On Saturday, May 27, 2023, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was formally impeached and suspended by the Texas House in a 121-23 vote. 60 Republicans voted to impeach Paxton and all 23 of those House members that did not vote to impeach are all Republicans. The lower chamber voted to impeach Paxton after the General Investigating Committee (GIC) brought forth 20 articles of impeachment. (RELATED STORY) The GIC is comprised of three Republicans and two Democrats. The Chairman of the GIC is Republican Andrew Murr who represents the 53rd District which is portions of the hill country and west Texas. Vice Chair is Democrat Ann Johnson who represents District 134, which is in Houston. The other three representatives are Republican Charlie Geren who represents the 99th District, which is northwest Ft. Worth and Tarrant County, Democrat Oscar Longoria who represents District 35 which is in portions of Cameron and Hidalgo Counties, and Republican Davis Spiller who represent the 68th District, which comprises of 12 counties from Gainville, to Brownwood down to Lampasas.
With Paxton suspended awaiting a Texas Senate Trial, Texas Governor Greg Abbott had to appoint an interim AG under Article 15, Section 5 of the Texas Constitution. Gov. Abbott chose John Scott. According to the Governors office,
“John Scott has the background and experience needed to step in as a short-term interim Attorney General during the time the Attorney General has been suspended from duty,” said Governor Abbott. “He served under me in the Texas Attorney General’s Office and knows how the Office of the Attorney General operates. Scott was the Deputy Attorney General for Civil Litigation and has handled cases at all levels of the justice system. His decades of experience and expertise in litigation will help guide him while serving as the state’s top law enforcement officer. I appoint John Scott for this role based on the Texas Constitution to serve for a temporary period during the Texas Senate’s resolution of the impeachment proceedings.”
The Governor’s office also shared Scott’s bio:
JOHN SCOTT of Fort Worth is an attorney with over 34 years of experience. Scott most recently served as Texas Secretary of State for Governor Abbott. Previously, he served as Texas Deputy Attorney General for Civil Litigation for then-Attorney General Greg Abbott, where he aided then-Attorney General Abbott’s efforts to hold the Obama Administration accountable and sue President Obama more than any other state Attorney General. Scott oversaw all civil litigation, including over 22,000 lawsuits involving Texas. Subsequently, Scott was appointed the first Chief Operating Officer of the Health and Human Services Commission. He oversaw the successful overhaul of the agency, its 56,000 employees, and its over $50 billion biannual budget. After returning to private practice, Governor Abbott appointed Scott as the Chair of the Board for the Department of Information Resources (DIR). At DIR, Scott developed the strategic plan for technology and security at Texas executive branch agencies and boards.
Scott has successfully tried over 100 lawsuits and has experience handling cases at the United States Supreme Court, Supreme Court of Texas, United States Court of Appeals for the Second, Fifth, Seventh, and Tenth Circuits, almost all Texas Courts of Appeals, United States District Court for the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western District Courts of Texas, Texas state courts, and the State Office of Administrative Hearings. The courtroom victories include the successful defense of a health maintenance organization (HMO), which the National Law Journal declared the U.S. Healthcare Victory of the Year. Scott lives in Fort Worth and has offices in Austin. He has been married to his wife, Talley, for 35 years and has two sons, a daughter, and two grandsons.
Paxton who recently won re-election for a third term in the General Election in November 2022, went up against George P. Bush, Eva Guzman, and Louie Gohmert in the regular primary in March 2022. Paxton received 42.7% of the vote, Bush received 22.8%, Guzman received 17.5% and Gohmert received 17%. This caused a primary runoff between Paxton and Bush, where Paxton won handily 68% to 32%. Paxton then went on to win his third term with 53.4% of the vote beating out Democrat Rochelle Garza who had 43.7% and Libertarian Mark Ash with 2.9%.
Next, a special committee of seven senators will be appointed by Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. These seven senators will need to prepare and present to a caucus of the Senate the rules of procedures for the Senate Trial. This next step will be held on Tuesday, June 20, 2023. The Senate also in their Senate Trial Resolution that Lt. Gov. Patrick be authorized to issue a proclamation setting a date and time not later than Monday, August 28, 2023, for the Senate to convene as a Court of
Impeachment.
Here is the list of the 23 Texas House Republicans and their Districts who voted against House Resolution 2377:
- Charles “Doc” Anderson – 56
- Cecil Bell Jr. – 3
- Travis Clardy – 11
- Tom Craddick – 82
- Charles Cunningham – 127
- Mark Dorazio – 122
- Sam Harless – 126
- Caroline Harris – 52
- Brian Harrison – 10
- Carrie Isaac – 73
- Terri Leo-Wilson – 23
- Geanie W. Morison – 30
- Dennis R. Paul – 129
- Four Price – 87
- Matt Schaefer – 6
- Nate Schatzline – 93
- Michael “Mike” Schofield – 132
- Shelby Slawson – 59
- John Smithee – 86
- Valoree Swanson – 150
- Ed Thompson – 29
- Tony Tinderholt – 94
- Steve Toth – 15
Representatives Dustin Burrows who represents Terry County, Carl Tepper who represents City of Lubbock, and Ken King who represents Gaines and Yoakum Counties voted in favor of HR 2377.
