By Thomas Warren III, Editor-in-Chief

A few days ago, a man who I greatly respect, former Republican congressional candidate Chris Ekstrom, posted something about politicians that really rang true for me. The post was directed at the politicians who claim they are conservatives when election time rolls around, but who fail to actually advocate for those principles they ran on in the first place.

“Self-described ‘Conservative’ politicians are mostly useless wussies,” Ekstrom’s post read.

As unfortunate as the statement is, it is in large part true. This is not to say anything of the true conservative leaders who actually have stood their ground on their principles despite the political odds. When thinking of this description, I think of people like Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Ron Paul, two men who I greatly admire for their work in the Senate and House. Instead, this statement is directed at those politicians who put the word “conservative” on their yard signs, bumper stickers, and billboards, but then fail to do anything actually conservative once they are in office. For this example, think about men like Sen. Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo), who thankfully is finally leaving the Texas Senate after local voters picked a true conservative as his replacement in Kevin Sparks.

With that being said, I have found that it seems that Republican voters are often hot under the collar at these types of phony “conservative” politicians during the person’s term, but then they refuse to actually hold them accountable when it’s election time. People will complain and moan on Facebook, but when it’s time to actually hold those people accountable at the ballot box, voters often just give those spineless weasels a free pass.

Why is this the way it is? Well, for starters, it might just be apathy, or name recognition, or some combination of both. Why make a change when change is scary and you can just vote for the name you know, even if they are a spineless coward? However, another option that is perhaps more frighteningly accurate is that these terrible politicians with horrible records get assisted by political organizations more interested in promoting a certain agenda or protecting the status quo, than in actually accomplishing anything for the voters in the area.

Perhaps the best example of this type of group that Amarillo voters are likely familiar with is Amarillo Matters PAC. Amarillo Matters PAC has made a name for itself promoting establishment politicians aimed at promoting continuing “progress,” while handing the bill to the taxpayers. Candidates backed by Amarillo Matters don’t really care if the taxpayers are footing the bill, as long as the pet projects get completed, and the wasteful spending keeps on going. This group is all about promoting the status quo.

While I have spoken often about Amarillo Matters PAC and its troubling involvement in Amarillo elections, there is a new group that has shown up in our community that, while less organized, still poses a threat in its ability to confuse voters due to its generic name, while harboring policy positions that go completely against the values it espouses to hold.

This new group calls itself “Conservatives of Texas” and is based out of West Texas. The group is apparently led by Alex Deanda, a Republican precinct chairman from Randall County, whose political beliefs are often shot from the hip and fluctuate depending on what election is taking place and which candidates the group is supporting.

The Deanda-led group has been meddling in Amarillo elections for a couple of years now, backing candidates funded by Obama-era Democrats, and supporting candidates who have handed out cushy tax breaks to out-of-area corporations, meddling in the free market.

While those positions are bad, this group’s newest involvement in a local election is what is perhaps most troubling about this organization and should lead voters to ask serious questions about the true agenda this group’s organizers are pushing.

Deanda has recently been pushing hard on social media for Potter County Judge Nancy Tanner using official “Conservatives of Texas” channels. Tanner has a write-in opponent in November, who has been endorsed by Potter County Republican Chairman Dan Rogers, the Potter County Republican Executive Committee itself, and numerous local conservative leaders and organizations.

According to the recent rhetoric from Deanda, Tanner won her primary election in March against Ed Heath, so that means voters should just let her win in November unopposed. Now that Tanner has an opponent in November who is being backed by the Potter County Republican Party, local Republican Party leaders, and now that she was recently condemned by a party resolution for opposing election integrity efforts, Deanda and his group are coming to Tanner’s aid, defending her awful record.

Remember, this is the same county judge who has pushed gun control and gun bans on Potter County properties, issued millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded debt without voter approval, actively opposed election integrity efforts backed by the Republican Party and President Trump, and appointed Democrats to powerful local government positions. Yet, somehow, her positions are conservative enough for an organization calling itself “Conservatives of Texas.”

Despite her awful record, Deanda is clinging to the rhetoric from Tanner and her supporters that she does not deserve a challenger in November. Even though her opponent is backed by local Republican leaders and the county party itself.

There is little online about what “Conservatives of Texas” actually stands for in terms of policy positions and values. Their website link listed on Facebook goes to a 404 error page, and their about section on Facebook simply reads as follows:

“Conservatives of Texas is a grassroots organization that strives to engage our communities across al.”

Now, I’m not sure who Al is, but if he is promoting the same type of anti-gun, high-tax policies promoted by Nancy Tanner, then I don’t want Al or “Conservatives of Texas” speaking for this community.

The truth is despite the scant amounts of information online regarding what “Conservatives of Texas” stands for, we can learn a lot about the true beliefs of this group based on their past endorsements and the candidates they have promoted or defended on social media. And what their record signals is that this group is anti-gun, pro-tax, anti-election integrity, and supports Republicans who are in bed with Democrat politicians.

That, my friends, is extremely troubling.

I probably don’t fit the mold of a “good Republican,” considering that I believe people like Greg Abbott deserve just as much criticism now as they did in 2020 for shutting our state down, even though they are the Republican nominee in a general election. I believe people like John Cornyn should be held accountable at election time for voting for gun control, even if he is a Republican candidate. And I believe a liberal county judge who wants to keep guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens deserves to be held accountable at election time, even if she does have that little “R” next to her name.

