Acquitted! AG Paxton Impeachment Fails
September 16, 2023 | Austin, TX
By: Bonnie Lyons, Legislative Chair, Montgomery County Republican Party
The news is out! Texas AG Ken Paxton was acquitted of all charges against him in his impeachment trial in the Texas Senate.
There are 31 state senators and a conviction requires a 2/3 vote. Since one of the senators is Paxton’s wife, Angela, she was recused. Twenty-one votes were needed on any one of the articles to convict Paxton and remove him from office.
Twelve of the articles of impeachment received a 14 ‘yay’ and 16 ‘nay vote, meaning they were never within 7 votes of conviction. So, it wasn’t even close.
In the Senate, there are 12 Democrats and 19 Republicans. With Democrats voting consistently to impeach, two Republican senators joined them with a ‘yay’ vote in 12 of the 16 votes taken.
Those two Republican senators are Robert Nicholls of District 3 in East Texas and Kelly Hancock of District 9 in the Ft Worth area.
When all votes were counted and acquittal announced, the sitting judge, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, put down his gavel and shared his thoughts on the drama, giving the House members involved a tongue lashing for ignoring rules for an impeachment charge. He also threatened an audit of all costs. The prosecution employed 17 lawyers at $500/hour for three months. You can read his official statement here.
On the heels of Lt. Governor Patrick’s stinging words, House Speaker Dade Phelan released his own statement on X (Twitter). Phelan appears to be digging in on the sham impeachment, citing all the evidence that was provided and taking a shot at the Lt. Governor’s reprimand.
In the closing arguments, Paxton’s Defense Attorney called out the Bush family, saying, “You can see it across the country. This is a battle for power. The Bush era in Texas ends today. They can go back to Maine. This is Texas.”
TAKE ACTION
Thank you to everyone who made phone calls and sent emails to Texas senators regarding the impeachment trial. Now, it’s time for the most conservative Attorney General in the U.S. to get back to work defending Texans. It’s unfortunate that so much time and money was wasted on this trial rather than securing the border and protecting our elections.
Senator Brandon Creighton (SD 4)
(512) 463-0104 (Austin Office)
(281) 292-4128 (District Office)
Send an email
Senator Paul Bettencourt (SD 7)
(512) 463-0107 (Austin Office)
(713) 464-0282 (District Office)
Send an email
Senator Lois Kolkhorst (SD 18)
(512) 463-0118 (Austin Office)
(979) 251-7888 (District Office)
Send an email