Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, left, and Gov. Greg Abbott talk during the first day of the 88th Texas Legislative Session in Austin, Texas, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
In response, Paxton targeted over 30 GOP incumbent state representatives, with Phelan at the top of the list. Paxton's most powerful ally, Trump, endorsed Covey.
Meanwhile, Abbott was looking for payback over the downing in the state House last year of his education plan that would have opened the spigot for taxpayer funding of private schools. The school voucher measure, which was Abbott's top legislative item last year, passed the state Senate, but its downing in the state House was a rare political setback for the three-term governor.
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Nine GOP state House lawmakers went down to defeat in the state's March primary, with eight more forced into runoffs. All were targeted by either Abbott or Paxton, or by both the governor and the attorney general.
Texas Speaker of the House Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, oversees the House Chamber during a vote, Wednesday, May 5, 2021, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
The race was also seen as a proxy battle for the future of the GOP in Texas.
Phelan was backed by old guard Republicans and conservative-leaning business leaders who helped bring the GOP to power in Texas in the 1980s and 1990s. Covey enjoyed the support of not only Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Paxton and Trump, but also far-right activists who place more of an emphasis on social and cultural issues.
If Phelan had lost, he would have become the first Texas House speaker to be ousted in a primary in over a half century.
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