The Texas Republican Party on Saturday censured House Speaker Dade Phelan “for lack of fidelity to Republican principles and priorities” in yet another example of intraparty warfare heading into the March primary election in which the embattled leader of the Legislature’s lower chamber is at the center.

In a terse news release, the state party said it was only the fourth such move in its history and that the State Republican Executive Committee voted 55-4 to censure Phelan with four members abstaining.

A spokeswoman for Phelan, the Beaumont Republican in his second term as speaker of the GOP-dominated 150-member House, was defiantly dismissive of the vote.

“This is the same organization that rolled out the red carpet for a group of Neo-Nazis, refused to disassociate from anti-Semitic groups and balked at formally condemning a known sexual predator before he was ousted from the Texas House,” Cait Meisenheimer, a top communication’s aide to the speaker, said in a statement. “The SREC has lost its moral authority and is no longer representative of the views of the Party as a whole.”

Brandon Rottinghaus, a University Houston political science professor who keeps a close watch on Capitol politics, agreed that the hardcore activists who make up the party’s executive committee are often out of step with everyday Texas Republicans.

“The insurgent wing of the Republican Party hasn’t met a speaker they like,” Rottinghaus told the American-Statesman on Saturday after the vote. “Anyone in leadership roles for the GOP in the House has a target on their back and get the RINO (Republican In Name Only) tag.”

According the Texas GOP, the censure has the effect of “imposing the full set of penalties allowed by the rules” on Phelan.

Phelan for months has been taking heat from Attorney General Ken Paxton, who was impeached by the House with the speaker’s blessing in May, and from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who oversaw the Senate trial that acquitted Paxton largely along party lines. Paxton has actively campaigned for Phelan’s primary election opponent, veteran GOP activist David Covey, in the Southeast Texas House district.

In a post of X, formerly Twitter, Paxton wrote: “Good job, @TexasGOP.”

Covey has also gained the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.

This is a developing report. Please check back for updates.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas GOP censures Speaker Dade Phelan for ‘lack of fidelity’ to party