Exiting GOP congressman Chip Roy says party should never have let Ken Paxton run for Senate

Outgoing U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, whose district includes parts of San Antonio and Austin, ripped his own party for its historic midterm losses, arguing that Republicans shouldn’t have embraced a scandal-laden politician like Ken Paxton as their U.S. Senate candidate.

Roy, who’s leaving Congress in January after losing the GOP primary to replace Paxton as Texas attorney general, made the remarks at The Forum, a conservative conference in Washington, D.C., organized by the Heritage Foundation.

“I’m pissed off at a Republican establishment that embraced corrupt people at the top of the ticket too often,” Roy said. “You can’t win an election and beat corruption when you put at the top of your ticket in Texas someone that we knew to have massive issues.”

Roy went on to argue that Republicans “spent $500 million” propping up Paxton, diverting money that could have gone to down-ballot races.

During the campaign, pundits said Paxton’s baggage — which includes a since-dismissed securities fraud indictment, his impeachment in the GOP-controlled Texas House and allegations of extramarital affairs — didn’t bode well, even in Texas, a longtime Republican stronghold.

Roy is a longtime Paxton critic.

Before being elected to Congress, Roy served as an assistant attorney general under Paxton. However, he called for his former boss’s resignation after the FBI launched an investigation into allegations of bribery and abuse of office.

“I’ve been holding back for about five months, trying to be a team player,” Roy said. “I went out and campaigned. I did my part, but I’m sick and tired of watching all the powers that be make really bad decisions.”

Roy is just the latest Republican to point fingers after the GOP’s historic wipeout, which handed Democrats control of the Texas House and every statewide elected office in Texas.

As results rolled in on election night, Republican Comptroller Don Huffines, who lost his reelection bid to Democrat Sarah Eckhardt, blamed Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

“People are tired of the Republicans being in office,” Huffines said. “They couldn’t campaign on a policy issue. They campaigned on lowering our property taxes. But guess what? All they did was remind everybody that you didn’t do that 10 years ago. They didn’t do it 12 years ago, because they don’t care about you. They never cared about you. They laugh and make fun of you.”

Meanwhile, Patrick blamed President Donald Trump. In turn, Trump blamed Fox News.

The blame game shows no signs of stopping as the GOP reckons with last week’s humiliating losses.

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