WASHINGTON — Sen. John Cornyn is facing what could be the toughest primary challenge of his career as the state party takes a decidedly rightward turn and his popularity among Republican voters dips from 2020 highs.

It’s a remarkable turn for the four-term senator who — before last year losing his bid for party leader — had never lost an election in his life, served in the highest echelons of the Senate Republican Conference, had an early hand in the Republican takeover of Texas and secured a host of legislative wins directly impacting the state.

Attorney General Ken Paxton has repeatedly hinted that he’s interested in challenging Cornyn in the Republican primary, saying on Fox News he could be making moves soon.

“As far as my plans, right now, I don't know. I'm just going to serve as attorney general,” Paxton said. “I'm looking potentially at the U.S. Senate. We'll look at that over the next couple of months.”

Cornyn’s office confirmed last week that he was still in the race.

But polling suggests that if Cornyn and Paxton were to have a primary today, Paxton would win. Among Republican-identifying voters, Cornyn has an approval rating of 48% — one of the lowest of state-wide office holders, according to a polling aggregate by the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. Paxton, meanwhile, has an approval rating of 60% among Republican-identifying voters. Texas’ other senator, Ted Cruz, has an approval rating of 78% among Republicans.

If Cornyn were to retire, several members of the U.S. House could also launch a bid. U.S. Reps. Beth Van Duyne of Irving, Wesley Hunt of Houston and Ronny Jackson of Amarillo have all been discussed in Republican circles, though none have publicly vocalized their intentions as Paxton has.

Jackson was Trump’s physician in the White House, and Trump’s endorsement in his first race for Congress in 2020 helped Jackson beat controversy in the primary over allegations of workplace abuse during his time in the White House. Jackson is an impressive fundraiser for a House member in a deeply red seat, raising more than $6 million in the last election cycle. He invested in Spanish-language ads in 2022 to raise his name recognition among voters outside his district. Jackson’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Van Duyne was the first mayor to endorse Trump when she was mayor of Irving, and was the 2024 Texas GOP victory chair, campaigning for Cruz and Trump.

Her campaign didn’t say if she was considering entering the primary. “Beth is focused on delivering President Trump’s America First agenda: secure borders, confronting Mexican cartels, tax relief and lower costs for working families, American energy dominance, and an economy with rising wages,” her campaign said in a statement.

Hunt led much of the Trump campaign’s outreach to Black men in the last election cycle and interviewed to be his Defense secretary late last year. Trump endorsed Hunt in his Congressional races in 2020 and 2022, and Hunt has proven himself a prodigious fundraiser, raising more than $7 million in his first U.S. House race. Hunt was recognized with a primetime speaking slot at the Republican National Convention this year. Hunt’s campaign declined to comment for this story.

But Cornyn is not making any signs of stopping. He has taken on more committee assignments this year — several that will be central to some of the biggest policy priorities of the Trump presidency. He finished 2024 with $4.1 million in cash on hand, according to a source briefed on his fundraising operation, and has been meeting with some of his biggest supporters throughout Texas since the beginning of the year.

When asked if he would still run for reelection shortly after losing the leadership race, Cornyn said, “absolutely.”

Early support set a smooth 2020 path

Cornyn has faced primary challenges from the right before and mobilized his formidable operation to quash them.

He ran against a crowded primary in 2014 with seven Republicans hoping to unseat him, including then-U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman. The Friendswood Republican at the time cited Cornyn’s distaste for Sen. Ted Cruz’s filibuster against government funding legislation that would fund the Affordable Care Act. Cornyn, who was Senate minority whip at the time, said the tactic was not effective, though he shared Cruz's antipathy for the health care law.

Cornyn obliterated the opposition. He won his primary with 62% of the vote. Stockman secured just over 17%. Cornyn raised over $11 million in that race. Stockman raised just over $115,000.

In 2020, Cornyn faced a potential challenge from U.S. Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Sherman, who was then a state senator. Fallon said at the time that Cornyn “has had 18 years. Some of the things you agree with until you check under the hood” as he launched an exploratory committee into a Senate run.

