Targeted by far right and left, Dan Crenshaw is leading the way to a new right in Texas
Just before the Texas primaries, an interesting analysis of two Houston-area congressional districts emerged.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw is the incumbent in the 2nd District and his friend, fellow former Navy SEAL Morgan Luttrell was the front-running newcomer in the 8th. The GOP primaries seemed to be between the right and the far-right, reason and conspiracy, veterans vs. civilians, a nasty proxy war.
The primary results show there’s really no proxy war at all: For now at least, Crenshaw is the leader of the new right in Texas. The battle is on policies — his only formidable foe is the left.
The 8th District battle was really between Christian Collins and Luttrell.
Crenshaw and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick backed Luttrell. Sen. Ted Cruz, the Freedom Caucus, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a wildly, pro-Trump Republican, supported Christian Collins.
“In the primary in Texas’ 8th District—one of the party’s most hotly contested internal contests anywhere—the entire Trump-era Republican playbook is on display. On steroids,” a reporter at the Daily Beast wrote in February.
Several local and national outlets have been eating up this conflict, frothing at the mouth over the idea that the right is splitting into factions as President Joe Biden unites America over skyrocketing gas prices. It does exist, it’s just not as powerful as the left wants it to be.
A lengthy New York Times piece posited that redistricting in Crenshaw’s area provides him an unfair advantage, edging out Democrats — but it did open him up to vitriolic attacks from the right. This is only partially true; Crenshaw’s been earning those for awhile now because he hasn’t hesitated to call out members of the Freedom Caucus who he thinks act like “grifters” and “performance artists.”
For the last few months, opponents have essentially smeared Luttrell and Crenshaw as RINOs, or Republicans-in-name-only. At a recent rally in Crenshaw’s district, Greene added to the division, saying: “It is time to embrace the civil war in the G.O.P.” She called Crenshaw himself “a performance artist.”
The Daily Beast piece said Collins had “won over” his base and “put icons of the Trumpian far right at the heart of his campaign.” Both might be true but neither paid off: Collins lost handily, and so did Crenshaw’s challenger. Despite all the hype about a proxy war, the primary results show who’s really popular.
On March 1, Crenshaw secured nearly 45,000 votes; his opponent garnered 10,135.
I am proud of my decisive win in my new district,” Crenshaw told me. “But also incredibly proud that I was able to help Morgan Luttrell and Wesley Hunt in their outright wins in two open-seat primaries. Texas voters chose to elect strong, effective conservatives who will actually govern and lead when Republicans take back the majority in November.”
He added: “The future of the Republican party is in a strong position with the candidates who prevailed in our primaries across the state this week.”
Luttrell did well, also. Against 11 contenders, he secured just over 34,000 votes; Collins walked away with 14,503. After all that talk, there won’t even be a runoff, which is unusual for a first-timer.
Crenshaw is a threat to the far-right because he refused to pledge fealty to Donald Trump as his reputation worsened. More importantly, he has emerged from the Trump presidency unafraid to forge a path forward. Conservatives who don’t align with the far-right need this kind of leadership.
The left hates Crenshaw because there is no one like him on their side: a Harvard-educated, bilingual, conservative, ex-SEAL who wears an eye patch and brags about not missing leg day while managing the post-Trump fallout without descending into MAGA conspiracy territory. And yet he doesn’t hesitate to hold liberals or Big Tech accountable sometimes in the most scathing way possible.
Like many formidable politicians, Crenshaw is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t: Scolded as a RINO by the far-right, slammed by Democrats because he disavows their policies. To quote Crenshaw, “your hurt feelings are noted.”
Regardless, there’s a wide chasm of voters left between these two, and Crenshaw has emerged as the one to lead them.
Editor’s note: A version of this column originally appeared in our conservative opinion newsletter, Right Turns. It’s delivered every Saturday with a fresh take on the news and a roundup of our best center-right opinion content. Sign up here.
This story was originally published March 7, 2022 at 5:04 AM.
