Ever since Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was nominated as the GOP’s U.S. Senate candidate in the Lone Star State, a Republican group in Austin is in crisis, as some of its members openly advocate for Democratic challenger James Talarico.
According to the Austin American-Statesman, an unofficial Facebook forum for the Travis County Republican Party has had to block and remove dozens of people as they have posted messages in support of Talarico: “Andy Hogue, a member of Travis County Republicans … posted the directive in the group last week.”
Travis County, which includes the city of Austin, is infamously one of the most heavily Democratic areas in Texas, but being home to 1.2 million people, a number of Republicans still live there.
Per the report, Hogue said more than 100 “Democrats, Progressives and assorted Socialists” in Travis County Republicans were “blocked, removed or suspended” after their “pro-Talarico” posts. “The group had roughly 3,600 members as of Tuesday afternoon,” the report continued.
In another sign of the divisions within the Texas GOP, Hogue pleaded with members of the group that if they don’t like Paxton, they can just leave that part of their ballot blank rather than advertise their support for Talarico.
“We’ve all been there and have had Republican primary candidates we did not personally favor make the general. And once every double mega blue harvest moon, there’s a Democrat we kind of like,” he said in a post. “But this is a Republican forum! We stand together with Republican voters, and that’s final — all fair critiques notwithstanding.”
Paxton’s bitter primary fight with incumbent Sen. John Cornyn marked a massive tension within the Texas GOP, as voters and officials fought over the two men’s perceived loyalty to MAGA as well as Paxton’s long history of personal and official scandals.
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