GOP voters want ‘fighters,’ and it showed in primaries. What that means for Texas, Tarrant

If you squint at Tuesday night’s Texas Republican primary results, you can persuade yourself that the hardest right elements of the party were beaten back by more traditional candidates.

Gov. Greg Abbott won handily against a host of opponents, the most prominent of whom campaigned on the idea that Abbott hadn’t been conservative enough on the border and social issues. Attorney General Ken Paxton was pulled into a late May runoff despite the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.

In Tarrant County, incumbents such as Rep. Giovanni Capriglione of Southlake and State Board of Education member Pat Hardy of Fort Worth dispatched challengers from the right. And Rep. Phil King of Weatherford, a staunch conservative with a record of getting things done in Austin, won easily against activist Warren Norred, an Arlington lawyer who campaigned as more of a fighter.

But those results are offset by others, especially Tim O’Hare’s decisive victory in the county judge race. And more to the point — many of the winners adopted the positions and even some of the style of their opponents to prevent any upset from the right.

Abbott is a prime example. He spent the entire campaign steadily co-opting parts of his challengers’ biggest arguments against him, on COVID-19 restrictions, the border and social issues such as medical treatments for transgender children.

Don Huffines, the former Dallas state senator who pounded Abbott as weak, finished a distant third. He conceded defeat almost immediately after the polls closed, but he claimed a measure of victory — and he’s not wrong.

“For over a year our campaign has driven the narrative in Texas and forced Greg Abbott to deliver real conservative victories” on issues such as abortion and guns, Huffines said in a written statement.

In many ways, these races have been about style, not significant differences on major issues. After two years of the pandemic, with prices rising and the world seemingly more unstable, Americans — especially hard-core Republicans, many still seething over Trump’s loss — are mad.

GOP voters want aggressive candidates whose mission is to turn back Democrats on social issues, not lodge bipartisan victories. They want to advance in the culture war on race, gender, education and border security.

Republicans who recognized that and adapted, such as Abbott, or those who were already there, such as Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, did fine. Perhaps no candidate read the moment better than O’Hare. Having helped lead the fight in Southlake schools over a diversity-action plan, he particularly understood the sea change on education issues and used it — even while running for an office with no purview over schools.

Former Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price, who won elections for decades by campaigning on competence and steadiness, never saw what hit her. Her campaign was a throwback, and Republican voters were in no mood for bipartisan nostalgia.

At some point, even in Texas, the push to the right will go too far. Tarrant County might be a bellwether of that. It’s been the largest Republican county in the state for decades but has trended purple recently — you’ll hear frequent reminders that Democratic governor nominee Beto O’Rourke won it in 2018 while running for Senate, as did President Joe Biden in 2020.

But the overall climate for Democrats is dangerous in this midterm year. If Democrats couldn’t break through in Texas amid the backlash to Trump, there’s little reason to bet they can now. Tens of thousands more Tarrant County Republicans turned out to vote than Democrats. Given that so much in politics is driven by disdain for the other side, the party out of power nationally tends to have more energy.

Somewhere in all this, there is governing to be done. Tarrant County and Texas must improve schools, prepare better for relentless population growth and respond to rising crime, mental health crises and inflation.

When the election fights are over, the warriors must be ready to set down their weapons and get to work.

This story was originally published March 2, 2022 at 7:59 AM.