But Cornyn was armed not only with his bountiful funds but also endorsements from across the Republican ideological spectrum. Cruz endorsed Cornyn in December 2018 — two years early and less than a month after securing his own victory against Democratic U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke. Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Trump also endorsed Cornyn ahead of the 2020 primary.

Fallon eventually decided against running in the primary and ran for the U.S. House that year. Cornyn won reelection handily. Fallon did not respond to a request for comment.

This time, Cornyn has not yet secured the endorsements that helped stave off a primary challenge in 2020. Cruz, whom Cornyn helped with over $500,000 in his own competitive reelection campaign last year, has not endorsed in the Senate primary.

When asked if he had spoken to Cornyn about endorsing him, Cruz said “it’s early to worry about politics in a race two years away. John Cornyn and I have worked together very closely for the last 13 years, and we will continue to work together very closely.”

“We’ll have plenty of time to have those conversations,” Cruz continued when asked why he was not endorsing early like in 2018. He had the same answer when asked about a potential Paxton run.

Cruz and Paxton operate in overlapping orbits, with senior staff for Cruz previously serving in Paxton’s operation. Cruz also defended Paxton through his impeachment and enjoys considerably higher popularity among the conservative base than Cornyn.

Cruz notably voted for one of Cornyn’s opponents, the right-wing Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, in the first round of voting in the majority leader race. He would not say if he voted for Cornyn or Sen. John Thune of South Dakota in the second round. Thune won the majority leader race with 29 out of 53 votes.

Abbott’s and Patrick’s campaigns did not respond when asked if they would endorse Cornyn.

Trump’s pick

The endorsement that could count the most is Trump’s. His endorsement has catapulted multiple Republicans through crowded primaries in Texas.

The president has so far made no indication whom he would support. With the primary more than a year away, there’s plenty of time to audition for the presidential blessing.

Few have done more for Trump’s cause — and done so more brazenly — than Paxton. He led a lawsuit challenging the results of the 2020 election and repeatedly sued the Biden administration to stop its legislative agenda. Trump gave the attorney general a special shout out during his inauguration this year. Trump even floated his name for U.S. attorney general last year.

Cornyn, meanwhile, has appeared averse toward Trump in the past. He told reporters in May 2023 that Trump’s “time has passed him by,” suggesting that Trump didn’t have enough appeal in a general election to win. He also expressed concern in a June interview with CBS Texas about Trump’s federal indictment on keeping classified documents in his private residence, saying Trump had “created a circumstance for himself, which is, I think, very serious.”

Cornyn eventually endorsed Trump after he won the New Hampshire primary.

Since Trump won back the presidency, Cornyn has not given Trump any reason to criticize him. He has steadfastly supported all of Trump’s nominees, even his most controversial ones. He voted to advance Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, to serve as Trump’s director of national intelligence, despite misgivings even among Republicans about her past comments supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin and ousted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

Cornyn has also joined Abbott in calling for the federal government to reimburse Texas for Operation Lone Star and is a founding member of the DOGE Caucus, aligning himself with the cost-cutting mission spearheaded by Elon Musk.

Despite his electoral doubts, Cornyn’s support for the president within the chamber has been consistent through the years. He was Senate majority whip during the first years of Trump’s presidency, herding his conference to support the president’s agenda on tax cuts and judicial nominations — including the controversial appointment of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Cornyn voted more than 92% of the time with Trump’s agenda during his first presidency, and he voted for every Trump appointee in both the Executive and Judiciary at the time.

That hasn’t spared him from Trump’s criticisms, particularly over his work on the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a gun safety bill passed following the Robb Elementary shooting in Uvalde. The bill was the first gun safety bill signed into law in decades and invested heavily in community safety measures and limited the ability of high-risk individuals to access firearms.

