November 12, 2014 5:45 PM

SB: Tea Party groups in North Texas splinter after Capriglione says there is no race for Speaker

One Tea Party group says Scott Turner is a “Nice guy but only has 18 votes”

DALLAS – It may have been the hope of some Tea Party leaders here in North Texas that the headlines this week would read something like “Conservatives Unite Against Joe Straus,” but it hasn’t quite played out that way.

If anything, a splintering among Tea Party groups here in the region is now more apparent following what some have called a bold move by Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, when he told the Northeast Tarrant Tea Party there is no way he can support Rep. Scott Turner, R-Frisco, in his challenge to Speaker Joe Straus. Others have blasted Capriglione by saying he “ran against Straus” when he defeated former Rep. Vicki Truitt, R-Keller.

"The reality is there is no race for Scott Turner versus Joe Straus," Capriglione said during a Monday night town hall-style meeting, adding that Turner is in no way qualified to preside over the Texas House. “He doesn't have the depth when it comes to policy,” he said. Other lawmakers in the area disagree, including Rep. Matt Krause, R-Ft. Worth and Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford. They’ve both pledged to vote for Turner, who also has the financial backing of Tim Dunn’s Empower Texans.

Some of the conservative activists at that meeting reacted with anger and disbelief. Meantime, the North Texas Tea Party, the predominant group of its type in Collin County, posted this on their website:

By Scott Braddock