This material was originally published by Reform Austin.

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The Texas Republican Party’s governing board voted Saturday to censure five GOP state lawmakers but stopped short of banning them from the 2026 primary ballot, a move that would have likely triggered a costly legal fight and deepened intraparty divisions.

The State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) approved formal censures against five Republican House members, including two who are retiring, for allegedly violating the party’s core principles or legislative priorities. The censures authorize the party to spend general funds opposing them in the next primary and officially discourage their future candidacies.

However, the SREC declined to enforce a newly adopted penalty that would have barred censured lawmakers from seeking reelection as Republicans — a rule that party attorneys and outside legal experts have warned conflicts with state law.

The censured lawmakers are former Speaker Dade Phelan of Beaumont, Jared Patterson of Frisco, Angelia Orr of Waco, Stan Lambert of Abilene, and Gary VanDeaver of New Boston. Phelan and Lambert are not seeking reelection.

Five other censure resolutions, including one targeting House Speaker Dustin Burrows, failed to gain the three-fifths support required. Burrows has drawn criticism from some party members for working with Democrats to win the speakership but also helped shepherd through one of the most conservative legislative sessions in recent years.

“Last session, under the last speaker, we had six (priority) bills passed… This session, we had 43,” said Texas GOP Chair Abraham George, praising Burrows’ legislative performance.

The censures centered on a range of grievances, including lawmakers’ votes on school vouchers , the state budget, and bills involving property taxes, transgender bathroom access , and the abortion pills ban in the state . Some were also faulted for supporting Burrows’ speaker bid.

None of the censured lawmakers attended Saturday’s meeting.

The meeting marked the first major test of the Texas GOP’s new rule, adopted in June 2024, which allows the party to block censured lawmakers from appearing on the GOP primary ballot. However, legal opinions from party-hired counsel and warnings from major donors and Trump-aligned officials persuaded the SREC to hold off.

Party officials acknowledged internal concerns that enforcing the rule could “torch” the party’s relationship with national Republican leaders and provoke litigation. Businessman Alex Fairly, a prominent GOP donor, told The Texas Tribune earlier he would “fully fund” lawsuits against any attempt to remove candidates from the ballot.

In a letter to Chair George earlier this month, seven of the ten lawmakers facing possible censure called the proposed ballot ban “unconstitutional” and “political weapons wielded by rivals.”

The Texas GOP also recently filed a separate lawsuit seeking to block non-Republicans from voting in its primaries. Attorney General Ken Paxton , now running against Sen. John Cornyn in 2026, declined to defend the state in that case. Secretary of State Jane Nelson has said she will continue to fight the suit.