Trump called Cornyn a Republican in name only for his support of the bill, posting on social media at the time: “The deal on ‘Gun Control’ currently being structured and pushed in the Senate by the Radical Left Democrats, with the help of Mitch McConnell, RINO Senator John Cornyn of Texas, and others, will go down in history as the first step in the movement to TAKE YOUR GUNS AWAY. Republicans, be careful what you wish for!!!”

The Cornyn-Paxton feud

Cornyn and Paxton have had a storied distaste for each other. Before his time in the Senate, Cornyn served as the first Republican Texas attorney general in more than a century. He transformed the position from a sleepy government office to a major force in conservative politics.

Cornyn said he was “disturbed” by Paxton’s various legal troubles and that it was an “embarrassment” that they had not been resolved before Paxton’s 2022 primary.

Paxton has accused Cornyn of being a Republican in name only, urging someone to primary him. He rallied the MAGA base to denounce Cornyn’s bid for majority leader, writing on social media: “Republicans deserve better in their next leader and Texans deserve another conservative senator.”

The differences go beyond personality. Paxton said in early 2024 that it was “unbelievable” that Cornyn would vote for $95 billion in military aid for U.S. allies. Foreign military aid emerged as a major fault line between traditional defense Republicans and the far right last year. Cornyn shot back that Paxton’s “criminal defense lawyers are calling to suggest you spend less time pushing Russian propaganda and more time defending long-standing felony charges.”

When Cornyn was eyeing a run for Senate majority leader, Paxton was vocally against the bid, writing on social media that Cornyn was “anti-Trump, anti-gun, and will be focused on his highly competitive primary campaign in 2026.”

Cornyn replied: “Hard to run from prison, Ken.”

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/11/cornyn-paxton-possible-senate-primary/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar is claiming some credit for Texas’ controversial buoys to prevent migrants from crossing the Rio Grande, saying he pitched the idea to Border Patrol years ago.

The conservative Democrat said in a recent interview with Newsweek that he made the pitch to Border Patrol to prevent migrants from claiming asylum by setting foot on U.S. territory.

“I said, if you put a wall in Texas in the river, you're about a quarter mile away. So when somebody crosses and touches the riverbanks, they can claim asylum,” Cuellar told the news magazine.

In a brief interview with The Texas Tribune, Cuellar added that the idea didn’t go anywhere at the time because the International Boundary and Water Commission didn’t give the necessary permits. But he was enthusiastic about an alternative to a land-based border wall in his district.

Gov. Greg Abbott deployed buoys and razor wire on the border last year to deter migrants from crossing the Rio Grande. Dozens of people have died trying to cross the river in recent years. Then-Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador criticized the tactics last year after a body was reported on one of the buoys.

Texas Democrats in Congress, including Cuellar, sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging his administration to investigate Abbott’s actions under Operation Lone Star, including the use of razor wire and buoys on the Rio Grande. The letter asserts the buoys and razor wire are “potentially illegal and may violate multiple bilateral treaties” designating water rights between the United States and Mexico. Every Democrat in Texas’ congressional delegation at the time signed onto the letter.

Cuellar, who has represented the 28th Congressional District since 2005, expressed similar concerns during a press conference in 2023 about Operation Lone Star, where he said the buoys could change the border if there is flooding and that Border Patrol agents have expressed concerns that the razor wire can impede them.

“We need to have border security, but at the same time, we have to respect the rights and the dignity of the migrants who are trying to come into the U.S.,” Cuellar said at the news conference. “One of the things that we’ve asked the state and that I’ve asked the federal government is, are we coordinating with the state, and it looks like the state is going solo on this.”

Speaking with The Texas Tribune, Cuellar said he was not opposed to the use of buoys, but he signed onto the 2023 letter in opposition to the state’s unilateral use of the barriers without working with the federal government. He said he was optimistic the state will work with the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump on hardening the border.

Cuellar also said he didn’t want to take credit away from Abbott for deploying the buoys.

“I’m not taking anything from Governor Abbott,” Cuellar said. “I congratulate him.”

