Dade Phelan Narrowly Beats Trump-Backed Opponent in Texas Primary Election

Texas State House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) narrowly defeated Trump-backed Texas Republican Dave Covey in a primary election on Tuesday evening.

Phelan defeated Covey with 12,813 votes, or 50.72 percent of the vote, while Covey received 12,447 votes, or 49.28 percent of the vote, according to election results from the Texas Secretary of State website.

Both candidates had advanced to the runoff after the Texas primary election in March. During the primary election in March, Covey fared better than his opponent, receiving 46.3 percent of the vote, while Phelan had received 43.2 percent.

In January, former President Donald Trump endorsed Covey as he challenged incumbent Phelan for his seat.

Trump slammed Phelan in a post on Truth Social at the time for having “led the Fraudulent Impeachment of the recently re-elected, in a landslide, Attorney General of Texas, Ken Paxton.”

In May 2023, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) called for Phelan to resign after video footage showed him “presiding over the Texas House” appearing to be in a “state of apparent debilitating intoxication.”

That same month, Phelan led an effort to impeach Paxton. Phelan, a Republican, has also appointed several Democrat politicians as committee chairs over members of his party.

The race between Phelan and Covey was described as being “one of the most expensive ever for a Texas House seat,” according to the New York Times.

In a speech to supporters, Covey admitted that they had come “close” to defeating Phelan, who had not faced off against an opponent from the Republican Party or the Democrat Party in roughly a decade, according to the outlet.

Phelan’s campaign ended up raising over $12 million to help him defend his seat.