Republican split on display in Texas Senate race between Shelley Luther, Drew Springer
When Shelley Luther refused to close her Dallas salon, violating Gov. Greg Abbott’s coronavirus order related to business operations, she had a feeling she’d end up behind bars.
But choosing to keep the salon opening wasn’t a hard decision.
“It had nothing to do with the salon at that point,” Luther said. “It had to do with, ‘What in the world does our government think they’re doing?’”
That question is still seemingly front of mind for Luther months later as she bids for the seat in Senate District 30, which stretches across 14 counties, from north of Dallas to Wichita Falls and includes Parker and Wise counties.
Luther and State Rep. Drew Springer, R- Muenster, are in a Dec. 19 special runoff election to replace Pat Fallon, R-Prosper, the congressman-elect in Texas’ 4th Congressional District.
Early voting starts Wednesday.
Luther’s two-day jail stint in May put her at the center of a debate related to coronavirus response: How do government officials balance managing health and economic impact?
Luther has made limiting “government overreach” a pillar of her campaign, especially when it comes to Abbott. And as the election nears, at least one expert says the candidates are “hoping over each other” to demonstrate their conservative credentials.
“It’s really an insider versus an outsider Republican election,” said Jim Riddlesperger, a TCU political science professor.
Springer represents the Texas establishment, Riddlesperger said. He has experience in the state Legislature and has been endorsed by Abbott.
“In contrast, Shelley Luther, of course, is the ultimate outsider,” Riddlesperger said. “She’s been an activist and an agitator and has no political experience particularly at all.”
Springer would disagree with the establishment categorization. To him, an establishment member is one who’s been in office for decades, doesn’t visit their constituents and works more with bureaucrats to get things done.
“I wouldn’t use those two labels to describe us,” he said.
A choice between 2 Republicans
When Abbott waded into the runoff, throwing support behind Springer, he touted the Muenster Republican as a proven conservative who “voted to secure the border, cap property taxes and protect Christian businesses” and who is endorsed by the National Rifle Association.
In another contest, Springer may not be considered the “establishment” candidate, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a University of Houston political science professor. But when facing Luther, he’s put into that position.
Springer posted on Facebook that he was honored by Abbott’s endorsement. Luther joked at a Dallas rally she should write the governor a thank you card.
“He’s not even smart enough to know that him endorsing my opponent is better for me,” Luther said at the Dec. 5 rally at Dallas City Hall.
Luther has also called Abbott a “tyrant governor.”
Her criticism of a fellow Republican is emblematic of a larger battle in the Republican Party between establishment and populist candidates. It’s one that’s not new to Texas, Riddlesperger said. The activist group Empower Texans has moved in from the populist perspective, while establishment leaders in the party have had to take more inclusive stances as Texas demographics change, he said.
Springer probably doesn’t fit the mold of a traditional establishment candidate, Rottinghaus said. He is in the “top quartile of conservative Republicans,” he added.
“But the way that he is positioned in a race like this where you’ve got Shelly Luther, who’s pushing very far from the right, it puts him in a very awkward position of having to defend the status quo,” Rottinghaus said.
Republicans have a lot to be happy about, Rottinghaus said: They’re winning elections, raising money and control of every statewide office.
“But the far right thinks that they haven’t done enough to push for very conservative issues in the Legislature,” Rottinghaus said. “So anybody who’s in the Legislature is de facto guilty of not being conservative enough. … In a race like this, perception about your conservatism is as important as the reality of your conservatism.”
Conservative megadonor and Midland oil magnate Tim Dunn, who has bankrolled Empower Texans, has loaned Luther $1 million to aid her in her bid. Springer has in the past had the group’s support.
The two candidates were neck-in-neck in the primary election, facing three Republicans and one Democrat.
Luther narrowly edged Springer, winning 32.04% of the votes to Springer’s 31.87%. They were separated by 115 votes.
Luther believes her lack of political experience is to her benefit.
“To me, experience means you’ve been sucked into the Austin swamp,” Luther said.
Springer contends his experience is a positive, especially since the legislative session starts in a month. There’s not much time to get up to speed on the issues, he said.
“I think she’s trying to use it to her advantage, to say her lack of experience is good because all politicians are bad,” Springer said. “I think that when they say that, they’re talking about how broken Washington, D.C., is. They’re not talking about Texas to me.”
Where they stand on the issues
Luther debuted as the salon owner who bucked state regulations. Since then she’s attempted to focus on what makes her different from Springer.
But Riddlesperger said the pair have few policy differences.
“Once you get down to the legislative session and talking about actual content of bills in the Legislature, they’re both very rock solid conservatives that probably wouldn’t vote that much different from one another,” he said.
If elected, Luther said “limiting the governor’s powers to almost nothing” would be her priority.
“Texas should never be shut down at all,” she said. “The governor and the government does not have the authority to tell Texans what to do.”
Luther, without elaborating, said she also wants to “get voter fraud under control,” though experts have said voter fraud is rare and experts said the November general election was the most secure in history. She supports a “constitutional carry” bill, which refers to the legal carrying of a handgun without a license. She’s anti-abortion, wants to lower property taxes and opposes efforts to defund police departments. Luther describes herself as “vaccine choice” and does not plan to take the coronavirus vaccine.
Springer, too, supports constitutional carry. On his campaign website he highlights efforts to cut property taxes and states he wants to fully fund police departments. He describes himself as “100% pro-life.” Springer says that having had COVID-19 he has antibodies and doesn’t know that he’ll want to be first in line to get the coronavirus vaccine. He continued that taking the vaccine is an individual’s choice and “it probably wont take long for me to feel comfortable that if I need to take it, I’ll take it.”
He also believes Abbott’s executive powers should be reined in, and has filed a bill that would create an Emergency Powers Board to give oversight during a declared state of disaster, like the coronavirus.
“It was never the intent really for the executive branch to be fitting rules and laws,” Springer said.
In the absence of substantive policy differences, candidates have gone on the offensive sharing attack ads.
Springer aired an advertisement questioning Luther’s teaching record and claiming she’s a “fake conservative.” Luther painted Springer as having ties to China and being a communist sympathizer because of a bill he filed in a past session related to regulating drones.
“Issue tends to take a back seat to personalities in a race that is supersized like this one,” Rottinghaus said.
This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
