10 November 7 - 13, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents press. Until the next election, we will con- tinue to hold him accountable for his words and actions. Texas has the second-largest LGBTQIA+ population in the country, and we’re also Ted’s constituents.” Pritchett’s statement also called for cele- brating the victory of Julie Johnson, who will be representing Texas’ 32nd Congres- sional district, which includes parts of Dal- las, Collin and Denton counties. “Julie Johnson’s victory tonight as the first openly queer representative from the South is historic,” he wrote. “These victories push us toward a brighter future for LG- BTQIA+ Texans.” Kevin Jennings, CEO of nonprofit LG- BTQ legal advocate Lambda Legal, echoed the message of perseverance heard through- out the election. “We won’t sugarcoat this — last night’s election results were incredibly detrimental to the cause of equality,” Jennings said in a statement to the Observer. “Lambda Legal has been strategizing and planning for this possibility, and we will expend every energy to hold the line. [...] Lambda Legal success- fully blocked multiple attacks by the first Trump administration, and we are ready to oppose any anti-LGBTQ+ actions this new administration takes.” ▼ LEGISLATURE/ELECTION ABBOTT TAKES A LAP A SCHOOL VOUCHER PROGRAM IS CLOSER THAN EVER IN TEXAS, AND A DEMOCRAT WINNING STATEWIDE OFFICE STILL SEEMS TO BE A LONG WAY OFF. BY KELLY DEARMORE W hile the nation showed a desire for seismic change from one end of the political spectrum to the other, the state of Texas also opted for change. But instead of going for blue over red, voters convincingly chose a deeper shade of red. As is the case with Texas poli- tics these days, Democrats on the ballot weren’t the true opponents. In Texas, many of the November races were more or less determined eight months earlier, on Super Tuesday, when Republican challengers backed by Texas Gov. Greg Ab- bott and Texas Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton took down many GOP incumbents who had opposed the two leaders in the previous year. “I definitely think the primary season showed us how last night was going to go,” said Ben Voth, associate professor of rheto- ric and director of debate and speech pro- grams at Southern Methodist University, on Wednesday morning after the election. Once the projections started rolling in on Tuesday night, Abbott shot off one cel- ebratory, congratulatory tweet after an- other. It’s not unreasonable to think he could have written the posts and saved them in his drafts folder months ago with a high degree of confidence he would be able to deploy them shortly after the polls closed on Nov. 5. Undoubtedly, Abbott’s glee is due in large part to the increased likelihood that his long-adored school voucher program will finally have the House votes needed to pass. The governor may think school vouchers are imminent, but Voth isn’t ready to con- cede that passage will be easy, considering that the Texas House has stubbornly kept the program from becoming law for so long. “I have been surprised that [a school voucher program] hasn’t already passed, but the Texas House has been a tricky one to fig- ure out,” Voth said. “I don’t think it’ll be a cakewalk, but it is definitely more likely now than it ever has been. Do I think the public wants it? Yes. Do I for sure think the House will for sure pass it? I have to admit I think there might still be some sort of strategic re- sistance, but vouchers have passed in other states that are less conservative than Texas.” In the highest-profile race in Texas on Tuesday, incumbent U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz rather easily defeated challenger Colin Allred. Regardless of recent polls suggesting the race was neck-and-neck, there was little drama involved as Cruz jumped ahead early and extended his lead throughout the night. Allred conducted a quieter, less splashy campaign than previous Cruz challenger Beto O’Rourke did in 2018, opting to focus on bipartisanship and his pro-choice stance on abortion rights. But according to Voth, that approach fell flat, thanks in part to the way Cruz was able to frame the abortion de- bate as one for other officials, not U.S. sena- tors, rendering it somewhat moot. “Especially in their debate, Cruz said to Allred, ‘Whether you like it or not, the issue is framed at the state and local level, so, Co- lin, you need to either run for governor or for the state House if you want to change the nature of abortion politics,’” Voth noted. Allred didn’t come nearly as close to de- feating Cruz as O’Rourke did. That’s notable because O’Rourke was brazenly open with his left-wing views but Allred seemed to say everything he could to appease Republican voters outside of actually changing parties. With that in mind, it’s difficult to envision how a Democrat in Texas can win a state- wide office, whether it be a U.S. Senate seat, the governor’s mansion or the AG’s office. Voth thinks there’s a path for Democrats to eventually win here, although it’s not the one