First there was this on Monday, which was a little weird and meant at the time that three Republicans from Texas were leaving Congress after this term.
Rep. Pat Fallon
U.S. Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Sherman, is quitting Congress and running for his old seat in the Texas Senate.
Fallon filed Monday for Senate District 30, a seat that is newly open after its incumbent, Sen. Drew Springer, R-Muenster, announced Tuesday he would not seek reelection. That means Fallon will leave Congress at the end of his current term.
Fallon quickly earned the support of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the powerful presiding officer of the upper chamber.
“At the end of the day, the decision came down to, If we lose Texas, we lose the nation,” Fallon said in a brief interview. “It’s just terribly important to ensure that Texas has written a great success story and I want to keep moving that forward.”
Fallon held the state Senate seat for two years prior to Springer. He called those “the best two years I ever spent” in politics.
Fallon gave up the seat to run for Congress in 2020 after former President Donald Trump tapped then-U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Heath, to be director of national intelligence.
Senate District 30 is a solidly Republican district that stretches from the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs up to the Oklahoma state line.
[…]
Frisco trauma surgeon Carrie de Moor is already running in the GOP primary for SD-30. She was originally running against Springer before he announced his retirement.
Rep. Fallon would have joined Reps. Michael Burgess and Kay Granger in heading for the hills, though in his case he was switching venues rather than calling it a career. I’ve been using the conditional tense throughout this post because on Tuesday we got this.
U.S. Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Sherman, has ended his run for his old seat in the Texas Senate, just 24 hours after announcing his campaign.
Instead, Fallon’s staff confirmed he will seek reelection to Texas’ 4th Congressional District, which extends from the Dallas suburbs to the Red River in the border with Oklahoma.
Fallon began a tele-town hall Tuesday evening by assuring his constituents he would be staying in Congress. He said his family, especially his oldest son, was not onboard with his decision to leave.
“I really am truly looking for my best and highest use for the conservative cause because I do think in my hearts of hearts that’s the best, best, path forward for our country,” Fallon said.
[…]
Fallon suggested during the tele-town hall that Patrick courted him to run for SD-30. Fallon lamented divisiveness in Congress and said there was “a part of me that did want to return home to Texas.”
But after filing for SD-30 on Monday, Fallon said he had a conversation with his family and was taken aback by how strongly his oldest son felt about his decision to depart Congress.
“He said, ‘I really want you to stay,'” Fallon said.
Well okay then. Next time talk to the family first, that’s the clear takeaway here. And that’s probably the last time I’ll write about CD04 until Rep. Fallon really does leave. More, if you really want it, from the Trib.
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