Ken Paxton Backed Down from Challenging Joe Straus, Left Conservatives Hanging

Some people have asked me how I know that Ken Paxton is not the right man to be our next Texas Attorney General. There are many reasons. Do I think Ken Paxton is conservative? Of course I do, but I do not believe he is the best conservative, and I do not believe he is the best leader. Unfortunately, I know for sure that Ken Paxton will back down, even after promising not to back down.

How do I know that Ken Paxton cannot be trusted when he says he will not back down? Because Paxton already broke that promise just three years ago. He backed down from challenging Joe Straus even after he promised just the day before that he would not back down and would take it to the floor (see video below).

We need more people like Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz faced a losing Obamacare battle, but he still stood for nearly a day and took the fight all the way to the end. Cruz is the kind of conservative leader we need. Ken Paxton is no Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz would have never pulled out, leaving conservatives hanging, right before the big Speaker of the House vote. Cruz would have taken it to the floor. Ken Paxton did not do that, and he will forever be known in my mind as someone who, although he is conservative, is not strong enough to follow through no matter what. If he caved in to Straus, what do you think he will do when he faces Obama? Texas AG Candidate Barry Smitherman, on the other hand, has already sued Obama seven times and has not backed down.

Paxton Promised to Challenge Liberal Texas Speaker Joe Straus and Take It To The Floor. Paxton Backed out the Day of the Vote, Leaving Conservatives Hanging 

Texas has a liberal, pro-abortion Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, Joe Straus. Straus got elected by teaming up with all the Democrats to rally against the Republicans to get him elected. Conservatives demanded that Joe Straus be challenged. Conservatives even kicked out several moderate Republicans and replaced them with conservative ones who would vote against Straus.

Ken Paxton said he would challenge Straus. I supported Ken Paxton as clearly the better choice over Joe Straus. Ken Paxton promised that he would take it to the floor and have an open vote for Speaker of the House. Paxton promised that he would never back out of the race no matter what. He promised he would take it to the floor. Conservatives were trusting him to actually challenge Straus and force a vote on the floor. Even if Paxton was not going to win, by taking it to the floor and forcing a vote, the conservatives in Texas could see which representatives supported the liberal Straus. By seeing which state representatives voted for Straus, the conservatives in Texas could rally and defeat those state reps in the primary and get conservatives elected who would vote against Straus and defeat him once and for all.

On the day of the election, Ken Paxton dropped out of the race. He allowed Straus to become the speaker again without a challenge and without a floor vote. No one even got to see which reps would have voted for Straus.

Conservative State Reps got Punished for Supporting Paxton. Paxton refused to help them

There was no floor vote so no one got to see who the moderates were. No one got to see who would have supported Straus. On the other hand, everyone knew who the state representatives were who supported Paxton. There were several brave, conservative state reps who publicly spoke out in favor of Paxton and in opposition to Straus. The voters never got to see who would have voted against Straus, but Straus got to see who openly opposed him. The state Representatives who openly opposed Straus were: Leo Berman (HD-6), Cindy Burkett (HD-101), Erwin Cain (HD-3), Wayne Christian (HD-9), Dan Flynn (HD-2), Jim Landtroop (HD-85), Phil King (HD-61), Jodie Laubenberg (HD-89), Tan Parker (HD-63), Ken Paxton (HD-70), Charles Perry (HD-83), David Simpson (HD-7), Van Taylor (HD-66), James White (HD-12), and Bill Zedler (HD-96).

This list of conservatives was targeted by Straus. Straus hurt them in redistricting. He botched their districts so that they would not win, or he put them in districts where they would have to run against his well-funded Chairmen. Most notably, Wayne Christian had 80 percent of his district moved to a completely different area. The change in his district was absolutely unnecessary for redistricting and was clearly a way to push him out. Also, my current State Representative James White opposed Straus and, during redistricting, was put into the same district as Straus Chairman Mike Hamilton. Mike Hamilton had the money backing of friends of Straus, so they thought White would lose easily to Hamilton.

Also Conservative anti-Straus reps Charles Perry and Jim Landtroop were paired together in the same district so that one of them would lose for sure. All of these changes were not needed for redistricting. Wayne Christian made a youtube video that breaks down exactly how Straus was attacking anti-Straus conservatives in redistricting, and Bryan Hughes even accused a Straus leader of directly telling him that he would be hurt in redistricting if he supported Straus.

I spoke privately with one of these conservative state reps who supported Paxton and was attacked by Straus in redistricting. I asked the state rep to give me the inside story and promised that I would not reveal his name, so I am not going to. I checked into his information afterward and found his points to be valid. What happened was these conservative state reps reached out to Paxton for help. They had stood up for him and now were asking him to help them defend against the attacks from Straus.

Paxton was sitting on around $800,000 in campaign funds. Paxton had no serious challenger and could have used the money to help out his fellow conservatives who were being attacked in the election by Straus. In the end, I can only find where Paxton ended up giving money to one of the State Reps, Jim Landtroop. A small $2500 donation while he sat on much more. 

Bottom line, Paxton is not a liberal, he is a conservative. He is NOT the best man to be our next Texas Attorney General though. He is no Ted Cruz. Paxton has proven that he WILL back down when the going gets tough, even after promising not to back down.

Don’t Take My Word for It – Watch the Video Below and See Ken Paxton Himself Back Down From Challenging Straus After Promising to Take It To The Floor

Issues: 
TexasGOPVote
 

© 2015 TexasGOPVote  | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy