Paxton Team Fires Salvo at Patrick
Over Post on SREC Nazi Links Vote
Capitol Inside
December 4, 2023
An unprecedented civil war had allies at each other's throats inside the Texas GOP on Sunday when Attorney General Ken Paxton's camp took a shot at Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick for ripping a state party governing board vote to kill a Nazi connection condemnation proposal.
The State Republican Executive Committee voted 32-29 on Saturday to extract the provision from a resolution that Patrick characterized as the party taking "a strong stand in support of Israel and against antisemitism" in Texas.
But the powerful Texas Senate president sharply criticized the SREC for removing the provision that stated that the GOP "have no association whatsoever with any individual or organization that is known to espouse anti-Semitism, pro-Nazi sympathies, or Holocaust denial."
The proposal appeared to be tailored specifically for former Texas House Republican Jonathan Stickland, who sparked a furor in October when he and several other conservative activist met in Fort Worth with celebrity white supremacist Nick Fuentes. Stickland had been one of Paxton's most prominent defenders when the House tried and failed to impeach the attorney general earlier this year.
Paxton political adviser Michelle Smith ignited the latest round of infighting when she rallied to the ex-lawmaker's defense in a response to the Patrick appraisal on X after the SREC vote. Smith's post lumped Patrick in the same group with Speaker Dade Phelan and other House Republicans who voted for her boss' impeachment in the spring.
"It's shameful that we would condemn our Conservative friends with the lies that that Phelan and his cronies are pushing against Jonathan Stickland," Smith wrote. "I think this is a man who supported you well. Please know that this is not a conservative stance."
Phelan and his lieutenants seized on the Fuentes' surfacing with a fury at a time when they were being excoriated by base Republicans for the failed impeachment bid that culminated in mid-September with the AG's acquittal in the Senate with Patrick as the trial judge. Patrick tore into the speaker and his team for an amateurish impeachment process that was designed as an ambush after a whirlwind investigation that was conducted in the dark and based on allegations that prosecutors failed to prove at the trial.
Patrick said the SREC vote on the Nazi association proposal did not reflect the GOP's actual position on Nazi lovers. "This language should have been adopted – because I know that is our position as a Party," Patrick said. "I am confident that the SREC will correct this at their next meeting – not affirming this language is totally unacceptable to me."
Smith did not post the assessment of Patrick's position on her own X page @Michellebbz. But it stirred conjecture on a possible rift between Paxton and the lieutenant governor and potential retaliation against the attorney general.
But Patrick and Paxton appear to be effectively protected against each through mutual close associations with Donald Trump. Their alliance - while fragile and superficial perhaps - probably won't be affected as a result.
more to come ...
| |
DISTRICT |
CANDIDATES |
|
| 1 |
SD 30 |
Cody Clark (R) |
Carrie de Moor (R) |
| |
SD 30 |
Brent Hagenbush (R) |
Matthew McGhee (D) |
| 2 |
SD 15 |
Molly Cook (D) |
Todd Litton (D) |
| |
SD 15 |
Joseph Trahan (R) |
|
|
|
|
