Every statewide endorsee of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility won their run-off elections! Adding to the big wins in March, the 2014 election cycle continued to see conservatives make big gains around the Lone Star State.
Dan Patrick and Ken Paxton won their respective lieutenant governor and attorney general races with more than 60 percent of the vote. Sid Miller, running for agriculture commissioner, also had a strong win.
One simply cannot overstate the importance of conservatives winning in the lieutenant governor and attorney general races. Both Patrick and Paxton have established themselves as consistent champions for liberty. They can be counted on to fight the corruption and cronyism being uncovered in the Texas Legislature.
Both men were outspent, demonstrating that voters are much more interested in policy results than campaign rhetoric.
Paxton will carry on Greg Abbott’s legacy of challenging federal overreach. Meanwhile, with Dan Patrick at the helm, the state senate will lead on policy reforms.
The run-offs gave Texans a big victory in Senate District 2. Bob Hall defeated liberal leaning incumbent Bob Deuell. (This race marked the second TFR challenger to defeat an incumbent senator this cycle, and the third in two years!)
Deuell, you will remember, was ranked as one of the most liberal members of the state senate.
Likewise, Konni Burton won the open-seat SD10 run-off and is well on her way to winning in November – replacing Wendy Davis.
In contested House seats, this cycle has seen huge gains for conservatives. Nothing was lost, and ground has been gained.
The Austin establishment spent heavily and lost big in HD66, trying to beat conservative Matt Shaheen in the race to replace Van Taylor (who is heading unopposed to the state senate).
One clear trend emerged, which should weigh on the minds of ambitious House members: voters categorically rejected every lackey of House Speaker Joe Straus who ran statewide in 2014.
Looking ahead to the legislative policy work of 2015, House members are facing the prospect of being to the left of the Senate in terms of results.
When the Senate is moving forward with a conservative agenda, House members who prop up the corrupt Joe Straus leadership team will find themselves on the wrong side of Texans’ expectations.
Fortunately, those House members – and all Texans – have a choice. Taxpayer Champion Scott Turner has already declared his candidacy for the speakership of the Texas House. Legislators will have to go on the record siding with either the Austin establishment, or Texans who have been speaking with such clarity in election after election.
Our job as citizens doesn’t end with an election. You and I have to be as active today as we were yesterday if we’re going to secure liberty tomorrow.
