Although the seat has been held by Republicans since the early 1980’s, the demographics of this North Texas district have been shifting in favor of Democrats. Hillary Clinton won the district over Donald Trump by 4.7 percentage points, and Democrats are hopeful that Beto-mania will trickle down to help them flip this district to the blue column.

Empower Texans (ET) is the standard bearer of conservative PACs in the state of Texas. While they do not directly lobby for specific pieces of legislation, ET does push for more conservative representation in Austin. They often claim that rather than looking to secure a seat at the table of power, they instead are working to get rid of the table altogether.

A more honest explanation of the battle within the Republican party comes down to whether politicians want to side with voters and business owners who believe in free markets, or bureaucrats and crony capitalists who use government to ward off competition.