Texas GOP censures five lawmakers, but rejects banning anyone from the primary ballot
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The Texas GOP has voted to censure five of its own in the Texas House yet stopped short of banning them from the 2026 primary ballot, rejecting an untested provision that some House members say would have violated their constitutional right to appear on the ballot.
The State Republican Executive Committee, the party’s governing board, met in the state Capitol on Saturday to consider whether to reprimand 10 Republican House members for being insufficiently conservative. In the end, the board rejected half of the censures and dismissed attempts to bar them from the March primary, a deescalation of intraparty tension that reached a fever pitch at the start of this year.
The SREC concurred with local censure resolutions against Reps. Stan Lambert of Abilene, Angelia Orr of Itasca, Jared Patterson of Frisco, Gary VanDeaver of New Boston and Dade Phelan of Beaumont, a former speaker. Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows escaped censure, as did Reps. Angie Chen Button of Garland, Cody Harris of Palestine, Jeff Leach of Allen, and Morgan Meyer of University Park. Lambert and Phelan have announced their retirements.
https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/11/texas-gop-srec-censure/