Texas runoffs on Tuesday proved to be a win for establishment conservatives over burn-it-all-down types in a U.S. House race – but swept out Republican incumbents on the state level.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s retribution tour against school choice opposers proved successful – embattled Attorney General Ken Paxton‘s vengeance campaign against those who led impeachment efforts against him did not.
Here are the key takeaways from the Lone Star State’s runoff primary races:
Incumbent Rep. Tony Gonzales beats out right-wing internet star Brandon Herrera
In a win for governing-minded Republicans, Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales, 43, beat out right-wing YouTube star Brandon Herrera, 28, in a contentious primary that had divided the House GOP.
The border district congressman won by a razor-thin margin, in what his supporters say will give Republicans a better chance of winning the general election over Democrats.
Gonzales clinched a win by 407 votes, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s office.
Herrera, a Youtube star known as ‘AK guy,’ ran on a gun rights platform in the district that includes Uvalde, where a gunman opened fire on an elementary school two years ago killing 19 students and two teachers.
On the campaign trail Herrera attacked Gonzales for support for a gun safety bill after the shooting. He was censured by the Republican Party of Texas in 2023 over his support for same-sex marriage protections at the federal level and the bipartisan gun bill.
![Brandon Herrera, a gun-rights YouTube creator who calls himself "The AK Guy", speaks during a campaign stop, Thursday, May 23, 2024](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/05/29/16/85471017-13472013-Brandon_Herrera_a_gun_rights_YouTube_creator_who_calls_himself_T-a-13_1716997325700.jpg)
In a win for governing-minded Republicans, Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales beat out right-wing YouTube star Brandon Herrera in a contentious primary that had divided the House GOP
![A gunman opened fire and killed 19 kids at a Uvalde school in 2022 `](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/05/29/16/85471015-13472013-image-a-12_1716996409268.jpg)
A gunman opened fire and killed 19 kids at a Uvalde school in 2022 `
Gonzales had the support of top Republicans including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. His critics cast him as a moderate but on border he tacked to the right in recent months – leading the charge to impeach Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas.
Herrera had the backing of Texas U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good, R-Va., and Reps. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., Ralph Norman, R-S.C., and Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.
House Speaker Dade Phelan bests Trump-backed challenger David Covey
Another Texas Republican, House Speaker Dade Phelan, edged out a victory over a Trump-backed challenger.
Phelan led the state effort to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton over abuse of office last year, a move that through Texas Republicans into turmoil.
Paxton was acquitted by the state senate, but the show had pitted Trump acolytes against the state party’s old guard.
![House Speaker Dade Phelan, edged out a victory over a Trump-backed challenger](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/05/29/16/85471019-13472013-image-a-10_1716996396119.jpg)
House Speaker Dade Phelan, edged out a victory over a Trump-backed challenger
‘He’s bad, bad, bad for the Republican Party and democracy. We need him beaten and beaten badly,’ Trump said of Phelan in a video on Truth Social ahead of the runoff.
Paxton also hit out against Phelan ahead of the vote and the rest of ‘the Austin establishment.’
The runoff races turned into revenge fights for both Paxton, whose term is not up until 2027, and Abbott, who went after state lawmakers who opposed his school voucher program.
Abbot secures pro-school choice majority in state House after Republicans joined Dems to tank his signature policy platform
In November the Texas House voted 84-63 to remove school choice vouchers – a top priority for Abbott – from a massive education bill. Twenty-one Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing school choice.
Six of eight state House GOP incumbents who were forced into runoffs when they failed to cinch 50 percent of the primary vote in March lost their races on Tuesday, including a handful who opposed school vouchers last fall.
The conservative Club for Growth Action and affiliated Freedom spent over $4.4 million in the primary runoffs and $4 million in the primaries to target 14 anti-school choice Republicans. Ten of them have now been defeated.
The results furthered a surge of anti-establishment sentiment from March when nine state House Republicans lost their primaries.
The 15 total state House GOP incumbents who lost primaries amounted to a record – and Abbott now has a pro-school voucher majority.
One of the new pro-voucher Republicans who won a primary on Tuesday is Katrina Pierson, who served as the national spokeswoman for Trump’s 2016 campaign. Abbott and Paxton celebrated her win as a victory for hardline conservatives.