Cuellar is among the most conservative Democrats in Congress and has occasionally crossed over to support Republican efforts on border security. He helped launch a Democratic task force on border security earlier this year.

He has recently shown openness to working with Trump’s administration, saying he saw opportunities for “common ground” with Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar. Homan served as director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement during Trump’s first term. The pair plans to meet sometime next week. Cuellar said he could see an agreement with the Trump administration on working with Mexico to keep migrants from reaching the U.S. border.

Cuellar remains politically battered, reeling from a federal indictment charging him with bribery, money laundering and working on behalf of the Azerbaijani government and a Mexican bank. He has denied the allegations and won reelection in November by 5.6 percentage points. He won reelection in 2022 by more than 10 points.

Republicans declined to heavily fund a challenge against Cuellar this year despite the indictment, which came out after the first round of the district’s Republican primary. But South Texas remains a major target for the party, and national Republicans have telegraphed they are keeping their sights on the district in the future.

Cuellar’s trial is set to begin next spring in Houston, in which more details of his alleged criminal activity are expected to be aired out. He is charged with accepting nearly $600,000 in bribes to advance the interests of Azerbaijan’s oil and gas sector and the business interests of Banco Azteca. He is accused of setting up money-laundering schemes to conceal the bribes with the help of his wife, Imelda. Cuellar said his behavior was in line with other members of Congress.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/04/henry-cuellar-texas-rio-grande-border-buoys-immigration/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

WASHINGTON — After outperforming Kamala Harris in South Texas on Election Day despite being vastly outspent by Republicans, U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, has a message to his fellow Democrats in Congress. Actually, he has a few of them.

No. 1: Don’t tell him how to handle his business, he’s going to represent his district the way he knows is best. And No. 2: Clean up your own act.

In a recent interview with The Texas Tribune, the four-term Democratic congressman, with a penchant for going rogue, took a shiv to the Democratic playbook. He said the party’s fixation on abortion this cycle was “lazy” and out of touch with his majority-Catholic district. He urged the party to, in some cases, soften its defenses of transgender rights, even if that means voting against the Democratic base. He said Democrats had insufficiently attacked Republicans on economic issues. And he said the Democrats were plagued with “incompetence” in gauging the driving issues for voters in districts like his.

“Their messaging is off. I also believe their polling is off. Democratic polling has been consistently off beyond the margin of error for the last two or three cycles,” Gonzalez said in his Capitol Hill office. It’s “incompetence, at the end of the day. I think they need to get rid of people.”

Gonzalez won his competitive South Texas district — which runs from the Mexican border in Brownsville to Corpus Christi along the Gulf Coast — by less than 3 percentage points this year, fending off Republicans’ biggest offensive effort in the state. He outperformed Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to President Donald Trump in every county in his district.

Gonzalez is one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress, at times voting with Republicans on issues related to energy and the border. He caused House Democratic leadership headaches as he pushed back on President Joe Biden’s climate and infrastructure agenda before eventually supporting the legislation, citing concerns it would negatively impact his district’s energy interests.

Gonzalez said his ability to see the social conservatism of his district and knowing when to break from the national party helped preserve his place in Congress.

“I told the entire caucus, don’t ever try to whip me again because I know my district better than anybody in this room,” Gonzalez said. “Having me 97% of the time is better than having my opponent 100% of the time. We need to give that leeway, especially to frontline members. Nobody knows our districts better than us.”

Republicans poured millions of dollars into supporting their candidate, former U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores, this cycle, viewing Gonzalez’s proclivity for off-color comments — including comparing Latino Trump supporters to “Jews for Hitler” in March — as a major vulnerability.

The race was among the most expensive U.S. House races in Texas this year. Flores, who previously represented the district for a few months in 2022 after winning a special election, spent over $5.7 million in the race as of mid-October.

Vicente Gonzalez's supporters watch the televised debate live between him and Republican challenger Mayra Flores in Rancho Viejo on Oct. 17, 2024. Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the House Majority PAC, the party’s two biggest outside spending groups for House races, spent over $1 million with ads supporting Gonzalez.

