Dade Phelan, the former Republican speaker of the Texas state House, told reporters in Dallas that the national Republican Party is failing its candidates in Texas, with contenders across the state "freaking out" ahead of the midterm elections. The remarks carry weight in a state where Republicans have dominated statewide politics for decades, and they come from a politician who spent two terms running the chamber where much of that record was made.

Texas Monthly reported on Wednesday that Phelan — who shepherded some of the "most conservative bills in state history" to passage during his two-term speakership — is now widely labeled a RINO, short for "Republican in Name Only." The backlash traces back to Ken Paxton's impeachment, a fight in which Phelan and others, including Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), had cautioned the party against Paxton. The Texas House impeached Paxton, the state's attorney general, in 2023, with the state Senate acquitting him months later; Phelan was speaker at the time.

Phelan's remarks come as the Republican Party rushes to spend more than $330 million on advertising in Texas to prop up Paxton. The former speaker argued that the outlay is accomplishing nothing, saying voters do not care about the few dozen transgender people playing sports — they just want cheap gas.

Phelan attended last weekend's Texas-Oklahoma football game, a major fundraising opportunity for. Working the rented-out suites, he said, he can stop by a few dozen events over the course of two hours.

"Especially this cycle, you need all the friends you can get," said Phelan.

Texas Monthly described itself as startled by what it is seeing this cycle, and Phelan said the anxiety among candidates is palpable.

"It's real," Phelan explained. "People are freaking out. You see it in their faces. There's serious concern like I've never seen before."

He pointed to a shifting Hispanic vote, an affordability crisis, and broader demographic changes across the electorate. "They were with us last cycle, and they're not with us this cycle. We're just not paying attention to the issues that matter," he said.

Phelan was blunt about the party's messaging in the Texas Senate race. "We're still running transgender ads. It's just not resonating," he said. "$100 million in ads, $125 million in ads, and nothing's moved the needle here in Texas in a month in the Senate race. Let's be honest. The 8 to 10 percent of voters in the middle who are going to decide this election, when they hear stuff about boys in girls' sports, they don't even know what you're talking about. This never happened in their communities, and they've been hearing about it for so many years, and so many other people have been accused of it. What Republicans are talking about is just not what the swing voter is really interested in."

Asked by Texas Monthly why Republicans are doubling and tripling down on this kind of messaging, Phelan pointed to the 2018 elections.

"But Texas is becoming a battleground state, and when people are spending $1,500, $2,000 a month on healthcare for their family, and we're too afraid to even talk about healthcare, and we're still talking about defund[ing] the police, which happened six years ago . . . I mean, we've got to catch up with the times," he said.

At the local level, Phelan suggested far more state House seats are in play than widely assumed. "People say eight Republican seats are at risk. I could see ten," he said.

"That doesn't mean they're all going to lose. But these suburbs are nasty. Nasty. Houston, DFW, Bexar County [San Antonio]—you can't spend enough money to keep up. And if [James] Talarico wins this and gets the margin up to six or seven, it's a bloodbath down [the] ballot. I don't know how people survive," he explained. Whether those suburban seats ultimately flip — and how wide the Senate margin runs — will offer a concrete gauge of the anxiety Phelan describes.

Phelan added that he will not be voting for Paxton. He said he has voted for a Democrat and does not intend to start now, but will leave the race blank rather than support Paxton.

"There's not a world in which I can vote for a Ken Paxton. Knowing who he is and knowing his integrity, no. I just can't do it. No whatsoever," he added.