Ted Poe was a no-nonsense judge who didn’t like criminals and he usually handed out some pretty creative sentences.
When elected he started out as a strong conservative, but has had a few questionable stances in recent years. I’m not sure I would classify him as a RINO but he has lost some of his conservative staunchness. He has always been pro 2A and pro-life.
I would still take him over a true RINO or a Democrat. I think all-in-all it would be considered a loss by most conservatives.
The district he represents votes Republican, so I would think he could be replaced by another. However, there are many moving here from other states that are liberal, so there might be a fight to keep the seat.
Ted Poe was an amazin Judge. It was said that at a sentencing hearing the convicted asked when his first parole hearing would be granted. Ted told the convicted that his parole board hasn’t even been born yet and continued to sentence him to many many years