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This article is part of 四虎影院鈥檚 EDlection 2024 coverage, which takes a look at candidates鈥� education policies and how they might impact the American education system after the 2024 election.

In a breakthrough win for Gov. Greg Abbott and school choice activists around the country, conservative challengers defeated three Republican state representatives in Texas primary elections Tuesday night.

The shakeup could set the stage for a statewide roll-out of education savings accounts (ESAs), which allow families to use public dollars to pay for private school.

Vote tallies Wednesday morning 鈥� DeWayne Burns, Justin Holland, and John Kuempel 鈥� losing to their primary opponents, each of whom had been endorsed by Abbott and state Attorney General Ken Paxton. A fourth, veteran Texas House representative Gary Vandeaver, by a little under 1,400 votes.

The four men had all helped thwart the governor鈥檚 push last year behind legislation that would have made ESAs universal throughout the state. Along with House Democrats and a committed faction of rural Republicans, they voted the use of state funding for all forms of school vouchers last spring; in a special session called by Abbott several months later, the same coalition a school choice provision from an omnibus K鈥�12 funding bill.  

In response, Abbott and several major conservative donors took the rare step of backing ESA supporters against the incumbents in state legislative primaries. In March, nine Republicans who鈥檇 previously defied Abbott lost the party鈥檚 nomination, while four more were denied majorities and forced into runoff elections decided on Tuesday. 

Taken together, 13 Republican ESA opponents were pushed aside, which would be more than enough to flip the 84-63 margin against universal ESAs that prevailed last year.  

But the passage of a new school choice bill is still not guaranteed. The Texas Legislature is out of session until next year; elections in November will determine the body鈥檚 partisan composition, and while Republicans are favored to retain control over both chambers, the size of their majorities 鈥� and the continuing willingness of anti-voucher Republicans to defect again 鈥� will help determine the prospects of statewide ESAs.

Ebullient in victory, Abbott announced that House Republicans now held 鈥渆nough votes to pass school choice.鈥�

鈥淲hile we did not win every race we fought in, the overall message from this year鈥檚 primaries is clear: Texans want school choice,鈥� the governor in a statement. 鈥淥pponents can no longer ignore the will of the people.鈥�

Recent polling suggests that education savings accounts do enjoy the support of large numbers of Texans. While many voters are unfamiliar with the details of particular legislative proposals, that 49 percent of respondents 鈥� and particularly African Americans, parents, and churchgoers 鈥� favored vouchers, compared with just 27 percent who opposed them. A more recent poll from the University of Texas at Austin found a tighter margin .

Zeph Capo, president of the teachers鈥� union affiliate Texas AFT, said in that the primary results reflected a crush of spending from deep-pocketed school choice advocates. While the primary campaign had succeeded in its immediate goals, he argued, the fate of ESAs was still to be decided. 

鈥淛ust five out-of-state donors have flooded Texas with $33 million, the same as our state鈥檚 record-breaking budget surplus last year, in this election cycle,鈥� Capo wrote. 鈥淲hat it鈥檚 bought them so far is a smattering of wins for extremist challengers who now must win outright in November.

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