If believing that Republican elected officials should be held accountable by voters and taxpayers, election time or not, makes me a bad Republican, then maybe I am one. But I am a principled conservative, and that is what matters. When the time comes to stack up our records next to one another, I’ll be proud to say that unlike some so-called “conservatives,” I wasn’t a wussy political windsock.

As someone who is actually a principled conservative, seeing a group use the name “Conservatives of Texas,” then defend and promote politicians who raise taxes, oppose gun rights, and play games against the free market really makes me mad. Those are not conservative principles, and we shouldn’t act like they are just because the group promoting those positions hides behind a name that implies they are conservatives.

I co-founded a Young Conservatives of Texas chapter at West Texas A&M University, and I have led multiple conservative political organizations. My beliefs on what is conservative and what isn’t has always closely aligned with statements by two leading conservative thinkers and leaders in American history.

First, William F. Buckley outlined what “conservative” meant in the first edition of National Review in 1955:

Among our convictions: It is the job of centralized government (in peacetime) to protect its citizens' lives, liberty and property. All other activities of government tend to diminish freedom and hamper progress. The growth of government (the dominant social feature of this century) must be fought relentlessly. In this great social conflict of the era, we are, without reservations, on the libertarian side. - William F. Buckley

Second, President Ronald Reagan similarly outlined the foundations of conservatism in a 1975 interview with Reason Magazine.

If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. I think conservatism is really a misnomer just as liberalism is a misnomer for the liberals—if we were back in the days of the Revolution, so-called conservatives today would be the Liberals and the liberals would be the Tories. The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is. - Ronald Reagan

Did you notice the term that both Buckley and Reagan outlined there? The term is libertarian.

What is a libertarian? Libertarianism (small “l” libertarian), stands for individual freedom and opportunity. As outlined by David Boaz, author of The Libertarian Mind, in an article for Encyclopedia Britannica:

Libertarians are classical liberals who strongly emphasize the individual right to liberty. They contend that the scope and powers of government should be constrained so as to allow each individual as much freedom of action as is consistent with a like freedom for everyone else. Thus, they believe that individuals should be free to behave and to dispose of their property as they see fit, provided that their actions do not infringe on the equal freedom of others.

I agree with Reagan that the very foundations of what it means to be a conservative must be based on an understanding of libertarian thought emphasizing less government interference and more individual freedom. Those are the beliefs I hold and that is why I am a conservative.

In many ways, while the Republican Party is not perfectly conservative or perfectly libertarian in thought, it is the mainstream party that best advocates for conservative ideas. That can be seen out through policies in the Republican Party of Texas platform advocating strong support for the Second Amendment and gun rights, general opposition to new taxes and tax increases, and opposition to property tax abatements.

Meanwhile, organizations like Associated Republicans of Texas have continued to push politicians who oppose conservative viewpoints in the Republican Party of Texas platform that are rooted in the traditional conservative thinking of men like Ronald Reagan and William F. Buckley, despite having a named association with the Republican Party. That is bad, but now groups like “Conservatives of Texas” are taking it one step further, by promoting candidates actively opposed to conservative values like individual liberty and economic freedom while doing so under the self-proclamation of being “conservatives.”

In my mind, true conservatives do not support policies like banning guns, raising taxes, and handing out massive tax abatements that are paid for by Texas taxpayers. Along those same lines, true conservatives certainly don’t advocate for politicians who hold those views, who can and will put those seemingly hypothetical positions into action, much like Tanner has done in Potter County. Nonetheless, the “Conservatives of Texas” and their leader, Deanda, continue to defend Tanner, despite her lack of conservative credentials and active opposition to conservative values. By doing so, this organization is showing its true colors.

If Deanda and his organization want to defend politicians who pass gun control rules and raise taxes to unprecedented levels in Potter County, that is fine, but they certainly shouldn’t do so while calling themselves “conservatives.” For this group, perhaps the name “Windsocks of Texas” would be most appropriate, or maybe “Sheep Herd of Texas,” considering that for the candidates they support, they will bend over backwards to follow and defend whatever policies they promote, even if those positions run completely contrary to actual conservative values, as outlined by Reagan and Buckley.

The truth is just as Amarillo Matters PAC poses a threat to the integrity of Amarillo elections by backing pro-tax candidates with a massive war chest, so do groups like “Conservatives of Texas” who mislead voters into supporting candidates who promote gun control and tax increases, under the guise of being conservatives.

This is a real problem, but voters do not have to stand for this any longer. Voters can reject groups like “Conservatives of Texas” and their anti-gun, pro-tax agenda by voting against their candidates like Nancy Tanner in November. And in future elections, when “Conservatives of Texas” leaders like Alex Deanda place their names on the ballot again for leadership positions within the local Republican Party, voters who are truly conservative can vote against those individuals.

I am a true conservative, and I’m sure many of you are, as well. We stand for gun rights, low taxes, personal freedom, and economic freedom. We believe in protecting the Constitution, defending the free market, and keeping government small and in-check.

If you believe those same things, then you must reject organizations like “Conservatives of Texas” and its dangerous rhetoric this November. Do not be conned into believing gun control, appointing Democrats to powerful government offices, or passing unprecedented debt issuances and tax increases are conservative positions. They are not, and the groups that push those positions and the candidates who support them, are not conservative.

Reject “Conservatives of Texas” in November. Vote against Nancy Tanner and ensure that yet another misleading special interest group does not con you out of your vote.