AUSTIN, TX — As the dust settles from the Texas House's impeachment attempt of Attorney General Ken Paxton, tensions between factions of the Texas GOP are palpable. In this intra-party skirmish, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan emerge as de facto leaders of the “Conservative Republicans” and “Establishment Republicans,” respectively.
Patrick opposed Paxton's impeachment, champions the allocation of tax dollars for school vouchers, and advocated for increasing the homestead exemption as a property tax relief method, rejecting the blanket tax cuts favored by Phelan's team. Thus far, Patrick’s strategies are leading, with Paxton's impeachment failing in the Senate and Patrick's tax proposal gaining traction despite muted opposition from the House. Still, the contentious topic of school vouchers remains, and State Rep. Drew Darby stands staunchly against diverting taxpayer funds to private education, arguing that public schools need that financial support.
In the midst of these political maneuverings, the Texas Tribune unveiled a potentially explosive story. Over a tense weekend where international eyes were fixated on the Hamas attack on Israel, the Tribune reported that Patrick's allies were seen meeting with the controversial alt-right figure, Nick Fuentes.
The Tribune's report outlined how former House member and current political consultant, Jonathan Strickland, was seen with Fuentes and Kyle Rittenhouse outside Strickland’s Fort Worth office on October 6th. Fuentes, notorious for his alleged anti-Semitic views and labeled as a Holocaust denier, gained notoriety through his YouTube channel until being banned for hate speech violations. Meanwhile, Rittenhouse, after being acquitted for self-defense in the fatal shootings during a Black Lives Matter protest in Wisconsin, has moved to Texas and is actively participating in conservative politics.
Here is Nick Fuentes in his own words:
Interestingly, Matt Rinaldi, the Texas Republican Party Chairman, was also seen entering the building but denied knowledge of Fuentes’ presence. Strickland's political action committee, Defend Texas Liberty, receives significant funding from Midland oil magnate Tim Dunn and Cisco fracking giant Farris Wilks. This PAC has been generous to both Paxton and Patrick, with Patrick receiving a whopping $3 million in loans and donations before overseeing Paxton’s impeachment trial.
Phelan wasted no time in criticizing the meeting. On Monday morning, he tweeted, “The Republican Party is no place for Hitler apologists.”
Patrick swiftly retorted, condemning Phelan's comments as a low blow and political gimmickry.
Monday also marked the beginning of a special session called by Gov. Greg Abbott, focusing on the possible institution of a voucher system for Texan students. The House Republican Caucus, already reeling from setbacks in the Paxton case and the property tax homestead exemption debates, urged Patrick and his allies to publicly distance themselves from Defend Texas Liberty PAC, suggesting donated funds from the PAC be given to charity instead. State Rep. Drew Darby, along with 20 other GOP representatives, endorsed this call.
As the Legislature reconvened briefly on Monday, anticipation hung in the air. Darby, advocating for the allocation of the proposed $5.2 billion voucher fund towards improving public school teacher salaries and school safety, argues that Texas public schools are underfunded by an approximate $25 billion annually. He suggests that this money could better serve public school students if allocated to each school district based on enrollment numbers.
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Kanye, if you're reading this, Texas needs you now like never before.
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