In Tuesday's elections, 11 Texas State House candidates who pledged to coauthor the Abolition of Abortion in Texas Act were victorious in the Republican primary and five more qualified for the run-off elections on May 28th.
In HD91, David Lowe, a full-blown abolitionist, who we interviewed on our YouTube channel, is headed to a run-off with Stephanie Klick, the committee chair who killed the Abolition of Abortion in Texas Act in 2021. Lowe finished a close second with 46.1 percent while Klick received 48.1 percent.
Abolitionists have reason for optimism in this race because Lowe is significantly outpacing his 2022 performance when he barely snuck into the runoff by trailing Klick 49-to-39 in the primary before losing 54.3-to-45.7 in the head-to-head.
In HD21, challenger David Covey received more votes than House Speaker Dade Phelan (46.3-to-43.2) and the two will go into a runoff. It is almost unheard of in politics for a Speaker to lose a primary election. This is already a stunning result and Covey's victory in May would be a political earthquake.
Covey's website features abolishing abortion as one of his primary platform positions.
Phelan, on the other hand, appoints Democrats as committee chairs and then assigns the abolition bill to those Democrats, ensuring that the bill dies.
In HD2, Brent Money cruised to an easy 14-point victory over teachers' union advocate Jill Dutton. In a debate in August, Money unequivocally endorsed equal protection for preborn children and exposed the reality of mail-order pill abortions.
In HD18, Janis Holt crushed incumbent Ernest Bailes 53.2-to-38.8. Holt endorses equal protection on her campaign website.
In HD64, Andy Hopper is headed to a runoff with incumbent Lynn Stucky. Hopper writes on his campaign website that we must completely abolish abortion.
In HD52, Gun Owners of America State Director Wes Virdell demolished Hatch Smith 60.5-to-39.5 in a race for an open seat. Virdell committed to Abolish Abortion Texas that he would coauthor the bill.
You might remember Shelley Luther from when she defied Governor Greg Abbott's Covid lockdown by opening her salon. On Tuesday, she unseated incumbent Reggie Smith 53.4-to-46.6.
Other winners include Matt Morgan in HD26 (by a whopping 15-point margin over incumbent Jacey Jetton), Mitch Little in HD65 (narrowly defeated incumbent Kronda Thimesch), Daniel Alders in HD6 (no opponent), John Guerra in HD41 (no opponent), incumbent Tom Craddick in HD82, incumbent Jay Dean in HD7, Brandon Grable in HD119 (12-point victory), and Claudio Gutierrez in HD147.
Lea Simmons in HD76 also made the runoff with 35.5 percent compared to 37.7 for Summara Kanwal.
All candidates mentioned in this article either are likely to win in the general election or face no Democrat opponent except for Simmons, Grable, Guerra, and Guttierez who are in liberal districts.
Tuesday was a shockingly good day for abolitionists and it could get even better on May 28th if Lowe, Covey, and Hopper pull through. Pray for the runoff elections and for all those who promised to coauthor the bill to stay true.
