Darby Gathers Key Conservative Endorsements for Re-Election Campaign

AUSTIN, TX — In a recent Facebook post, Dr. Joe Pojman, Ph.D., Executive Director, and Amy O’Donnell, Communications Director of Alliance for Life, were pictured endorsing State Rep. Drew Darby. Representing District 72, which includes San Angelo and Big Spring, Darby is accumulating significant endorsements for his re-election campaign. He faces a challenge from Stormy Bradley, who notably received an endorsement from Gov. Greg Abbott last year. Abbott's endorsement is seen as a move to penalize Republican House members who opposed his school vouchers initiative, which was passed by the Texas Senate.

Abbott's strategy involves endorsing primary opponents against Republican Texas House members he views as dissenting. Darby, a vocal critic of Abbott's voucher legislation, is a key target in this approach. In his Dec. 7 endorsement of Bradley, Abbott emphasized her support for "school choice," a policy Darby has opposed.

Despite being touted as a conservative measure, Abbott's school vouchers legislation, which failed to pass the Texas House, would have added an initial $500 million to the state's biennial budget, with an annual cost of $250 million. Furthermore, the senate's version of the voucher legislation proposed additional payments to smaller school districts, as reported by the Texas Tribune.

The Legislative Budget Board's analysis of HB1 — the education bill including vouchers from the 88th Legislature's fourth special session — projected the voucher program's annual cost to skyrocket to $2.3 billion by FY 2028, while savings from reduced public school enrollment would only amount to $369.2 million annually by the same year.

Darby has expressed concerns that the initial $250 million annual budget for FY 2024 and FY 2025 could lay the groundwork for a financially unsustainable program in the future. The LBB's findings support his apprehension, indicating that the anticipated savings in public school funding would be insufficient to cover the voucher program's costs in the long term.

Darby has made a this conservative fiscal argument why vouchers are not good public policy.

Adding to his endorsements, U.S. Rep. August Pfluger recently backed Darby, a move that is considered atypical. This, coupled with the same-day endorsement from Alliance for Life, signals Darby's efforts to strengthen his conservative credentials early in his campaign. Darby and Bradley will face off in the Republican Primary Election on March 5.