Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton — now the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate — was widely reported to have agreed over the summer to debate his Democratic opponent, State Rep. James Talarico, during the fall campaign.
That debate now appears unlikely to happen even though Fox News recently accepted an invitation to host a debate.
This behavior has been copied across the statewide ballot as Republican Gov. Greg Abbott will probably not debate Democratic State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, as well as sitting Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick will not debate Democratic State Rep. Vikki Goodwin.
At this point, the only statewide debate scheduled is for the Railroad Commission.
That race features Democratic State Rep. Jon Rosenthal and Republican nominee Bo French.
And once again, Republicans will be represented in prime time by a candidate whose social media history includes antisemitic, sexist, racist, and bigoted posts, and who has offered little public discussion of the actual responsibilities of the Railroad Commission. Rather than acknowledging and correcting those posts, French doubled down on them and expressed “shock” when leaders in his own party rebuked him.
While it may appear as if many Texas Republicans tried to distance themselves from French, the reality is that his presence on the statewide debate stage reflects on the entire ticket.
Until GOP candidates publicly debate their opponents and define their own positions, French’s rhetoric remains an unavoidable part of the party’s image.
Sometimes in campaigns the attack ads write themselves and French’s sordid social media past offers ample material. Under House Speaker Dustin Burrows’ “One Party, One Mission” umbrella, every Republican candidate is implicitly linked to every other. That begs the question: do all of the GOP candidates want to be tied to Bo French?
Any candidate with a strategic mind would understand the need to separate him/herself from French.
This is where the absence of statewide debates becomes more than a scheduling issue. Debates give candidates a public platform to express their views, defend their records, and demonstrate independence from controversial figures within their own party.
By refusing to debate, Republican candidates make it easier for their opponents to portray its entire ticket as aligned with the bigoted rhetoric of their Railroad Commissioner nominee.
Not debating their Democratic rivals makes it easy for them to paint all Republicans in the image of their RR Commission nominee. While statewide candidates and the Texas House Speaker are doing all they can to divert the public’s and media attention to other issues like rogue prosecutors, property taxes, or the tried and true fringe culture war, reminding the public and media about French and the Republican “One Party, One Mission” concept is not difficult to do. While Texas AG Paxton has his own shady past that complicates his appeal to independent voters, adding that he shares values with a bigoted candidate from his own party worsens his situation. Consequently, the same dynamic applies to the entire GOP ticket.
The casual observer may gather that Ken Paxton leading the GOP ticket is problematic in-and-of itself. But French’s candidacy has spotlighted a race Republicans hoped would remain obscure.
Combine that with an unpopular president and energized Democratic-leaning voters, and the “One Party, One Mission” message may produce the opposite effect of what Republicans intended.
French’s loose cannon, bigoted persona has forced Republicans to recalibrate their strategy. They can succeed in doing so only through a public debate with their Democratic opponents. In doing so, they grasp the opportunity to establish clear distance between themselves and their Railroad Commission nominee.
That may be uncomfortable, but it is undoubtedly necessary. If they refuse, French becomes the most visible statewide Republican on a debate stage. And that is nothing short of a nightmare scenario for the party.
Drew Landry is an associate professor of government at South Plains College. His views do not necessarily represent those of SPC.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Landry asks Paxton, Texas Republicans: 'Why Not Debate?'
