House Speaker Dade Phelan came in second to challenger David Covey in Tuesday’s GOP primary, but neither candidate received enough votes to avoid a runoff, leaving the top Republican in the Texas House fighting for his political future.
With all precincts reporting, Covey led with 46% of the vote, compared with Phelan’s 43% in the three-county Beaumont-area district. Alicia Davis, who did little campaigning, had about 10%, according to unofficial results. Because no candidate received more than half of the votes, the top two finishers head to a May 28 runoff.
Phelan was the top target of Attorney General Ken Paxton, who went after 35 House Republican incumbents who voted last year for his impeachment, saying they needed to be removed from office for trying to overturn the will of voters who had elected him to a third term in 2022.
Twenty of the 35 lawmakers defeated their Paxton-backed challengers with 96% of polling locations reporting Wednesday morning. Eight incumbents were headed for a runoff election and seven lost.
Phelan said Tuesday night that he will approach the runoff “more determined than ever.”
“Against a tidal wave of outside influence and the relentless flood of special interest dollars pouring into House District 21, our campaign emerges today still standing strong against the tides that have sought to unseat me,” Phelan said in a written statement. “This runoff is not just another race, it’s the frontline of the battle for the soul of our district.”
Covey said the voters of the district put all Texas politicians on notice Tuesday.
“Our elected officials are elected by the people and worked for the people, and when they don’t, there will be consequences,” he said in a statement.
Paxton said the Phelan-Covey race showed “the battle for the soul of Texas is far from over.”
“Even in the face of overwhelming spending by Phelan, Covey managed to unite conservatives from every corner of our state. This runoff is not a defeat, but rather a call to arms for all who stand for the principles of the America First movement,” Paxton said on X, formerly Twitter.
Of special interest to Paxton were five Republicans whose districts include Collin County, where Paxton lives and represented during 10 years in the Texas House and two years in the state Senate.
Two incumbents are heading to a runoff and three won their races over Paxton’s favored candidates – particularly Rep. Jeff Leach of Allen, who defeated Dare Meis, a former Allen City Council member whose campaign kickoff event included Paxton in November.
Leach had 65% of the vote to Meis’ 35%, with all voting precincts in Collin County reporting.
Leach, a former Paxton friend and ally, drew the ire of Paxton supporters when he urged state senators to remove the attorney general as unfit for office during impassioned closing arguments in September’s impeachment trial. Senators instead acquitted Paxton on a largely party-line vote.
Leach countered with support from Gov. Greg Abbott, who appeared at a Feb. 6 Leach campaign event. Abbott’s campaign also gave Leach more than $20,000 in contributions this year.
Two other incumbents in Collin County won Tuesday. With 64%, Rep. Matt Shaheen of Plano beat out Wayne Richard, who had 36%. Rep. Candy Noble, R-Lucas, with 53%, defeated challenger Abraham George, who had 47%.
Rep. Justin Holland is headed to a runoff against former Trump campaign national spokesperson Katrina Pierson in a district that includes Rockwall County and some of Collin County. Holland had 38.8% of the vote to Pierson’s 39.5%.
Rep. Frederick Frazier, R-McKinney, with 32% of the vote, is also headed to a runoff against Keresa Richardson, who was leading with 40%. The third candidate in the race, Chuck Branch, finished with 28%.
Paxton also went after Rep. Morgan Meyer of University Park, one of two Dallas County House seats held by Republicans. Meyer, a five-term lawmaker and Phelan ally, beat Paxton-backed lawyer Barry Wernick 52% to 48%.
No race in the aftermath of impeachment drew more attention than the primary pitting Phelan, a five-term legislator who has been speaker since 2021, against Covey, a petrochemical industry consultant who was making his first run for office.
Phelan had not had a primary opponent in his four previous reelection campaigns, but he was facing opposition from his party’s right wing before the impeachment fracas. Ultraconservatives faulted Phelan for priority bills that fell short and for naming nine Democrats as committee chairs, a practice also followed by previous Republican speakers.
No Texas speaker has been defeated in a primary election since Democrat Rayford Price in 1972 after his district was redrawn.
Speakers are chosen by all 150 members of the Texas House. At the start of the 2023 legislative session, Phelan easily defeated the ultraconservatives’ candidate, Republican Rep. Tony Tinderholt, on a 145-3 vote.
Unable to unseat Phelan as speaker – a powerful position that chooses committee assignments and rules on procedural questions that can kill legislation on the House floor – ultraconservatives targeted him in the primary and gained a notable ally when Trump labeled Phelan an “Absolute Embarrassment” and a Republican in name only.
In response, Phelan reminded voters of the Republican priorities that passed under his leadership, including a strict abortion ban, border security measures and a bill that allowed for the permitless carry of firearms.
Phelan’s campaign significantly outraised Covey, collecting $5.3 million to Covey’s $861,000 from July 1 to March 1, although Covey also received support from political action committees associated with West Texas billionaires Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks. Texans United for a Conservative Majority and Defend Texas Liberty spent at least $189,000 since Jan. 1 on pro-Covey television ads, according to campaign finance reports. Patrick’s campaign spent $18,748 this year on text messages endorsing Covey.
After Paxton appeared at a Covey rally in Beaumont, Phelan produced an ad saying a “vengeful” Paxton was the only reason Trump had gotten involved in his race. Phelan also attacked Paxton’s credibility, alluding to his alleged extramarital affair.
“If Paxton would break an oath to his wife and God, why would he tell you, or Trump, the truth?” Phelan asked.
The attorney general also worked to defeat several of Phelan’s closest allies in the House: Reps. Jacey Jetton of Richmond, Dustin Burrows of Lubbock and Briscoe Cain of Deer Park. All three voted to impeach Paxton. Burrows and Cain defeated their opponents, but Jetton, with 39% of the vote, lost to businessman Matthew Morgan, who had 54%, in a suburban Houston district.
