On Tuesday, Republican voters finally enforced some standards. This primary cycle, the two most liberal House Republicans (Tommy Merritt and Delwin Jones) lost.

Enforcing party discipline is not new in Texas. Democrats who strayed too far from their party lost primaries in the past three cycles. But it doesn’t happen frequently in Republican primaries.

So what message can be drawn from this surprising turn of events and what does it mean for Texas in the future?

What sets Merritt and Jones apart from other Republicans is not the fact that they had policy differences from time to time with the party’s leadership. A lot of Republican legislators — perhaps all — fall into that category.

Rather, Merritt and Jones, an ex-Democrat, actively collaborated with the Democratic Party against the Republican Party. They promoted legislation that would result in the election of more Democrats to Congress and the Legislature.

In Jones’s case, he served as chairman of the House Redistricting Committee in 2001, and the redistricting maps he tried to do should be Exhibit A in the case against him. Both of the maps that cleared his committee in the 2001 session were Democratic maps. Jones often tries to claim that his tenure there was about preserving rural areas, but even in the urban areas the Jones maps operated to the benefit of Democrats at the expense of Republicans. In the end, then-House Republican Caucus Chairman Kenny Marchant spent most of his time fighting the Jones maps, which were supported primarily by Democrats.

The case against Merritt is even easier to make. In 2001, then-Rep. David Lengefeld (D-Hamilton) faced a tough challenge from current Rep. Sid Miller (R-Stephenville). Guess which side Merritt was on? Let me give you a hint. He greeted the lobby at the door at a Lengefeld fundraiser in the district.

It’s one thing — as House Speaker Joe Straus does — to refuse to campaign against an incumbent in the interest of preserving cordial relations in the House. Actively fundraising for the other party’s candidates is another matter entirely.

Simply stated, the strongest case against Jones and Merritt is a truth-in-advertising one. They don’t vote like Republicans, they don’t support the party’s candidates, and they actively collaborate with the other party to its benefit. So it was fundamentally dishonest but politically convenient for them to seek public office on the Republican line.

Sure, it is also true that Merritt and Jones have voting records that are way out of step with their conservative districts. They are the only two Republicans ever to vote against voter ID. Merritt raised the point of order that killed a bill that would have repealed in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, and Jones’s opponent Charles Perry had a field day with his vote to grant certain illegal immigrants in-state tuition while charging many legal immigrants more expensive out-of-state tuition.

One of the main difference between this race and races past is that Jones’s and Merritt’s opponents — Charles Perry and David Simpson, respectively, were local politicians who worked hard to run a local race. Sure, they did a great job making campaign issues out of the incumbents’ liberal voting records. But in cycles past, forces from the outside — major donors, state party officials, or interest groups — would come into the district to blast the incumbent. Perry and Simpson cleaned House with good ole fashioned door-to-door shoe leather. Or as Merritt would say, Simpson beat him single-handedly with the help and input of others.

Another key message from the election is that Republican primary voters reaffirmed their commitment to lower taxes. In Lubbock, John Frullo — the candidate for the open seat endorsed by tax hawk Carl Isett won, despite being outspent by Mark Griffin.

In Plano, Van Taylor defeated Mabrie Jackson — another victory for proponents of low taxes. According to her website, Jackson served on the Texas Municipal League’s Committee on Municipal Revenue and Taxation. The Texas Municipal League is a big reason why Texans pay high property taxes, and its lobbying agenda mainly consists of defending both direct and indirect city tax increases.

As the incumbent-friendly nature of GOP primaries shows, Texas Republicans tolerate and even encourage their elected representatives to part from time to time from the dictates of the party leadership, particularly when leadership pushes something that isn’t conservative or isn’t ethical.

But voters also made it clear that elected officials do have at least some duty to the party whose line they run on and its core values.

What does that mean for Texas? Truth-in-advertising, and clearer choices between the two parties in November. And in the long-run, it also means more accountable, more conservative government in the Lone Star State.

Comments (2)

Comment	smaller | bigger
Name
Write the displayed characters
Subscribe via email (Registered users only) I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.
	Add Comment