Were you to ask me to rank the worst political action committee active today in Texas, I would have little difficulty identifying my public enemy No. 1.
That would be Empower Texans.
Empower Texans took form in West Texas, which arguably is the birthplace of the modern state Republican Party. It’s a conservative region governed essentially by conservative politicians. Empower Texans, though, sees as its mission to carry its arch-conservatism across the state.
The PAC routinely “primaries” Republican pols who don’t adhere to Empower Texans’ rigid view of the world. I’ve seen this PAC in action in the Panhandle region, where I lived and worked for more than two decades before relocating in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex; indeed, Empower Texans is busy here, too.
Empower Texans has a number of its preferred candidates on the ballot in 2022. Many of them will get elected. What they do once they get elected to Congress or to the Legislature remains to be seen. However, if they are faithful to Empower Texans’ creed, they will seek to undercut policies that many Texans favor, such as being pro-choice on abortion and favoring sensible legislative solutions to gun violence.
Those, in my view, are the two issues of the day that have drawn Empower Texans into the fight. This group needs to be stopped.
The PAC wants a total ban on abortion, and it opposes any legislation that it deems capable of “disarming law-abiding Texans.”
That, in short order, is why this is the worst PAC working in Texas.
