Gilbert Peña | Yes
144 | Ruben Villarreal | No
147 | Thomas Wang | No
148 | Ryan T. McConnico | No
150 | Valoree Swanson | Yes
150 | James Richard Wilson | No

## Education finance policy[edit]

Republicans were divided on school finance policy, with pro-Straus Republicans tending to support higher levels of state support for public education and anti-Straus Republicans preferring subsidized private school vouchers. The issue of school finance was often tied into property taxes because, at the time of the 2018 elections, state and local governments both provided funding for education in Texas.

In the 2017 special session, the Legislature passed legislation that provided $351 million in funding for public schools and established a commission to study the state's school finance system. Led by Public Education Committee Chairman Dan Huberty, the House originally passed a bill that provided $1.8 billion in public education funding and changed the funding formula for schools. The Senate, which had earlier passed a private school voucher bill, brought down the funding levels in the legislation and did not change the funding formula.[12] The House concurred with the Senate's changes, although Huberty said, "To say I'm disappointed is an understatement."[13]

Heading into the 2018 elections, the organization Texas Educators Vote, which promoted voting and civic engagement among teachers, passed a resolution that suggested school boards could encourage voting by driving eligible students and school employees to the polls if their district's policy allowed it. This prompted criticism from Empower Texans, which supports private school vouchers. Its members argued that the schools were attempting to influence the votes of its employees and that it could encourage teachers who normally prefer Democrats to vote for pro-Straus Republicans in the GOP primaries, something which would be allowed in Texas' open primary system.[14]

In January 2018, Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) issued a non-binding legal opinion that students and employees could not be taken to the polls using district funds or equipment (such as school buses). Empower Texans began asking public school employees to report the use of district funds in election activities. In response, some Texas teachers began sarcastically tweeting at Empower Texans with the hashtag #blowingthewhistle. Here is an example:

> Hey @EmpowerTexans! I'm #blowingthewhistle on my husband, who called to ask me to bring his brand new coat to school. I asked him if he was cold. No, he said, I need to give it to my student. He showed up to class shivering this morning because he doesn't own a coat #txed #txlege

> -- Annie H Hartnett (@anniehnet) February 8, 2018

Empower Texans President Michael Quinn Sullivan said that his organization had received numerous reports of school administrators engaging in political activity and that his group was sending out open records requests to verify the claims.[14]

Paxton sent cease and desist letters to three schools on February 14, saying they were engaging in electioneering. Specifically, Paxton said the Brazosport, Holliday and Lewisville districts were using taxpayers resources to advocate that their staff vote for specific candidates. He said, “The electioneering of these school districts is unacceptable and a poor example of the civic responsibility, integrity, and honesty that Texas educators should model for our students.” He specifically pointed to tweets by officials or the district's official account that expressed support for Scott Milder in his primary challenge of Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick or criticized the education policies passed by the state legislature.

Officials from the Lewisville district issued a statement saying that they disagreed with Paxton's interpretation of their tweets and that they had taken down ones that might have been problematic. The statement said, "We dispute any characterization of the district’s get out the vote campaign as anything other than an effort to engage the LISD staff and community in their constitutional right to vote and advocate for themselves."[15]

On February 23, Joe Straus sent an email to his supporters that said an "Austin special interest group ... apparently feels threatened by the fact that education leaders are encouraging civic participation." He added, "We can't let these voter-intimidation tactics work. Put me down as supporting a culture of voting, among teachers and all eligible Texans."[16]

## Property tax rates[edit]

Municipalities' ability to raise property taxes divided Republicans, especially after House Speaker Joe Straus (R) blocked a Senate-endorsed bill in the 2017 special session that would have required voter approval for tax increases that were four percent higher than the previous year.[17] The House wanted the election trigger to be set at six percent rather than four percent.[18]

According to KXAN, Gov. Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick made property taxes a centerpiece of the 2018 Republican primaries, with Abbott seeking a 2.5 percent election trigger. for municipalities to raise taxes.

Some pro-Straus Republicans like El Paso Mayor Dee Margo criticized the caps on property tax growth, arguing such growth is necessary to provide services for cities. They also said that the reason for property tax growth was because state education funding was inadequate and put more of a burden on cities and counties.[19]

Anti-Straus Republicans like Michael Quinn Sullivan of Empower Texans have argued that too many public entities were given the ability to levy property taxes and that heavy burdens would discourage businesses from locating in Texas. He and groups like the Texas Republican Party have argued that a consumption-based tax for certain items should replace property taxes.[20]

## Bathroom regulations[edit]

Legislation requiring individuals to use the bathroom that corresponds with the gender on their birth certificate passed the state Senate in a 2017 special session but failed in the state House due to opposition from Speaker Straus and business groups like the Texas Association of Business. Bathroom bills are commonly thought to be used to restrict transgender individuals from using the restroom of their choice.

Straus and business groups argued that the legislation would discourage investment in Texas as they claimed it did in North Carolina after it passed similar legislation in 2016. Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick and social conservatives argued that the bill was necessary due to privacy concerns, particularly those of women and children, in bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers.[21][22]

According to the Texas Tribune, the bathroom bill did not play as large a role in the primaries as the publication expected.[23]

## See also[edit]

* Texas House of Representatives elections, 2018
* Texas state legislative Democratic primaries, 2018
* Texas State Legislature
* State legislative elections, 2018

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ Texas House of Representatives, "Texas House Rules," accessed January 29, 2018
2. ↑ Texas Tribune, "The Blast," October 25, 2017
3. ↑ Empower Texans, "ZERWAS SPEAKER PAC REVEALS ESTABLISHMENT COALITION," February 28, 2018
4. ↑ Texas Tribune, "House Republicans agree to select speaker candidate in caucus," December 1, 2017
5. ↑ Texas Tribune, "State Rep. Phil King declares candidacy for Texas House speaker," September 22, 2017
6. ↑ Texas Tribune, "Texas House Speaker Joe Straus says he will not seek re-election," October 25, 2017
7. ↑ Texas Tribune, "State Rep. John Zerwas won't commit to backing GOP caucus' speaker pick," November 6, 2017
8. ↑ Texas Monitor, "In Texas House, pledge deniers face primary battles," December 21, 2017
9. ↑ Texas Monitor, "Texas GOP seeks source of legislative ‘bribery’ inquiry," November 22, 2017
10. ↑ Texas Monitor, "Signers rise: Three Straus PAC members take new speaker pledge," January 10, 2018
11. ↑ Texas Republican Party, "REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE REPLIES," accessed January 31, 2018
12. ↑ Texas Tribune, "Senate approves bills on "private school choice" and school finance study," July 24, 2017
13. ↑ Texas Tribune, ""Disappointed" House accepts Senate's changes to school finance bill," August 15, 2017
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Texas Tribune, "Civic engagement or illegal electioneering? How a school voting project became a conservative target," February 9, 2018
15. ↑ Texas Tribune, "Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton warns three school districts to cease "unlawful electioneering"," February 14, 2018
16. ↑ Texas Tribune, "The Blast," February 23, 2018
17. ↑ Texas Tribune, "In special session rubble, spotlight shines bright on Straus," August 16, 2017
18. ↑ Texas Tribune, "Property tax legislation clears major hurdle in House," August 12, 2017
19. ↑ KXAN, "Abbott, Patrick throwing weight behind property tax reform in GOP primary," February 12, 2018
20. ↑ Empower Texans, "FINALLY ENDING PROPERTY TAXES?," June 15, 2012
21. ↑ Texas Tribune, "After months of controversy, Texas bathroom bill dies quietly," August 16, 2017
22. ↑ Texas Republican Party, "Republican Primary Voter Guide," February 9, 2018
23. ↑ Texas Tribune, ""Bathroom bill" fizzles as Republican primary issue," February 6, 2018

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