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Capitol Inside
June 14, 2026
HOUSTON - Texas Republicans wrapped up their 2026 state convention on Saturday with a fragile facade of unity left behind in shambles on the floor of a meeting hall that took a bath in frightened elephant tinkle as a product of a publicity stunt that could warrant an investigation into animal cruelty.
If there's any truth to the rally cry that Governor Greg Abbott cooked up for the event - Unity Drives Victory - Texas could be on the verge of going blue this fall without a lot of fight from the party that's ruled the state for almost 30 years.
The united front that Abbott thought he could pull from his sleeve with slogans and publicity stunts proved to be little more than fantasy at an event that began with a revolt against the party leadership and ended with sniping that Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick sparked with complaints about the lack of unity there. Here are some key examples how the Texas GOP Convention in Houston was more of a breeding ground for discord than harmony during a three-day run this week.
1. State Chair Race. The delegates ousted Abraham George as the incumbent state party chair who Paxton the Senate contender vigorously supported for a second term. They elected the state party vice-chair D'rinda Randall to take George's place in the top leadership post after the U.S. Senate nominee's estranged wife - State Senator Angela Paxton of McKinney - endorsed her before the vote. Paxton the legislator sued Paxton the attorney general who's running for U.S. Senate for divorce last year on biblical grounds - a nice way of saying marital infidelity. The contest appeared to have the potential to be extremely close before Mrs. Paxton entered the ring on the opposite from her more famous soon-to-be ex-spouse.
2. Sour Grapes. Patrick had been on the co-pilot on Abbott's unity wrangling mission - warning GOP voters that the Republicans could lose the Texas House majority if they failed to unite for the fall. But Patrick ran the Abbott unity bus off the road during the weekend when he lobbed insults in an interview at a pair of high-ranking fellow Republicans who are lameducks now after falling short in primary fights this year. Patrick branded U.S. Senator John Cornyn as a sore loser in the wake of a primary runoff that Paxton the AG won late last month.
The powerful Texas Senate president gave some the impression that Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller might be helping the Democratic nominee for the post after being unseated by Nate Sheets in the March primary election. Patrick subsequently sought to clarify the innuendos - saying in a post on X on Saturday that Miller had informed him that he'd always been a Republican and would never back a Democrat for anything. "I spoke to Sid @MillerForTexas last evening," Patrick revealed. "Sid said it was all a big misunderstanding, that he is a life-long Republican and would never support a Democrat. That’s good enough for me."
3. John Cornyn Defenders. John Huffman - a former Southlake mayor who lost a special Texas Senate runoff election late last year - fired off several tweets on Saturday questioning how Republicans can expect to be united for the U.S. Senate race if a significant number of Cornyn supporters refuse to vote for Paxton in November. "Please explain to me how bashing Sen. Cornyn, a good man with a lifetime of service to the state of Texas and the country, is going to help convince his 900k supporters to vote for Ken," Huffman said. "Newsflash to the top of the ticket - YOU NEED US. Best you start acting like it."
Patrick could be sorry if the difference between a red and blue Texas boils down to who gets the most votes from all the sore losers for the GOP out there this year. Patrick's unflattering portrayals of some fellow Republicans may have driven a few more from the sour grapes crowd to James Talarico's camp as the Democrats' U.S. Senate nominee who's been leading in polls as a result of support from disgruntled Cornyn voters.
4. Speaking for God. The Texas lieutenant governor could have lost some support himself from any independents he has a chance to corral when he told declared in a speech to delegates that Talarico would be doomed for a date with the devil for saying things about God that Patrick doesn't believe to be true. But the Republicans who congregated in Houston this week were led to believe by their senior leaders that a united party faithful would be sufficient to keep their hold on the state without the need for support outside the base that they'd always enjoyed here in the past.
“It’s James Talarico who decided to bring the Bible into this election," Patrick asserted. "And let me tell you, that’s not a Bible I’ve ever read. I’ve never seen so much blasphemy from anyone running for office. Let me tell you what, I’m going to pray for that guy, because when he loses the Senate race, if he campaigns against God as he’s been doing, he’s going to Hell, for sure. That’s what we’re up against. That’s the darkness. That’s the light. That’s why we must be one.”
As the chairman of President Donald Trump's religious liberty commission, Patrick may already know that there have been more than 3,500 versions of the Bible published in 2,400 different languages including 900-plus in English. It would be impossible to read them all.
