Collin County has long been a Republican stronghold that鈥檚 home to conservatives like impeached Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. But there are divisions among local Republicans 鈥� and Democrats may be gaining a foothold.
Some of those divisions became even more apparent after Paxton's impeachment late last month.
Texas House Republicans from Collin County 鈥� all five of them 鈥� said in a joint statement soon afterwards that there was sufficient evidence to impeach Paxton. And that was how they had voted.
鈥淭his was an incredibly difficult vote as, for most of us, Ken has been a longtime friend,鈥� the statement said.
But the chair of the Collin County Republican party condemned the representatives鈥� votes. Abraham George called the impeachment a circus that lacked due process in a statement on social media.
He said Republicans recruited Democrats to go after a conservative Republican.
鈥淩eal corruption is when you won鈥檛 allow fair and due process,鈥� the statement said.
This isn鈥檛 the first time Republicans in Collin County have found themselves on opposite sides of a polarizing issue. Several Republican precinct chairs, including Clint Pruett of McKinney, Joseph Harwell of Plano and Joe Cruz of Princeton, spoke to the Republican commissioners court last year, repeating false claims about 2020 election fraud. Precinct chairs help promote the party and the election of Republicans to office.
鈥淚 recently became a precinct chair and have great concern about the integrity of the vote,鈥� Harwell said at a meeting in July.
鈥淎s a precinct chair GOP, I've learned some things that are of concern,鈥� Pruett said.
鈥淎s a precinct chair with 198 Collin County GOP [his precinct], that the election, the executive committee rather, passed a resolution in April calling for a return to precinct level voting utilizing hand-marked and hand-counted paper ballots,鈥� Cruz said.
George said the chairs were speaking as individuals, not on behalf of the party.
Other Republicans had referred to Collin County鈥檚 election systems as flawless. The Texas Secretary of State鈥檚 Office called the county 鈥渢he model of how to run elections in Texas鈥� in its 2020 election audit report. Collin County Republican precinct chair David Lethe told 四虎影院 before the 2022 election that鈥檚 why he had no worries about election integrity in Collin County.
鈥淥ur systems have so far been infallible,鈥� he said. 鈥淓very time we have a count, our machines are 100% accurate and that has not changed.鈥�
Democrats say the divide amongst Collin County Republicans is to their advantage. In 2022, voters elected the county鈥檚 first Democratic state representative in three decades. On the cusp of that victory, Caleb Milne from the county鈥檚 Democratic party predicted that it鈥檚 only a matter of time until the county flips blue.
鈥淭here's no way to stop this progression,鈥� Milne said. 鈥淚t's not only a demographic problem, but a shifting attitudes problem.鈥�
No Democrats won Collin County in 2020 鈥� but there were three in 2022. That included State Representative Mihaela Plesa.
Her race was close 鈥� she won by less than a thousand votes. But Democratic momentum is growing as the county diversifies. Plesa told Collin County residents at a rally after the Allen shooting need to build on that.
鈥淲e can continue putting more people at the table,鈥� she said.
There鈥檚 been a spike in the county鈥檚 Asian population. Most of the county鈥檚 major cities are at least twenty percent Asian 鈥� including Allen where eight people were killed in a mass shooting at a local outlet mall. Four of the victims who died were Asian.
Hundreds of protesters from Collin County spoke out against gun violence and legislators who don鈥檛 support gun reforms after the shooting. The protesters chanted 鈥渧ote them out鈥� throughout the rally and called out lawmakers by name, including Leach.
A crowd also turned out last weekend to support Paxton after he was impeached, with participants claiming the process against him wasn鈥檛 fair.
Whether he was motivated by a political rift 鈥� or by the weight of the allegations against Paxton 鈥� Leach not only voted for Paxton鈥檚 impeachment but also was named to the board of managers who prosecute the case against the attorney general before the Texas Senate.
Leach and Paxton both won re-election in 2022 with more than half the votes in Collin County 鈥� and so did most of the other Republicans on the ballot.
For now, how the divisions among Republicans and changing demographics will impact on Collin County politics is still a question mark. That may change with time 鈥� and perhaps after the results from a few elecitons are known.
Got a tip? Email Caroline Love at clove@kera.org.
Caroline Love is a corps member for 四虎影院.
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