June 2, 2014 8:32 AM

SB: An immigration showdown in Cowtown

Sen. Patrick hedges his bets while the rejection of gay Republicans raises questions about exclusion of immigration hardliners

The Republican Party of Texas’ faithful will gather in Fort Worth this week following one of the uglier primary seasons that many veteran political observers have witnessed. Their leadership will look not only to show unity ahead of a Texas general election with national implications, but – and this is no doubt more important to Quorum Report readers – delegates will set the majority party’s priorities ahead of the 2015 session of the Texas Legislature.

There are policy positions about abortion, guns, education and more to be addressed in the party’s platform, but perhaps no debate may be more explosive in the coming days than where the Texas GOP stands on immigration. The issue that most inflames the Republican base and has helped Sen. Dan Patrick rise to standard-bearer status is also the one that threatens GOP outreach to the growing and increasingly critical Latino population.

While Republicans as a whole are in that precarious position on immigration, Sen. Patrick personally finds himself in a similar quandary.

Some of Patrick’s biggest supporters, including Dr. Steve Hotze of Houston, worked hard and successfully in 2012 to insert language into the party’s platform supporting a robust guest worker program. The language has become known as the Texas Solution. Previously, the party favored enforcement-only when it comes to immigration laws; meaning they’d prefer deportation as the remedy for 11 million or so undocumented people in the United States.

This year, Hotze has recorded this video asking delegates to keep the guest worker language. Former RPT Chairman George Strake has done likewise.

By Scott Braddock