(C) Texas Tribune This story was originally published by Texas Tribune and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Blast: Abbott vs. Paxton, in a way [1] [] Date: 2023-12 With one week to go before the 2024 candidate filing deadline, let’s check in on the status of primary challenges to incumbent Texas House Republicans, where two of the state’s top Republicans are vying to mold the caucus to their liking. With the addition of Rep. Jared Patterson on Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott has endorsed 59 state representatives for reelection. Additionally, he has endorsed six non-incumbent candidates. Three of those are in open races, and three are challenging incumbents who voted against school vouchers last month: HD-55: Hillary Hickland is challenging Rep. Hugh Shine is challenging Rep. HD-60: Mike Olcott is challenging Rep. Glenn Rogers is challenging Rep. HD-121 (new today): Marc LaHood is challenging Rep. Steve Allison But the governor likely isn’t done backing challengers. Thirteen other anti-voucher Republicans are seeking reelection. Of those, 10 have at least one Republican challenger: Reps. Gary VanDeaver in HD-1, Keith Bell in HD-4, Jay Dean in HD-7, Travis Clardy in HD-11, Ernest Bailes in HD-18, Justin Holland in HD-33, John Kuempel in HD-44, Stan Lambert in HD-71, Drew Darby in HD-72 and Charlie Geren in HD-99. That leaves three anti-voucher incumbents with no challenger at all. There’s at least one potential challenger expected to file again Rep. Ken King in HD-88, but no one is lining up to face Rep. DeWayne Burns in HD-58 or Rep. Reggie Smith in HD-62 — yet. If Abbott and pro-voucher operatives are serious about taking on every anti-voucher Republican, expect that to change in the next week. But here’s some food for thought. Nearly a quarter of the 21 anti-voucher Republicans are retiring: Reps. Kyle Kacal in HD-12, John Raney in HD-14, Ed Thompson in HD-29, Andrew Murr in HD-53 and Four Price in HD-87. Only three pro-voucher Republicans are retiring without seeking higher office, suggesting Abbott’s pressure campaign may be making members think twice about whether they want to run for reelection. That about rounds up the House Republican primaries, as it concerns Abbott. Meanwhile, Attorney General Ken Paxton has endorsed challengers to 15 incumbent Republicans who voted to impeach him, including House Speaker Dade Phelan. That leaves 41 pro-impeachment incumbents against whom Paxton hasn’t issued a direct endorsement. One of those, Rep. J.M. Lozano of Kingsville in HD-43, publicly repented for his impeachment vote. Minus Lozano, there are 17 incumbent House Republicans who voted to impeach Paxton and who, so far, don’t have challengers. We’ll be keeping an eye on those races to see whether that changes in the next week. We expect it will. As of right now, Abbott and Paxton are endorsing different candidates in 12 House races. There’s also the open race for Senate District 30, where Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick today endorsed Brent Hagenbunch and Paxton has endorsed Carrie de Moor. Abbott and Paxton only see eye to eye in two House races. Both endorsed Olcott over Rogers, and both endorsed Rep. John Smithee for reelection. For those hoping for a primary trifecta where there are three separate incumbent, Abbott-backed and Paxton-backed candidates on the same ballot — sorry, there aren’t any yet. However, there are potentially 15 races where it could happen. The closest thing we’ve got to a three-way fight is in House District 61, where Abbott has endorsed Rep. Frederick Frazier and Paxton has endorsed Chuck Branch and Keresa Richardson. On Friday, senior Paxton adviser Michelle Smith confirmed to The Blast that both endorsements are live. “Knows them both and considers them both to be excellent leaders,” Smith told The Blast. So that’s where we are with one week to go till next week’s 5 p.m. Monday filing deadline. The Blast will check the lay of the land again around that time, but there’s also the trickle of endorsements to consider all the way up till March 5. [END] --- [1] Url: https://mailchi.mp/texastribune/the-blast-abbott-vs-paxton-in-a-way Published and (C) by Texas Tribune Content appears here under this condition or license: Used with Permission: https://www.texastribune.org/republishing-guidelines/. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/texastribune/