Welcome to the table, Rep. Clardy.
Rep. Travis Clardy
When state representative Travis Clardy, of Nacogdoches, first heard rumblings of a potential Republican primary challenger early last summer, he was surprised. The woman who was considering challenging him, Joanne Shofner, was someone who Clardy said he knew “socially” for years. Shofner’s late father, Welcome Wilson, a longtime Houston real estate developer and a former chairman of the University of Houston System Board of Regents, had previously donated to Clardy’s campaign. Clardy figured she’d at least set up a meeting to talk before entering the race—but that never happened, he said. “Before I know it, she’s out campaigning, filing treasury paperwork, and setting up booths at our downtown events,” Clardy said.
An eleven-year veteran of the Texas House, Clardy had seen his fair share of primary challengers before—though none that ever came close to beating him. Most of them had little name recognition or money (opponent Tony Sevilla, a perennial loser to Clardy, even admitted once that he wasn’t running to win, but to prepare himself for future races). But Clardy recognized that Shofner was different. A few months after entering the race, she received the endorsement of Governor Greg Abbott, which Clardy had received ahead of his 2018 and 2020 races. More importantly, she made clear that she would support Abbott’s campaign, financed by billionaires in Texas and elsewhere, to pass a contentious education-voucher program, which would divert tax dollars from public schools to private ones. (Clardy, meanwhile, received the endorsement of Attorney General Ken Paxton after voting against the top law enforcement officer’s impeachment.)
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Clardy and other antivoucher Republicans voted with the majority of their party on almost every issue. When it came to school vouchers, they chose instead to vote in the interest of their rural districts—few of which, if any, have private schools. But in today’s GOP, loyalty to one’s constituents over billionaire donors is unacceptable.
Speaking to Texas Monthly days after losing his primary election, Clardy offered his candid thoughts on the governor’s “unnecessary” and “heavy-handed” involvement in his race, the outside forces who he said worked to boost his opponent, and what he thinks is next for his colleagues in the Texas House.
You should go read the interview, it’s well worth your time. Rep. Clardy is not my cup of tea on many issues, and as he repeatedly notes he was in favor of trying some smaller pilot for vouchers for a specific subgroup of students, but he was a serious legislator who was doing what his constituents wanted, at least until they were willing to be lied to over things that had nothing to do with vouchers. He correctly notes that rural voters like his constituents have made the Texas Republican and Greg Abbott as strong and successful as they have been, and this is the thanks they get. He sure seems to have his finger on the problem. As with Rep. Glenn Rogers, it’s now a question of what, if anything, he’s going to do about it. I await your response, sir.