Bonnen's True Colors - Deception, Hypocricy, and Flawed Vision

Dennis Bonnen keeps delivering evidence of his lack of fitness to be a representative of the people of HD 25 and the Speaker of the Texas House. The latest news is his meeting with the leader of Empower Texans, Michael Quinn Sullivan and what he has been reported to have said and what Bonnen has said about the meeting.

This story has many back and forths between Sullivan and Bonnen. There is some he said and he said aspect to the story. But one thing there is no dispute about – Bonnen’s wrong-headed strategic vision for the Texas House. This story gives us more evidence of why Bonnen’s leadership is bad for liberty, bad for the implementation of the conservative platform and priorities of the Republican Party of Texas, and bad for Republican control of the Texas House.

You can find linked below the numerous articles that make up this story. But the main story is this. Dennis Bonnen thinks that there should be NO primary challenges to Republican incumbents in 2020. And his stated justification is the big lie of this campaign season.

The big lie of the 2020 campaign season is that conservative challenges to incumbent Republicans in the primaries will make Republicans lose their 9 seat advantage in Texas House in the general election, thereby causing the Democrats to win the Texas House in 2020. That notion is simply false. Politics does not work that way.

First, here is the proof of Bonnen’s false notion. In his letter to House Republicans about the meeting with Sullivan, he said the following:

[W]e attempted to explain how important it is for [Empower Texans] to not engage against House Republicans in the upcoming March primaries because of the importance of the November general election cycle.

I was continually frustrated by [Sullivan’s] lack of understanding of the points which we were trying to make to him about the importance of the upcoming general election cycle. I did tell him that if he had a problem with a vote taken by a member then fine - advocate your policy position. That was my sentiment, because it was exactly what I told him in January related to my own record. “If you disagree with my position on an issue, fine, attack me on that. But don’t take down the entire institution and hurt the Republican party in the process.”

I was very frustrated and agitated that he refused to understand that what he’s been doing in previous elections and throughout session puts our majority in jeopardy.

This is but another chapter in MQS’s ongoing effort to divide and ultimately destroy the Republican majority in the Texas House.

Here’s the deal. Most House districts in Texas that are currently occupied by Republicans (including Bonnen’s own) are in no danger whatsoever of flipping from Republican to Democrat. And in those safe GOP districts, whether there has been a replacement of a RINO House member who has not voted for the legislative priorities and platform of the Republican Party of Texas or not will have no impact whatsoever.

The blanket defense of incumbents, regardless of whether those incumbents are in swing districts is proof of the lie. If Bonnen really cared about the Republicans keeping the majority against a determined Democrat push, he would focus on the swing districts, not a blanket defense of all incumbents in the primary. His push for defense of all incumbents is proof of his real goal – a defense of his power, the power of the special interests, and the status quo.

Low information voters in swing districts have no clue about what occurs in Republican primaries Stated differently, a stated concern over internal struggles in the primaries as a threat to swing district races in the general election is a red herring.

The bottom line of this story is that it provides more proof that Dennis Bonnen is completely out of touch and out of synch with the priorities of the Republican primary voters of his district, and out of touch with the rank and file Republicans who attend the conventions of the party Bonnen falsely claims he cares about.

The story also raises further doubts about the truthfulness and loyalty of Dennis Bonnen. Bonnen had infamously warned all incumbents in the House (of both parties) that campaigning in other districts against other incumbents would be punished by Bonnen. That includes Republicans seeking to assist fellow Republicans in retaking the 12 seats lost to Democrats in 2018. Yet, if Sullivan is to be believed in this story, Bonnen was hypocritically, deceptively, and disloyally seeking to turn Sullivan and Empower Texans against a number of selected House Republicans.

Note that for typical plausible deniability reasons, Bonnen was out of the room when Republican Caucus leader and Ways & Means Chair Dustin Burrows is alleged to have urged Sullivan to take on selected House members. Note that Bonnen said nothing about that bombshell accusation in his letter to House Republicans about the meeting. And note that the names on the list were most likely people that Empower Texans were likely to target, anyway. This begs the question about the seriousness of the offer by Burrows and Bonnen.

Bonnen’s corrupt quid pro quo offer of giving press credentials to Empower Texans’ Texas Scorecard in exchange for essentially ending the mission of Empower Texans of opposing Republicans who are not conservative, shows Bonnen’s arrogance and lack of understanding of people who act on principle. It shows that Bonnen is fundamentally at odds with conservatives. It shows that Bonnen is purely about power and backroom deals to obtain it.