TX-11: On Wednesday, GOP Rep. Mike Conaway confirmed that he would not seek a ninth term in Texas’ 11th District, which officially makes him the fourth Republican to retire in just eight days.
The GOP will have no trouble holding Conaway’s 78-19 Trump seat, which includes Midland, San Angelo, and Odessa. However, House Republicans reportedly fear that many more members, unhappy with life in the minority, could decide to call it a career, and Conaway’s departure is unlikely to comfort them. Conaway himself said Wednesday that he’d decided last year to retire, and while he said he wanted to leave because he would be termed-out as the top Republican on the powerful Agriculture Committee, he acknowledged that “being in the minority is a frustrating experience.”
Republicans saw numerous retirements last cycle, which gave Democrats a better chance to seize plenty of vulnerable seats, and Team Blue did not pass it up. Another mass exodus of GOP representatives could open up even more competitive districts as well as signal to potential candidates that the Republicans don’t feel good about retaking the House next year.
And we could indeed see that mass exodus. Last week, right after Alabama Rep. Martha Roby retired, Missouri Rep. Billy Long publicly predicted on Twitter that many fellow Republicans would “decide over the break once they’ve been home for 5 weeks that it’s tough to come Back to DC.” However, Conaway’s departure came just days into Congress’ six-week hiatus.
Conaway spent years as a powerful member of the House, though he didn’t attract much outside attention until recently. Conaway grew up in football-crazed Odessa, and he played on the 1965 Permian High School team that secured the school its first-ever state championship title. (The football program would be profiled decades later by author Buzz Bissinger for his 1990 nonfiction book “Friday Night Lights,” which was later adapted into a movie and TV show.)
Conaway went on to become an accountant, and he served as chief financial officer of George W. Bush’s oil company, Bush Exploration, in the 1980s. In 1994, after Bush was elected governor, he appointed Conaway to the state board of accountants.
Conaway first ran for office in a 2003 special election for what was then numbered as the 19th District, a seat that included Odessa and nearby Midland as well as Lubbock to the north. Conaway and fellow Republican Randy Neugebauer both advanced through the crowded all-party primary, but the Lubbock-based Neugebauer won the runoff 50.5-49.5. However, Conaway performed incredibly well in the Midland area, which would serve him well the next year.
Conaway got another chance to run for Congress in 2004 after the GOP legislature passed the infamous DeLaymander that redrew Texas’ congressional map. Republicans targeted conservative Democratic Rep. Charlie Stenholm for defeat by splitting up his seat, and Stenholm opted to unsuccessfully run against Neugebauer in the new 19th District based in the Lubbock area. Meanwhile, Conaway’s base in the Midland area was moved into a new and open 11th District, and he had no trouble winning the GOP primary for this safely red seat.
Conaway never faced a serious re-election challenge, and he went on to become a senior official at the National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee. The former accountant may have done his party its greatest service in 2008 when he helped reveal that the NRCC’s former treasurer had spent six years embezzling the committee’s money. The NRCC ultimately lost a total of $1 million from legal and accounting fees and for stolen money they could not recover.
Conaway chaired the Agriculture Committee until the Democrats took the House this year. However, he may be best known for leading the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Last year, Conaway infuriated Democrats when he concluded that the Trump campaign did not collude with Russia and shut down the inquiry. However, Democrats still focused much of their anger on California Rep. Devin Nunes, who retained plenty of control over the proceedings even after he’d recused himself.