Changes

===Intra-party squabbles in Texas GOP===

===Intra-party squabbles in Texas GOP===

At the Republican State Convention in [[San Antonio]] in June 2018, Patrick declared that conservatives had defeated the [[Moderate Republican]] faction loyal to outgoing House Speaker [[Joe Straus]]. The convention even censured by a 5-1 vote the outgoing Representative Byron Cook of Corsicana, a key Straus ally. Straus himself was earlier censured by the Bexar County Republican organization, now under the chairmanship of the conservative [[Cynthia Brehm]]. [[U.S. Senator [[John Cornyn]], another Moderate Republican, escaped a censure resolution at the convention. He is expected to seek a fourth term in 2020. The liberal ''Texas Observer'' said that the state party "crazies" had "reached a kind of equilibrium, which means there’s little left to fight over. One of the more contentious platform issues this year involved abortion “abolitionism” — the notion that Texas should ban abortion in violation of Supreme Court directives ... a way to signal that you’re extra, extra anti-abortion and therefore morally superior to the people who are merely anti-abortion ... On the last day of the convention, one of the abolitionists, having offered an utterly meaningless change to an irrelevant portion of the platform, spoke his piece and concluded with the words of [[Martin Luther]] at the [[Diet of Worms]]: “Here I stand, I can do no other.”<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.texasobserver.org/the-crazies-have-fully-taken-over-the-texas-gop/|title=The ‘Crazies’ Have Fully Taken Over the Texas GOP: At the state GOP convention, Dan Patrick said his side had “won.” He’s right|publisher=''The Texas Observer''|accessdate=July 7, 2018}}</ref>

At the Republican State Convention in [[San Antonio]] in June 2018, Patrick declared that conservatives had defeated the [[Moderate Republican]] faction loyal to outgoing House Speaker [[Joe Straus]]. The convention even censured by a 5-1 vote the outgoing Representative Byron Cook of Corsicana, a key Straus ally. Straus himself was earlier censured by the Bexar County Republican organization, now under the chairmanship of the conservative [[Cynthia Brehm]]. U.S. Senator [[John Cornyn]], another Moderate Republican, escaped a censure resolution at the convention. He is expected to seek a fourth term in 2020. The liberal ''Texas Observer'' said that the state party "crazies" had "reached a kind of equilibrium, which means there’s little left to fight over. One of the more contentious platform issues this year involved abortion “abolitionism” — the notion that Texas should ban abortion in violation of Supreme Court directives ... a way to signal that you’re extra, extra anti-abortion and therefore morally superior to the people who are merely anti-abortion ... On the last day of the convention, one of the abolitionists, having offered an utterly meaningless change to an irrelevant portion of the platform, spoke his piece and concluded with the words of [[Martin Luther]] at the [[Diet of Worms]]: “Here I stand, I can do no other.”<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.texasobserver.org/the-crazies-have-fully-taken-over-the-texas-gop/|title=The ‘Crazies’ Have Fully Taken Over the Texas GOP: At the state GOP convention, Dan Patrick said his side had “won.” He’s right|publisher=''The Texas Observer''|accessdate=July 7, 2018}}</ref>

==Personal life==

==Personal life==