At the three-day convention, delegates moved the needle further to the right, preaching Christian nationalism and approving rules that would give them unprecedented control of elections.
SAN ANTONIO — From his booth in the exhibit hall of the Texas GOP’s 2024 convention, Steve Hotze saw an army of God assembled before him.” slur that paints them as pedophiles. Once on the fringes, Hotze said Saturday that he was pleased by the party's growing embrace of his calls for spiritual warfare with “demonic, Satanic forces” on the left.
“Our battle is not against flesh and blood,” Sen. Angela Paxton, R-McKinney, said Friday. “It is against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Under the changes, any person who is censured by the party would be banned for two years from appearing on GOP primary ballots — including judges, who are elected in partisan races but expected to be politically neutral once on the bench. The party also voted to unilaterally close its primaries, bypassing the Legislature, in a move intended to keep Democrats from voting in Republican primaries.
Harvey’s views were widely-held by his fellow delegates, many of whom were certain that broader transgender acceptance, Critical Race Theory or “diversity, equity and inclusion” initiatives were parts of a sinister plot to destroy the country and take over its churches. “It's like the boogeyman that won't go away, that gets summoned whenever a justification is needed for these types of agendas,” he said. “They say that somebody is threatening quintessential American freedoms, and that these threats are posed by some sort of global conspiracy — rather than just recognizing that we're a pluralistic democracy.”
Throughout the week, prominent Republicans invoked similar claims of a coordinated conspiracy against the United States. On Friday, Patrick argued that a decadeslong decline in American religion was part of a broader, “Marxist socialist left” agenda to “create chaos,” including through migration — despite studies showing that migrants are. Attorney General Ken Paxton echoed those claims in his own speech minutes later, saying migration was part of a plan to"steal another election.
Texas Politics Texas Policy Texas Government Politics Republican Party Of Texas Republicans
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
GOP Officials Are Outsourcing Their Lawsuits to a Far-Right Christian GroupConservative public officials are hiring the Alliance Defending Freedom to lead their culture war lawsuits — and handle their public statements
Read more »
GOP lawmakers demand probe into Biden admin’s 'biased' targeting of country's largest Christian universityRepublican lawmakers are raising concern over the Biden administration’s 'targeting' actions against the largest Christian university in the country.
Read more »
Christian conservatives wrestle with shifting GOP stance on Arizona abortion banAfter former President Donald Trump and Arizona GOP senate candidate Kari Lake distanced themselves from the law, some abortion rights opponents are left wondering who they can count on.
Read more »
Christian conservatives wrestle with shifting GOP stance on Arizona abortion banAfter former President Donald Trump and Arizona GOP senate candidate Kari Lake distanced themselves from the law, some abortion rights opponents are left wondering who they can count on.
Read more »
Three-Star OL Jackson Christian Commits to Texas LonghornsThe Longhorns snagged their seventh commitment of the 2025 class on Monday.
Read more »
CLASS 3A BASEBALL ROUNDUP: Providence Christian sweeps Prattville Christian; advances to semifinalsDenny Hamlin is looking for his fourth win of 2024 and his fifth career win at the 1.5-mile speedway.
Read more »