The lobbyists own the Texas Legislature. It was only with Dan Patrick and Ken Paxton that we had some true conservative leadership, but both of those guys are loose cannons with personal baggage.
The republican power structure is totally dictated by the power of incumbency. You have guys like my State Rep. voting to impeach Paxton and living off of lobbyist dollars, but - He keeps getting re-elected! The youngsters have to conform or they get no committee assignments or other perks.
It will be very difficult to stem the tide of conformism in Austin. Every session we seem to end up with new statutes and everyone asks “How did that happen?!” We have to figure out a way to hold these guys (and gals) accountable and re-direct our path before we become Texifornia.
To me, the Paxton matter shows an under-handedness and evidence of coordination between the Texas GOP and the democrats. The voters were aware of the accusations against Paxton and voted for him anyway. The way the impeachment was handled makes me think that the Bush wing of the GOPe are behind his ouster.
The GOPe just wanted to get rid of Paxton. However, the democrats took this as a chance to take over the direction of the chambers. Their ouster of Paxton may back-fire on the GOP.