Texas primary 2024: Gov. Abbott, Paxton campaign against fellow Republicans

AUSTIN, Texas - Early voting got under way this week ahead of the March 5 primary in Texas.

It comes as Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton are campaigning against some of their fellow Republicans in the legislatures because they did not like how they voted on certain issues, including school choice.

Will the politics of retribution work in these primary races? FOX 7's John Krinjak gets insight from Scott Braddock of QuorumReport.com.

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JOHN KRINJAK: Gov. Abbott is upset at Republicans who voted against his school choice proposal, which fell short several times last year. Talk to us a little bit about the politics there and how that played out, and what the governor has said about this.

SCOTT BRADDOCK: The governor spent about a year trying to convince Republicans, particularly in rural Texas, that a school choice or school voucher program would not hurt their school districts and would be a benefit to parents across the state. But he just did not make the case, at least in the legislature. And I think there are several reasons for that. The primary reason is just a policy perspective from those rural Republicans who do believe that it would have, you know, deep and lasting, harmful effects, for the public school system in their areas. But to the politics of it, the governor didn't choose to collaborate with Republicans at all. Instead, what he tried to do was threaten Republicans and, try to make them fearful of what he might be able to do to them politically during a primary. I was reviewing the votes from when this was on the House floor. The school choice initiative. But the governor, if he wanted to move this forward in the next legislative session, if he wanted the House to go with him on this, he'd have to win a baker's dozen, 13 races, to be able to get to 76 votes in the House, which is how many you need to be able to pass something. He's just nowhere close to that.

JOHN KRINJAK: Let's talk about Ken Paxton a little bit. Obviously different situation, but a similar tactic. The attorney general obviously was acquitted in his impeachment trial, came out swinging, but he's still angry at GOP members who voted in favor of that impeachment. How do you see that playing out?

SCOTT BRADDOCK: You know, Paxton is casting a much wider net than the governor because, as you know, in the House, the impeachment by the House was approved overwhelmingly with Democrats and Republicans 120 votes plus. So for him to take out all those people is, I just told you how hard it would be for the governor to even beat 12. You're talking about way more races in which the attorney general is inserting himself. I think it speaks to a larger theme, in our politics right now, which is the politics of retribution, with former President Trump in 2020. His campaign turned into, you know, something where he was mostly talking about with the folks who he perceived as those folks that were going after him. The calculus will be different in a primary than in a general where Trump lost. So this is an open question.

JOHN KRINJAK: This goes beyond politics as usual, as far as you can see, this kind of level of just straight-up vindictiveness.

SCOTT BRADDOCK: It is, you know, we have had what I would describe as a civil war within the Republican Party in Texas for at least the last 15 years or so. And there have always been a variety of issues that have divided Republicans. But when it comes to the impeachment of Paxton, this is really about, you know, personal animus. It's more about what was done to him than it is about what is going on in the lives of voters. And that's where I think it may not work. That's where I think it may fall short.

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JOHN KRINJAK: You mentioned kind of taking a page out of Trump's playbook. Endorsing or unendorsing someone can have a real impact. How much of an impact does Gov. Abbott or Attorney General Paxton, though, saying, I don't like this guy, I'm endorsing his or her primary opponent instead. How much of an impact does that have on voters?

SCOTT BRADDOCK: A couple of cycles ago, in Republican primaries, you might remember that Governor Abbott went after three Texas House Republicans who had displeased him about something else. At the time, the governor was popular with Republican voters in those districts where he was endorsing challengers to those incumbents. But those incumbents were also popular among Republican voters in their areas. And so when that happens, it basically ends up being a wash. If the governor's endorsing the other person, it probably doesn't matter that much. But what might make a difference? And this is in my reporting at QuorumReport.com. The governor is pretty confident that as much as $1 million each is going to be spent against incumbents who displeased him about school vouchers. And that money would be coming from third party groups, like Americans for prosperity, and other groups that want to see some kind of a school voucher program. That money could make the difference.