We recommend in Texas House District 108

At first glance, the race to represent the Park Cities and part of northern Dallas in the Texas House is a repeat of two years ago.

They are the same two candidates, the incumbent Republican Morgan Meyer, 50, against the Democrat Elizabeth Ginsberg, 55. Both are lawyers. But the race for Texas House District 108 isn't the same.

First, Ginsberg has emerged as a candidate. She has deepened her knowledge of the Legislature and rightly expresses concern about the growing influence of the gambling lobby, which is energizing many Republicans, including Meyer. She also explained her position on abortion rights, noting that she supports a return to the Roe vs. Wade standard.

However, in our opinion, Ginsberg remains more left-wing than center-left.

At the same time, Meyer's Republican Party has moved even further to the right since 2022.

Two years ago, we determined that Meyer and Ginsberg were both well qualified, but Meyer's conservative politics were a better fit for the district. We still believe that to be true and recommend that voters return Meyer to his seat.

Meyer did important work in providing property tax relief and school funding last session, although we expect the job to be half done. We wish that an increase in student base allocations and teacher pay raises had occurred without involving a relatively small education savings plan that Meyer supported and which led to the failure of this bill.

Meyer deserves a lot of credit for his role as House manager in the impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton. We believe the managers have proven that Paxton took bribes. The Senate trial was grossly rigged by Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, and Republican senators embarrassed themselves with an acquittal.

Even given Meyer's record, we are increasingly concerned about the place conservatives like him will have to occupy as the House becomes increasingly beholden to extreme views.

It is important to note that this recommendation can easily vary significantly. Meyer almost lost his primary to an unqualified candidate in Barry Wernick because Paxton, Patrick and, at their behest, former President Donald Trump tried to end Meyer's political career. Ginsberg is far more qualified than Wernick, and we would have urged voters to appoint her to the office if Patrick and Paxton had succeeded in unseating Meyer.

If the state Republican Party were healthy, Meyer would be the type of person primed for higher office. He has all the qualifications of someone who could become the face of the party. Instead, the party's leaders, with the exception of Abbott, did what they could to ruin him. And we are sure that Abbott would have turned against Meyer if he had opposed Abbott's preferred voucher system.

Although he chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, Meyer's standing appears precarious in a party subject to so many tests of loyalty that it is impossible to stay away from everyone and remain true to himself.

We believe Meyer continues to be the right representative for this diverse, nonpartisan district. However, we are not sure whether this district will continue to support the party it belongs to.

We look forward to hearing your thoughts in a letter to the editor. See the guidelines and Submit your letter here. If you have any problems with the form, you can email it to [email protected]