But Gonzalez has serious issue with the way both groups operated in his district. Neither group responded to requests for comment.

Gonzalez said it was an error to focus so heavily on abortion in a region that is overwhelmingly Catholic. He said the strategy showed congressional Democrats “don’t know the region and they get lazy about it,” leaning on the issue because it was salient in the 2022 midterms. Abortion was a central issue in TV ads aired in his district to help him by national Democrats, which Gonzalez said was out of touch with voters more concerned about the rising cost of living.

The ad “was hitting my opponent on abortion in an 80% Catholic community. Somebody needs to get fired for that,” Gonzalez said. “Whoever was the decision maker to do that in South Texas should be gone, because they clearly don't know the district.”

A photograph of Gonzalez, his wife Lorena Saenz, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden is displayed with other memorabilia in his office at the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, D.C. Credit: Shuran Huang for The Texas Tribune

Gonzalez saw some room for abortion to be an effective element to a winning strategy, but he said the messaging should be targeted on digital platforms to young women rather than blasted on television ads. Gonzalez still went after Flores on abortion when the two shared a debate stage in October.

Gonzalez said Democrats focused too much on TV ads generally in Texas and should have spent more time door knocking and talking to voters.

Gonzalez also lamented that Democrats don’t have a winning strategy to counter anti-trans attacks that Republicans used through the latter part of the cycle. The National Republican Congressional Committee and Sen. Ted Cruz’s reelection campaign both poured money into ads attacking Democrats as wanting to use taxpayer money to fund gender transitions for children and to allow boys to play in girls sports. Democrats and LGBTQ+ rights activists denounced the ads as spreading dangerous misinformation about trans youth.

Gonzalez was among the few Democrats to tackle the ads head on, issuing his own counter ad rebuffing the Republicans’ claims, saying he never supported tax-funded sex changes. He said more Democrats should feel comfortable following his lead, even if it leads to pushback from the progressive base.

“I think we need to protect every community in America,” Gonzalez said. “But there are issues that I don't agree with, like boys and girls bathrooms, or boys competing in girls sports, and I think we should be outspoken about it. I don't think Democrats should have to hide from a message like that.”

Gonzalez has supported pro-trans legislation in the past, voting in 2021 for the Equality Act, which would protect trans people from discrimination.

Republicans are poised to continue their attacks on transgender rights, emboldened by voter response to their ads nationwide. And Democrats are already being confronted with the issue as the first transgender member of Congress, Rep.-elect Sarah McBride of Delaware, is set to be sworn in in January. Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina introduced a bill that would ban McBride from using the women’s bathrooms or locker rooms in the Capitol complex.

When asked if he would vote for Mace’s bill, Gonzalez said: “That's a very, very tough conversation that needs to be had by Democrats. And I think at the end of the day, we got to vote our district and vote what we really believe. And I don't believe that boys should be in girls' bathrooms.” He did not specify how he would vote on the bill.

McBride has agreed not to use women’s restrooms and stressed she does not want her gender to become a distraction. All members of Congress have private bathrooms. She did not respond to a request for comment on Gonzalez’s remarks.

Gonzalez said Democrats should have invested in attack ads targeting Republican candidates who want to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Title I funding for schools in low-income communities, as Republicans have cast Democrats as supporting measures to defund the police. South Texas Republicans deny they want to cut funding for the programs.

Gonzalez also suggested he was not impressed with Democrat Michelle Vallejo, who challenged U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz in the 15th Congressional District. She lost both in 2022 and 2024, by double digits despite support from the DCCC and investment from the House Majority PAC. She ran in 2022 on a progressive platform, focusing on reproductive rights and expanding access to health care. She moderated her tune this cycle, but was unable to close or even shrink the gap.

Gonzalez said the district needs a moderate Democrat to win. “It's a tough district, especially for somebody who initially campaigned as a progressive. It's kind of hard to turn the clock back,” Gonzalez said.

