U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Dripping Springs) was gunning for a comeback that fell short on Tuesday — sidelining a whip-smart conservative policy architect who Democrats have long feared.
This year Roy gave up a safe red congressional seat to run for Attorney General, only to finish a distant second in the primary to self-funding state Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) who spent an astounding $15 million on his campaign.
A late infusion of cash from a single GOP mega-donor pulled the race back online in the final stretch, but Roy chose to take in the results at a small private gathering where he declared defeat around 9 p.m. on Tuesday.
In the final throes of the race Roy traveled the state on a breakneck campaign tour to undo the damage of millions of dollars in attack ads.
He argued with conservative influencers online, got help from his friends in the House Freedom Caucus and held campaign rallies with many of the conservatives whose careers he’s influenced in his decades of work in Texas Republican politics.
By the time he reached San Antonio last Monday, Roy told supporters the efforts appeared to be working. But he stressed the need to get home to Texas regardless of the outcome of the Attorney General race.
“I’m one of those who believes we need to cycle through people in Congress,” Roy said. “I’m a husband and a father who needs to be home. … I think I’m doing the right thing.”
He also vowed it wouldn’t be the last time voters would hear from him.
“Post-cancer, post-surviving stage three Hodgkin’s lymphoma, I’m kind of a ‘put-me-in-coach’ kind of guy, … I can promise you, my voice is not going to go anywhere,” Roy said.
Middleton will face Democrat state Sen. Nathan Johnson (D-Dallas), who won his party’s nomination in a similarly heated — albeit far lower-budget — Democratic primary runoff on Tuesday night.
As for Roy’s congressional seat, Republicans have rallied around former MLB Player Mark Teixeira as their nominee to Texas’ deep red 21st Congressional District.
Another Trump critic falls
After Tuesday’s victory, Roy is now the latest in a long line of President Donald Trump’s foes to fall.
He’s been a key player in conservative circles since finishing law school at the University of Texas, working on the Senate Judiciary Committee, serving as U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s first chief of staff, opening the AG’s office up for Paxton, and later leading the conservative House Freedom Caucus on Capitol Hill.
But in a Republican Party increasingly consumed by Trump, those accomplishments have been quickly overshadowed by the pair’s high-profile disagreements.
Roy opposed efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the 2024 presidential primary, and fought the President hard over efforts to raise the debt ceiling.
“I have the second-highest score of any member of Congress in terms of fidelity to the Republican platform, and alignment with President Trump,” Roy told supporters at Blanco BBQ in March. “But I unapologetically have stood up when I disagree with the President because it is my job to do it … and you need people willing to do it.”
Trump has been on a tear against fellow Republicans who’ve bucked his power, fueling decisive primary upsets for U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) and U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) and a slate of Indiana state lawmakers earlier this month.
As of Tuesday night, that list now also includes U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who lost to Trump-backed challenger Ken Paxton.
But Trump personally stayed on the sidelines of Roy’s AG race, even as his top political aides were eager for revenge.
Emboldened Trump critics on Capitol Hill
Roy will now return to Capitol Hill while other fallen Trump critics have already started to cause the President headaches.
Cassidy, for example, returned to D.C. after losing his primary and promptly flipped his vote to help Democrats pass a resolution to end Trump’s war in Iran.
Should he join their cause, Roy has plenty of experience wrangling his own party’s leaders against their will.
“When we took on then-Speaker [Kevin] McCarthy (R-California) … Chip Roy was [among those] who stood and said, ‘We need fundamental changes in the House of Representatives,’” U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) told supporters at the Angry Elephant this month.
With Roy as its policy chair, the House Freedom Caucus fought for more time to read bills before a vote, more freedom to amend legislation from the House floor, and more power to toss leaders they don’t like.
“Every victory that we have had through the Freedom Caucus, through the House of Representatives, and through Congress as a whole, it has been Chip’s mind, offering and orchestrating it every step of the way,” Boebert said.
At the Brook Hollow Library last week, Roy offered some early hints of how the next few months might look after his primary race. He’ll remain a congressman until his successor is elected in November.
“I’ve got seven more months as a member of Congress, and I can assure you I’ll continue to do [what I believe is right],” he said. “ … I’ve got a duty to defend the Constitution of the United States, a duty to defend separation of powers.”
Between Roy and Middleton, there’s little ideological daylight.
Both have leaned into the GOP party’s social wars, and said they’d use the office to roll back decades-old case law on issues like gay marriage and allowing undocumented students to attend public school.
But compared to Middleton’s oil and gas background, Roy has far more conservative legal experience.
Among local San Antonio Democrats, it’s a relief to see he won’t be taking that with him to higher office.
Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said at a recent forum for the TX21 Democrats that he was grateful to see Roy out of Congress, but terrified about him getting elected AG: “God help us if he winds up in that role.”
