January 17, 2014      10:12 AM
SB: THE HARRIS COUNTY REPUBLICAN CIVIL WAR COULD MAKE OR BREAK DAN PATRICK’S LITE GUV BID
Sen. Patrick is banking on Houston, where chaos has broken out in GOP Chairman’s race
Over the last couple weeks, it has become impossible
to deny that a civil war has broken out in the largest county Republican Party
in America – and the way this fight plays out in Houston before the March
primary could have serious implications for the political aspirations of Sen. Dan Patrick in his bid to preside over
the Texas
Senate.
Patrick, a Houston radio host and lawmaker who has given
up his Senate seat, said in his announcement for higher office that the support
he enjoys in the Bayou City is key to his statewide strategy. Simply put:
Patrick is banking on Harris County in a way that the other three candidates in
the race are not. The problem with that now is that Republicans there will also
have to make a fundamental choice about who will lead the local party. This
year’s challenge to six-term incumbent and conservative flamethrower Jared Woodfill is objectively the most
serious one he’s faced but, at the same time, he’s never one to be counted out
until the voting is done.
By Scott Braddock
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