Still, Vallejo made positive strides. She outperformed Harris in her district by seven percentage points. Vallejo declined to comment.

Gonzalez formerly represented the 15th Congressional District for six years before switching to the 34th district in 2022 following redistricting. Then-DCCC Chair Sean Patrick Maloney preferred Gonzalez, a well-funded incumbent, stay in the more competitive 15th District to give Democrats a better shot at holding onto all of their South Texas seats, Gonzalez said. But Gonzalez defended the move, saying his home was drawn into the new 34th district and he had to prioritize his own race.

Gonzalez is optimistic that Democrats can continue holding on to South Texas despite the heavy investment from Republicans, saying Republicans have a “low quality of candidate,” including Flores and De La Cruz.

De La Cruz, who outperformed Trump in her district, shot back at Gonzalez’s comments in a statement. “It’s funny he’d say that, considering I chased him out of this district and he’s underperformed in the last three elections,” De La Cruz said. “He can focus on pettiness — I’ll keep picking up his slack and delivering results for South Texas.”

Gonzalez called Flores’ victory in a 2022 special election a “fluke,” saying she got elected solely because Republicans poured millions of dollars into a special election that national Democrats did not pay much attention to.

“We welcome Vicente Gonzalez’s self-delusion as the ground shifts underneath him. Donald Trump romped across South Texas, ” said Delanie Bomar, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, House Republicans’ campaign arm. “It’s only a matter of time before those same voters toss Gonzalez from office, too.”

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This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/26/texas-vicente-gonzalez-congress-democrats-abortion-transgender/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Reps. Jodey Arrington and Roger Williams announced Sunday they will not run for speaker of the U.S. House, leaving only one Texan in the mix to lead Congress’ lower chamber.

“After careful consideration and much prayer, I have decided not to run for Speaker at this time. There are several capable candidates who have stepped forward to run, and I plan to support whomever our Conference elects on Tuesday,” Arrington, R-Lubbock, said in a statement.

Williams, R-Willow Park, released his own statement explaining his decision: “After spending some time with my family in prayer, I have decided that now is not the right time for me to seek this important position. With my responsibilities as Chairman of the House Small Business Committee, serving Texas’ 25th Congressional District, running a business back home, and most importantly, to my family in these challenging times, it is important I give all I have to the jobs at hand.”

Arrington and Williams had expressed interest in the job Friday after U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, a deeply conservative Ohioan who co-founded the House Freedom Caucus, dropped out of the race. The two Texans said they would consult with their families before deciding whether to launch a formal bid for the job.

U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Waco, formally announced he was running for the job Friday afternoon and is still in the race. All three Texans had previously backed Jordan’s bid for speaker.

Arrington chairs the House Budget Committee and was an important lieutenant for former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy — who was removed as speaker more than two weeks ago after eight far-right Republicans voted with Democrats for his ouster — and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, whose own candidacy for speaker quickly ended when he determined he didn’t have enough support from fellow Republicans to win a majority of the vote.

Williams has been in the House for more than 10 years and was previously Texas secretary of State.

Sessions was chair of the House Rules Committee, which works closely with the speaker to decide how legislation gets treated on the floor, from 2013 to 2019 and led the National Republican Congressional Committee from 2009 to 2013. The NRCC is the party’s House campaign arm.

Without a speaker, legislation cannot move and the clock is ticking with the government set to shut down in less than a month unless appropriations bills pass.

Jordan’s withdrawal from the race on Friday, after he fell short of the necessary 217 votes in three tries, left the party without an immediately obvious alternative. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who also once led the NRCC, is the highest ranking Republican running and has McCarthy’s endorsement.

Members had until noon Eastern time on Sunday to formally declare their candidacies. Nine candidates are currently in the running, Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik announced Sunday.

Candidates will make their pitches to their party in a closed-door meeting Monday evening. The House Republican conference will vote on their nominee for speaker Tuesday morning. A full House vote for speaker has not yet been scheduled.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/22/texas-congress-house-speaker-arrington-williams-withdraw/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.