Trump Backs Rivals of GOP Members Who Voted for Paxton Impeachment

Former President Donald Trump celebrates his victory at a primary election night party in Nashua, N.H., on Jan. 23, 2024. Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump has endorsed four Republican candidates seeking to unseat Texas GOP lawmakers who voted for the impeachment of the state’s Attorney General Ken Paxton last year.

President Trump said on Truth Social on Feb. 21 that candidates Liz Case, Mike Olcott, Helen Kerwin, and Alan Schoolcraft will have his “complete and total endorsement” in the Texas GOP primary scheduled for March 5.

He believes that the four candidates will “champion school choice,” lower taxes, defend the U.S. Second Amendment, advocate for border security, and “fight back against the Woke Mob destroying our country.”

President Trump, the frontrunner to become the GOP’s 2024 presidential nominee, labeled those who voted to impeach Mr. Paxton as ‘RINOs,’ an acronym for ‘Republican In Name Only.

Ms. Case is running against Rep. Stan Lambert in Texas House District 71. Mr. Olcott, who is challenging Rep. Glenn Rogers in Texas House District 60, said that he was “floored to have the support of Trump.”

“President Donald Trump has endorsed our campaign!” Mr. Olcott stated on X (formerly Twitter). “Let’s go win this!”

Ms. Kerwin, a challenger to Rep. DeWayne Burns in the Texas State House District 58, also expressed her gratitude to President Trump for his “powerful endorsement.”

“Thank you for your trust,” she wrote on X. “I am inspired by you every day and promise never to let you down! I am ready to #StandWithTexas and #SaveAmerica!”

Describing Ms. Kerwin as “an America First Conservative,” President Trump said that her daughter had served as a senior staff member in the White House for three years during his previous administration.

The former president also endorsed Mr. Schoolcraft, a challenger to Rep. John Kuempel in Texas State House District 44, saying he believes that the candidate would help to “defend Texas values.”

The four candidates also received “strong support” from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and Mr. Paxton, according to posts on the Truth Social platform.

Mr. Paxton, who was reelected to a third term in November 2022, was impeached by the Texas GOP-led House in May last year. The impeachment involved 20 articles of corruption, including obstruction of justice, bribery, and abuse of public trust.

He allegedly granted a real estate developer favors, used public funds to punish a whistleblower, and paid someone he had an extramarital affair with.

After eight days of testimony, Texas state senators voted on Sept. 16, 2023, to acquit Mr. Paxton on all 16 articles of impeachment. President Trump congratulated him on the acquittal and criticized the impeachment trial.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (C) talks to reporters in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, on April 26, 2022. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

“Congratulations to Attorney General Ken Paxton on a great and historic Texas-sized VICTORY. I also want to congratulate his wonderful wife and family for having had to go through this ordeal, and WINNING,” President Trump wrote on social media.

President Trump also called on Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, a Republican, to “resign after pushing this Disgraceful Sham.”

Mr. Paxton is widely viewed as one of the most prominent U.S. legal conservatives, taking up issues in defense of religious liberty, the Second Amendment, and the right to life. He is only the third sitting official in Texas’s nearly 200-year history to have been impeached.

Tom Ozimek and Catherine Yang contributed to this report.