Allred tried to blaze. Regardless, there’s a lot of work ahead for others seeking any office who may try to turn a deep red Texas blue in the future. “I still think the O’Rourke campaign in 2018 can be a template,” he said. “I can think of things O’Rourke did wrong in 2018 and in 2020, but I think someone who will be aggressive like he was, and will go to every county and have all those conversations has a chance. It’s possible to construct a campaign that works hard but doesn’t force certain issues on Texans and gets creative with ideas for other issues, like vouchers.” ▼ POLITICS TEXAS GOP CIVIL WAR RAGES ON ROBERT ROBERSON DEATH PENALTY CASE IS THE LATEST BATTLEGROUND IN TEXAS BETWEEN THE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND A FORMER LAWMAKER FRIEND. BY KELLY DEARMORE T exas Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton con- tinues his battle against a former ally as he calls on state Rep. Jeff Leach to resign following Leach’s admission he vio- lated state disciplinary rules. On Monday, Paxton released a state- ment calling out Leach for “unethical ‘ex parte’ communications sent” to a Criminal Court of Appeals judge who was set to rule in a pivotal matter involving death row in- mate Robert Roberson, a man Leach says is innocent and has fought to keep from being executed on Oct. 17 in dramatic, un- precedented fashion. For his part, Paxton, along with Gov. Greg Abbott, has stead- fastly remained in favor of sending Rober- son to the death chamber for the 2002 murder of 2-year-old Nikki Curtis. Following the AG’s announcement on Monday evening, Leach went on X to admit that he indeed had communicated with the judge. “Unlike some other leaders in our state, I’m not afraid to admit when I mess up … and that’s exactly what I did when I sent a text message to my friend, Judge Michelle Slaughter, asking her to reconsider the case of Robert Roberson,” Leach wrote in his post. It seems as though that confession pro- vided more ammo for Paxton to keep taking shots at his Collin County neighbor. On Tuesday afternoon, Paxton publicly called for Leach to resign and announced that he would also make a criminal referral into the matter. “Jeff Leach sought to alter the outcome of capital punishment proceedings by crimi- nally attempting to influence a judge on the Court of Criminal Appeals,” a release from the AG said. “This is a violation of Texas Pe- nal Code 36.04, which outlaws ‘improper in- fluence.’ It is a crime to ‘privately address a representation, entreaty, argument, or other communication to any public servant who exercises or will exercise official discretion in an adjudicatory proceeding with an intent to influence the outcome of the proceeding on the basis of considerations other than those authorized by law.’” Leach’s office did not immediately reply to our requests for comment. Leach, along with El Paso Democrat Joe Moody, subpoenaed Roberson to testify be- fore the House criminal jurisprudence committee just before he was scheduled to be executed earlier this month. It had long been the belief of the bipartisan committee that Roberson had not received a fair trial and that there were too many questions in- volving the “shaken baby syndrome” diag- nosis surrounding the child’s death to justify putting Roberson to death. Paxton’s office immediately appealed the decision before the Texas Supreme Court halted the execution so that Roberson could honor the subpoena. Since then, Paxton has been busy making the case that Roberson’s conviction was warranted and issued a scathing rebuttal to Leach and Moody’s arguments for Rober- son’s innocence. Paxton claims that the law- makers “stepped out of line,” and have “created a Constitutional crisis” in the pro- cess. A 16-page statement issued by Leach and the House Criminal Jurisprudence Com- mittee says that Paxton’s rebuttal “is mis- leading and in large part simply untrue. It rarely quotes and never cites the record. It doesn’t provide any exhibits except the au- topsy report and a statement from the per- son who performed it. And it fails to acknowledge any of the additional evidence discovered since trial.” This isn’t the first time Leach and Paxton have sparred in recent times, however. Once close friends, the two have become public enemies, providing as clear an example of the Texas GOP civil war as there is these days. Leach, who survived Paxton’s vocal op- position in the March primaries, won re- election against Democrat Makala Washington on Nov. 5. Leach was one of 60 House Republicans, an overwhelming ma- jority, that voted to impeach Paxton in May 2023, when the AG was accused of abusing the powers of his office and bribery. On the final day of Paxton’s impeach- ment proceedings, the day he was cleared by the state Senate, Leach gave an emo- tional speech explaining why he was in fa- vor of impeachment, despite a long friendship, saying “I have loved Ken Paxton for a long time. I’ve done life with Ken Pax- Nathan Hunsinger The results on Nov. 5 were bad for Colin Allred and for many other Democrats in Texas. Unfair Park from p8
