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Abbotts vendetta comes as other GOP figures are also going after fellow Republicans for perceived crimes against the party, notably Attorney General Ken Paxtons targeting of incumbents for voting to impeach him. House Speaker Dade Phelan is among those under siege as he fights to defend his own hold on power in the runoffs next Tuesday.

In prior years, state legislature races in Texas typically cost about $250,000. But spending in some of these primaries has been upwards of $1 million, thanks to the involvement of pro-voucher interests attacking Republicans.

We are outgunned here big time, said Rep. DeWayne Burns, a Republican lawmaker fighting to keep in his seat representing a district encompassing Cleburne, Texas, a town on the outskirts of Dallas-Fort Worth. This is a true David v. Goliath situation and Im the David here.

The negative attacks on anti-voucher Republicans financed by PACs have gone beyond school-choice and targeted the incumbents for lacking conservative bona fides on issues like guns and the border often in false or misleading mailers, texts and advertisements.

In one example, residents of Mineral Wells, Texas received mailers paid for by Libertarian PAC Make Liberty Win going after incumbent Rep. Glenn Rogers, who lost his primary in March to an Abbott-backed challenger. That mailer accused him of being anti-gun and warned that if we dont vote Rogers out, he will only drift further left.

Rogers, a fifth-generation rancher and veterinarian who was first elected in 2021, said that he was also accused of being soft on the border, an attack line he believes Abbott chose because that issue resonates more with voters than vouchers.

If you tell a lie often enough, it becomes truth to a low-information voter, Rogers said. Unfortunately we have a lot of low-information voters. That doesnt have anything to do with their mental ability, it has to do with them keeping up. Eventually it becomes truth in their minds.

Although Republicans boast big majorities in both chambers and control the governorship, school-choice proposals were repeatedly swatted down in 2023, even after Abbott made them a top priority and called special sessions to address the issue. The latest proposal would have given around 40,000 students access to about $10,500 in vouchers for private schooling or $1,000 toward homeschooling.

Rep. Glenn Rogers, a fifth-generation rancher and veterinarian who was first elected in 2021, said that he was accused of being soft on the border, an attack line he believes Abbott chose. | Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune

Republicans, many from rural areas, who have long been opposed to vouchers over concerns that it would jeopardize public education funding, banded with Democrats for an unlikely alliance that proved to be a thorn in Abbotts side. Those lawmakers were spooked by an estimate that the vouchers program would cost the state more than $2 billion annually by 2028.

I voted for my district and I have no regrets, said San Antonio Rep. Steve Allison, who lost his primary. What the governor did is extremely wrong. Me and the others that he came after have been with him 100 percent of the time on every issue except this one.

Abbott has major money on his side. Among the constellation of PACs and donations from wealthy political players dumping money into Texas elections this year, theres Pennsylvania billionaire Yass. A major school-choice supporter, Yass personally cut a check to Abbott for $6 million last year, which the governor called the largest single donation in Texas history.

Yass has also given to PACs backing pro-voucher candidates, like the School Freedom Fund, which is affiliated with the Club for Growth and has run multi-million-dollar TV blitzes.

DeVos PAC, the American Federation for Children Victory Fund, has pumped $4.5 million into the races nearly half of what the PAC has promised to spend nationwide this cycle. Of the 13 anti-school-choice lawmakers zeroed in on by the PAC, 10 candidates either lost their race or were forced into an upcoming runoff.

If youre a candidate or lawmaker who opposes school-choice and freedom in education youre a target, Tommy Schultz, CEO of AFC, said when the fundraising organization was created in 2023. If youre a champion for parents well be your shield.

Link:
What's breaking up the Texas Republican party? School vouchers - POLITICO