Scandal beat Van Taylor, we’ll never know if Jan. 6 vote would have propelled Keith Self in runoff

The dramatic departure by Van Taylor from the Collin County political scene brings a sudden halt to a runoff that would have determined whether a single vote that miffed Donald Trump supporters could cost a congressman his job. Former Collin County Judge Keith Self is now the GOP nominee for the 3rd Congressional District, winning the election despite finishing a distant second in the March 1 primary. That’s because Taylor abruptly left the race after apologizing for having an extramarital affair with a woman British tabloids dubbed the “ISIS bride.” Self was recruited to run against Taylor by Trump supporters angry that the incumbent was one of 35 Republicans — including two in Texas — who voted for a bipartisan independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. The third-place finisher in the contest, Suzanne Harp, is also critical of Taylor’s vote. Taylor got nearly 49% of the primary vote, nearly winning without a runoff.

His demise was a result of his own personal indiscretions, though his vote for the Jan. 6 independent commission, which failed in the Senate, put in motion the primary contest that played a role in his secret being made public. Even so, we won’t know if Self would have been successful in convincing Collin County voters that Taylor should be bounced from office because of a vote that angered Trump supporters. Now Self takes control of a congressional district with unique political complexities. Collin County is not a typical Republican stronghold. Its changing demographics have forced many politicians to appeal to more than GOP base voters. In 2020 Taylor wooed general election voters by calling himself Mr. Bipartisan, playing up his relationship with neighboring U.S. Rep. Colin Allred of Dallas and using Democrats to illustrate his commitment to quality constituent services. Taylor won that race against Democrat Lulu Seikaly by 10 percentage points. And last year the Texas Legislature redrew the area to make more favorable to a Republican candidate. But while Self is heavily favored to win the general election against Democrat Sandeep Srivastava, the county’s demographic shifts will require him to be more than a candidate who sprouted from Trump’s grievances.