With candidate filing opening up in the state’s upcoming Republican primary election, Donald Trump has become the first presidential candidate to file for the ballot.
His paperwork and check were hand-delivered on Saturday morning to the Republican Party of Texas’ headquarters in downtown Austin by Attorney General Ken Paxton, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, and U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson.
All three endorsed Trump early in his re-election bid.
“I’m a huge Reagan fan, but I’ve never seen anybody get more more stuff done in four years that were absolutely great for the American people,” said Paxton. “Obviously, we’ve seen what happens with a president that doesn’t love America. That every day does things that harm the American people.”
Jackson agreed.
“We need President Trump back more now than ever. Our country depends on it and the absolute survival of this country depends on that, whether it’s the domestic issues or the border, and the fentanyl and terrorists that are crossing our border,” said Jackson.
Miller said that while the immediate goal is winning the primary election in March, the real race will be next November.
Recent polling appears to confirm that. An October poll of likely Republican voters commissioned by Defend Texas Liberty shows Trump receiving 58 percent of the vote. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was in a distant second with 11 percent, followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 8 percent.
“The problems that Biden has created are very easy to fix. Fixing the border is easy. Fixing the economy is easy. Getting our enemies to respect this is easy. We just reimplement the Trump-era policies,” said Miller.
“This is a no-brainer. This is cowboy logic. We got a task to do. And I’m honored that the President would ask the three of us to come in and file on his behalf,” he added.
Jen Hall, the executive director of the Texas GOP, confirmed that Trump was the first presidential candidate to file for the Republican primary ballot.
Paxon, however, says he expects Trump to get involved in some other races in Texas as well.
“I know that he’s very interested in this potential speaker race. I know he’s interested in some of the people that were involved in doing some really bad things in this state over the last couple of years, not taking care of the border, not taking care of basic things that we need in Texas, including keeping our elected officials elected,” Paxton told Texas Scorecard. “So yes, he’s very interested in some of the races I think you’ll see him involved in.”
The filing deadline is December 11. The primary election will be held on March 5, 2024.
