“I feel there were six senators who were ready to be the 21st vote,” said Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas. “But they didn’t want to be the 20th vote.”
Ultimately, only two Republicans — Sens. Robert Nichols of Jacksonville and Kelly Hancock of North Richland Hills — voted with Democrats to convict Paxton. But at least five more GOP senators appeared to be in play during deliberations, according to four people familiar with the talks.
, suggesting half of the 16 Republican senators who voted to acquit had been close to deciding the other way. People familiar with the deliberations said Springer was among those who were on the fence, but his spokesperson told the Chronicle that “evidence alone impacted Sen. Springer’s decision.” He did not respond to messages seeking comment from the Tribune.
It instantly sparked speculation that Patrick knew the verdict ahead of time and had been in contact with jurors, perhaps lobbying them during deliberations. He has since denied applying any pressure to senators, calling it a conspiracy theory from the House. Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican close to Patrick who had voted to dismiss the case pretrial, said a “a couple dozen or more” senators went to the Betty King Committee Room to watch what he considered a key piece of evidence. It was a video of a 2020 meeting between Nate Paul, his lawyer Michael Wynne and Paxton’s deputies, with Paul laying out his allegations against the authorities. Bettencourt recalled that senators listened “intently” and some stayed for the entirety of the video.
They had fajitas for dinner, but there was no gathering of the full jury — individuals and small groups came and went. Others left the Capitol that night mostly resigned. Paxton, they believed, was headed for acquittal as it became clear Republicans were not willing to take a tough vote if they could not reach the overall threshold to convict.Sen. Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound said in a radio interview Monday that the final outcome was a surprise to members. State. Phil King, R-Weatherford, said he did not think any minds were changed in deliberations.
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GOP senators, open to Paxton conviction, flipped when they realized they were still short the votes“I feel there were six senators who were ready to be the 21st vote,” said Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas. “But they didn’t want to be the 20th vote.”
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