Conservative groups push back against Texas House impeachment of AG Ken Paxton
TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) — The Defend Texas Liberty PAC has put up a billboard around Republican State Representative Glenn Rogers' House district in Parker, Palo Pinto and Stephens counties.
The billboard says he voted with 61 Democrats in Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment.
"I voted the way I felt was the right way to vote," Rogers told CBS News Texas Wednesday. "Over 70% of Republicans voted the same way I did. So, they conveniently left that fact off. But our voters are smart enough to see that. We did not convict Ken Paxton. We merely said there was enough evidence to move this case to trial."
Rogers said he heard from constituents who supported his decision and from those who sharply criticized it.
"There are a number of people upset about the impeachment and I can understand that because Ken Paxton has done a lot for Texas," he said. "He fought back against some of the liberal Biden policies."
Luke Macias, the director of the Defend Texas Liberty PAC, said this is something the PAC "has done consistently with liberal Republicans wherever they are in the state."
He continued to say that they "will communicate to voters via any and all communication methods to ensure that they really know what's going on."
Paxton's impeachment trial in the Senate begins Sept. 5. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has called the impeachment a sham.
Paxton, who remains suspended without pay, faces 20 articles of impeachment and is accused of abusing his office to help a campaign donor and himself.
When asked if the 70% of Republican House members who voted to impeach Paxton should expect billboards in their communities, Macias said, "I think we're looking at billboards across the entire state. It's not just billboards, though."
There's also a new website called "Stand With Paxton," created by conservative activist Dr. Steven Hotze of Houston.
The site asks supporters to call the state senators who will be jurors and urge them to acquit Paxton so he can keep his job.
The Texas GOP and county GOPs across the state have passed resolutions condemning the process behind the impeachment. The parties say it's unfair because Paxton never had a chance to respond to the accusations before he was impeached.
Matthew Wilson, a political science professor at SMU, said these efforts are a test to see how loyal Republicans are to Paxton.
"Would Republican base voters really be angry if a Republican senator voted to remove Ken Paxton from office? I think that's very much up in the air right now," Wilson said. "Of course, that is the question that this campaign is trying to step into. They want to generate anger among Republican voters if Ken Paxton is removed from office."
Justin Holland (R-Heath) also voted to impeach Paxton. "It's not something that we took lightly. It wasn't a vote we took with any haste."
When asked if there's a rift in the GOP in Texas, Holland said there is and that it's unfortunate. "I think what we should do as Republicans is focus on the victories that we've been able to do. We've passed sweeping pro-life legislation, election integrity. We're about to deliver the largest property tax cut in Texas history."
Macias said that ultimately, the hope is that the PAC can "actually preserve what we've fought for and created in Texas, which is an increasingly more conservative Republican Party."
Rep. Rogers already faces a Republican challenger next year, but he said he isn't backing down. "If I had that option to [vote] a thousand more times, I would take the same vote...I feel very comfortable about the vote I took."
Watch Jack's full interview with Rogers:
Watch Jack's full interview with Macias: