Gov. Greg Abbott felt vindicated when nine Texas Republican lawmakers who helped block a school voucher program he championed last year lost their seats in the March primary. The governor portrayed their removal from office as clear evidence that Texans wanted a way to use public funds to send their children to private schools.
“Republican primary voters have once again sent an unmistakable message that parents deserve the freedom to choose the best education pathway for their child,” Abbott said back then, before helping unseat six more lawmakers in the May runoff elections.
But Marilyn Snider got a different impression while talking to voters outside the election administration office in Coldspring during the primary season. There, she worked under a tent campaigning for Janis Holt, the Abbott-backed candidate she supported and who eventually defeated state Rep. Ernest Bailes in Texas House District 18, lodged in between Houston and Beaumont.
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