Insurgent Republicans Make Major Gains in Texas Primaries

“Texas voters on Tuesday handed more power to the insurgent wing of the Republican Party in an expensive and vengeful primary election, punishing GOP lawmakers, judges and a House speaker who defied hard-right state leaders and their supporters in recent years,” the Texas Tribune reports.

“The shockwaves rippled up and down the ballot. Most notably, Speaker Dade Phelan (R) was forced into a runoff with a well-funded challenger, David Covey (R), after being targeted by ultra-conservative donors and activists, who faulted the second-term speaker for declining to stop the impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton last May.”