There's a political logjam in Texas that's preventing ambitious Republicans from moving into more prominent roles.
There's a political logjam in Texas that's preventing ambitious Republicans from moving into more prominent roles. Gov. Greg Abbott , Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick , Attorney General Ken Paxton , Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and State Comptroller Glenn Hegar are all in their third terms, free of term limits and showing no public signs of moving on.
Add in two U.S. Senators who have been locked in for even longer, and you can see how other potential Republican statewide candidates have been mostly in a sustained holding pattern. Some are starting to show their restlessness. Although Hegar hasn’t given any indication he is going anywhere, former state Sen. Don Huffines, a Dallas Republican, has been doing some polling to see how he might match up against him in a primary in 2026 or in an open field if Hegar doesn’t seek another four-year term. Huffines didn’t have much to say about the polling when I talked to him this week, but he did tell me he’s keeping his options open for 2026. Huffines, of course, already knows a thing or two about running statewide. In 2022, he spent more than $14 million against Abbott in a GOP primary but won just 12% of the vote. In the poll, Huffines asked Republican voters about who they would choose in a match-up between him and Hegar in a race for state comptroller. In another series of questions, he asked voters their opinions on other Republicans who might run for comptroller if Hegar weren’t running. Some of the names he tested: state Sens. Kelly Hancock of Tarrant County and Paul Bettencourt of Houston and Texas Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick, a Midland native. To be clear, none of those Republicans have given any public hints about running for the office. And in Hegar’s case, he’s sitting on $10 million in his campaign account for another potential run. Another position that could open up is attorney general. Paxton has said he is looking into running against Cornyn in a 2026 GOP primary, which would open his seat up for competition. Meanwhile, Abbott and Patrick have already said they are seeking reelection, leaving any Republican eyeing those posts with the options of waiting it out or taking on an incumbent with a large financial war chest. The lack of movement at the top of the ballot for all the statewide offices over the last decade has been a little unusual for Texas, said University of Houston political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus. Through most of the state’s history, there has been a lot of churn at the top of state government. But two key things have changed that. From the 1970s to the 1990s, Democrats and Republicans were knocking each other out of office regularly. But since the mid-1990s, Democrats haven’t been able to win any statewide offices, meaning the biggest threat for Republicans have been the primaries. Second, the governor's office has been transformed over the years in a way that's created a logjam at the very top of the state government. It was in the 1970s when Texas shifted from two-year terms to four-year terms for governor. And more recently, Gov. Rick Perry helped consolidate power and make the office more appealing to hold onto. Before Perry took office in 2000, no Texas governor ever served eight consecutive years. But Perry served 14 years, becoming the longest serving governor in Texas history. Abbott, who succeeded him in 2014 has already become the second longest serving and if he wins again in 2026, will be on course to surpass Perry’s tenure. “Perry made the governorship worth having,” said Rottinghaus, who last year published his book “Rick Perry. A Political Life.”
U.S. Senators Texas Railroad Commissioner University Of Houston Glenn Hegar Greg Abbott Don Huffines Rick Perry Ken Paxton Sid Miller Dan Patrick Brandon Rottinghaus Kelly Hancock Christi Craddick Democrats Paul Bettencourt Cornyn Texas Dallas Houston Tarrant County Midland A Political Life.
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