Good morning,

This is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Dan Patrick Says Dade Phelan is ‘Impossible to Work With’

• With the fourth special session of the Texas Legislature done, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is taking direct aim at House Speaker Dade Phelan for scuttling the conservative agenda set for lawmakers.
      
• Brandon Waltens reports that while school choice was the most high-profile casualty of Phelan's opposition, legislative packages addressing school safety, teacher pay, and election contests were also killed.
        
• “Republican voters need to ask their House members if they’re going to support Speaker Phelan for speaker, and if they do, there’s a good chance they lose their race,” said Patrick.
           
• Patrick noted that, while he had disagreements with past speakers Joe Straus and Dennis Bonnen, he could have conversations with them. Phelan, though, has chosen not to communicate with him.
       
• “This guy’s just flat-out impossible to work with,” he added. Patrick said that if Phelan is speaker of the House next session, Texans should expect to see school choice and other issues, such as a taxpayer-funded lobbying ban, die again.

Paxton Secures 'Stay' On Court Order, Preventing Destruction of Texas’ Border Barriers

• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that he has secured an administrative stay halting the destruction of Texas’ wire fencing barricades along the United States-Mexico border by federal agents. Will Biagini has the details.

       
• The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked federal immigration officials from damaging the fencing erected by the state to stem the flood of illegal aliens.
       
• This is the latest development in Texas’ ongoing legal fight against the Biden Administration over border security. In this instance, Texas sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and its Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after a video emerged showing federal agents allowing illegal aliens to flow into the state after fencing was destroyed.
      
• “This is an important step supporting Texas’s right to protect our citizens from Biden’s doctrine of open borders at any cost.” – Ken Paxton

Constituents Call on Rep. Frazier to Resign Following Guilty Plea

• Dallas police officer and freshman Republican State Rep. Frederick Frazier of McKinney is facing calls from constituents to resign his seat in the Texas Legislature after he accepted plea deals in two criminal cases tied to his 2022 primary campaign for House District 61. Erin Anderson has the story.
      
• On Tuesday, Frazier pled guilty to one count of criminal mischief and two counts of attempted impersonation of a public servant. The charges related to his efforts to steal his opponent's campaign signs in the 2022 primary runoff.
       
• Frazier is also expected to receive a dishonorable discharge from the Dallas Police Department.
       
• The McKinney Republican has filed for re-election and has drawn two primary opponents. The disgraced lawmaker has been endorsed by other Collin County lawmakers, like State Rep. Jeff Leach (R-Plano), as well as Gov. Greg Abbott. Frazier's campaign's "endorsements" page was taken down shortly after the court hearing.
       
• Outside the Collin County courthouse, scores of constituents protested with signs calling for Frazier's resignation.

Lawmakers Demand Investigation Into 'Antisemitic' Teacher

• After a student in Dickinson Independent School District was allegedly targeted by her English teacher for her Israeli background, two Texas lawmakers are calling for a full investigation into the incident. Emily Medeiros has the background.
       
• Reportedly, the teacher used classroom time to promote a pro-Palestine message unrelated to the curriculum while targeting an Israeli student in the class.
         
• Now, State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R–Galveston) and State Rep. Greg Bonnen (R–Friendswood) want the DISD superintendent to conduct a “thorough and transparent investigation of the teacher and incidents that occurred.”
       
• The teacher has been placed on administrative leave by the district.

Cruz Endorses Olcott in Bid to Defeat Phelan Ally

• Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz announced that he is endorsing Mike Olcott over incumbent House District 60 State Rep. Glenn Rogers of Graford in the GOP primary. 
       
• Rogers was one of 21 Republicans who joined Democrats to help kill Gov. Greg Abbott's school choice proposal in the Texas House earlier this month.
      
• Olcott is widely known statewide for his activism on conservative causes. He is the co-founder of Parker County Conservatives.
      
• "A strong conservative and dedicated community leader, Mike represents the first of many strong candidates who are ready to unseat incumbents who failed to vote yes for school choice, the civil rights issue of our time." – Ted Cruz
       
• Gov. Greg Abbott also endorsed Olcott.

Abbott Endorses Money in Special Election

• Gov. Greg Abbott has endorsed Republican candidate Brent Money for the open House District 2 seat. Sydnie Henry has the story.
      

• Encompassing Hunt, Van Zandt, and Hopkins counties, the seat was vacated in May after State Rep. Bryan Slaton was expelled from the House.

     
• The November special election featured five Republicans and one Democrat vying for the position. Money, a local attorney, took the top spot in the first round of voting, with Republican businesswoman Jill Dutton coming in second place. Since no candidate received 50 percent of the vote, a runoff will be held on Jan. 30, 2024.
      
• Dutton has become the chosen candidate by House leadership, receiving support from crony lobby groups like Texans for Lawsuit Reform.

Quote-Unquote

"Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness."

– George Washington​

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