September 21, 2023      4:19 PM
HK: Parsing the Paxton Acquittal
There is a stench at the Capitol of a hostile takeover. The pushback is palpable at the moment, but the story is complicated and will not be resolved for another election or two
Yesterday’s ebullient tirades from returned
Attorney General Ken Paxton all but announcing a primary challenge to
Texas’ senior Senator John Cornyn formalized the now evident civil war
inside the Texas GOP.
Dan Patrick’s
anti-Dade Phelan tantrum after the “trial” kicked off an end of session
non-Speaker Speaker’s race with multiple Republican House members vowing to
move to vacate the chair upon convening for the upcoming special session.
And that is just the start of a new political
realignment likely precipitated by senators making the choice they made.
Two attitudes seem to dominate the Capitol community
today.
By Harvey Kronberg
|