Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan Wins GOP Primary Runoff, Fending Off Anger Over Impeachment

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas was out to save his job Tuesday in a GOP primary runoff that has put rifts within the party on display.

Gonzales, who has clashed with some of his hard-right colleagues in Washington and drawn a rebuke from the state party, is in a race against Brandon Herrera, a gun-rights YouTube creator with more than 3 million followers.

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan survived a tough challenge and avoided an ouster that could have upended the Republican-controlled Legislature. Phelan angered conservatives for leading the 2023 impeachment of state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who was later acquitted in a Senate trial and then set out to remove those who voted against him.

A Gonzales loss, his supporters warn, would give Democrats an opening to flip a traditionally moderate district in November, while a change in Texas House leadership could push the state’s policymaking even further right.

Here’s a look at the key primary runoffs in Texas:

A BIG BRAWL IN A BIG DISTRICT

Gonzales represents a sprawling district that spans some 800 miles (nearly 1,300 kilometers) of the Texas-Mexico border.

He was first elected in 2020 and easily won again in 2022, but the state Republican Party sanctioned him over a voting record that highlighted an independent streak. That included support for protecting same-sex marriage and for new gun-safety laws following the 2022 Uvalde school shooting, in his district, that left 21 people dead.

Gonzales has also clashed with some hard-right Republicans, calling them “scumbags.”

Herrera, a gun manufacturer and gun-rights activist, was second with nearly 25% of the vote in a five-way primary in March to force the runoff. Gonzales was first with 45%.

Gonzales