5. Texans for Lawsuit Reform. A pair of Republicans at the Houston convention - State Reps. Jeff Leach of Allen and Andy Hopper of Decatur - weren't playing along with the unity theme on Saturday with some social media sparring over a "mysterious event" the TLR PAC sponsored. Hopper hit a nerve when he said TLR had informed Republicans like him who it had opposed in 2024 that the group was on their side now before spending money again against them. "We were all surprised to see you there Andy — considering you worked so hard to kill legislation championed by @GregAbbott_TX, @DanPatrick, @TLRPAC and other conservatives during the 89th #txlege," Leach said in a response to Hopper on X.
6. Texas Speaker Dustin Burrows. One 60 Republicans who voted to impeach Paxton as the attorney general in 2023, the Lubbock lawmaker declared in speech to delegates and subsequent post on X that the time had come for Republicans to leave their beefs behind and support the entire ticket this fall. Burrows one of the most powerful lieutenants on then-Speaker Dade Phelan's team when the House impeached the Texas AG amid charges of corruption stemming from sleazy deals with a donor in a scheme with an alleged mistress in the middle of it. The current speaker is urging GOP voters now to back Paxton for the United States Senate regardless of what he and other House Republicans have said about the nominee at the top of the ticket in the past.
"I knew I might receive a mixed reception, but the stakes are too high to stay silent," Burrows said in a tweet about his speech. "A bruising primary season is behind us. Now, our focus must be on November. Republicans have delivered historic victories for Texas, but our job is not finished. To keep Texas on the right track, we must come together, rally behind our nominees, and support the Republican ticket from top to bottom. We are one party with one mission. Together, let’s defend our conservative values and keep Texas red."
7. Republicans for Talarico. Former longtime Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley poured more water on the state party's unity crusade during the weekend when he endorsed the Democrat in the race for the seat the Cornyn held for 24 years. But Whitley didn't just make a pitch for Paxton's opponent in an email or social media post - he recommended Talarico in a 60-second video on conservative stations on Friday and Saturday while Republicans preached the need for unity in the state's largest city.
“I supported the rule of law and stood for faith and family. I still believe in those conservative values,” Whitley says. “Ken Paxton has spent years embarrassing Texas. He’s known for scandal, indictment, infidelity and putting his own interests ahead of Texans. That’s exactly why I cannot support Ken Paxton.”
8. Ghost of Senate Races Past. Cornyn may have garnered more attention than Paxton, Patrick and Abbott combined during the state convention that he chose not to attend - thanks in large part to an interview with the New York Times while the party rallied in the Bayou City. Cornyn predicted that Trump was on the brink of his life's worst two years as a result of his penchant to only reward those who suck up to him 100 percent of the time. Cornyn's bid for re-election was doomed the moment Trump endorsed Paxton a week before the primary runoff vote. Cornyn took light shots the confab in Houston at every opportunity during the weekend.
9. Stuntman. Abbott could have had a Houston Rockets cheerleader in a bikini pop out of a cake in a quest to get the most attention at the biennial meeting in the George R. Brown Convention Center. But the governor accomplished this with a special guest appearance by a female elephant named Paige with an Abbott banner draped across her back. Handlers for the governor led Paige from the convention stage to the back of the leviathan convention hall where the GOP was doing its business. The animal was obviously freaked out when she was suddenly surrounded by thousands of people who were cheering and taking selfies while she was led down an aisle between them. And she gave Democrats more priceless ammunition for their own state convention two weeks from now in Corpus Christi when she left her path through the convention floor strewn with puddles of urine during the ordeal. The Texas Democratic Party popped off a post that characterized the Abbott stunt as "the perfect metaphor" for the Republicans in Houston. But Paxton should be the one who's really steaming about the governor's dog-and-pony show with the elephant because it left little juice in the room for the AG's first major speech since he claimed the Senate nomination. Everybody was talking about the peeing elephant at the end of the day - not the U.S. Senate race.
10. Abraham George. No one could accuse the state party chairman who lost the job a bad loser after he withdrew from the contest and pitched his support to Randall immediately after it became apparent he was out. But George took umbrage after Cornyn claimed Patrick was worried about losing in November. "Whoever is running @JohnCornyn’s account should be fired!" George declared on X. "This is not what Republicans do!"
But the truth is - that's exactly what they did for most of the past week in Houston. You could argue that the Republicans have never been less united than they appeared to be when the curtain fell in Houston. Cornyn's warning on a disaster in the making for the GOP could be on the mark if the state party convention is a significant indication for the fall. The Republicans may win every competitive race on the ballot here. But anyone who believes they are united or will be anytime soon needs to get off the punch.
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