I want to issue a stern warning to Texas residents. It is to keep all eyes on a group of political radicals that is likely feeling its Wheaties right about now.
Empower Texans is going to get involved in legislative races again this year just as it has done in several election cycles. This group presents a clear and present danger to our way of life.
I have been able to watch these clowns seek to unseat solid Republican legislators in Texas. Republicans are their targets in the primary season. Why? Because some GOP legislators aren’t conservative enough to suit these nut jobs.
So, Empower Texans recruits candidates to challenge solid GOP lawmakers, hoping to knock enough of them off to be able to steer the legislative agenda in the next Legislature.
They have been active in conservative corners of the state, such as the Panhandle. Empower Texans has drawn a bead for many years on state Sen. Kel Seliger of Amarillo, a man I know well. In 2018, Empower Texans recruited two far-right wingers to challenge Seliger; the senator fended them off in the primary and won that race without having to go to a runoff.
Empower Texans also went after state Rep. Four Price, another Amarillo lawmaker, a young man who has become a rising star in Texas politics. ET found a guy from Fritch to challenge Price, but he got smoked in a head-to-head primary matchup.
Seliger isn’t running this year. He’s done. Seliger has engaged in one too many disputes with arch conservatives in the Senate, starting with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, with whom he has had a testy relationship ever since Patrick got elected to preside over the Senate in 2014.
Empower Texans will seek to unseat reasonable Republicans in the ensuing primary season and replace them with American First knock-off GOP pretenders.
These clowns give me great concern, as Texas already is tilting too far to the right to suit my political taste. We need to stave off this push to move one of our two major parties onto the far-right fringes of political thought.
Women’s reproductive rights appear to be a lost cause. However, we need to protect public education, the quest for renewable energy sources and a judicial system capable of showing some compassion.
Empower Texans presents a clear and present danger to what is left of reasonable political thought in this state.