Which Texans Are Attending Next Week's GOP Convention?

With a controversial presumptive nominee for president serving as headliner, a sizable sum of high-profile Texas officeholders are quietly sitting out the proceedings.

by Abby Livingston and Alana Rocha

Texas delegate checks out the floor of the convention space before events begin at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, Florida, on Wednesday August 29, 2012 on the third day of the Republican National Convention events.
Texas delegate checks out the floor of the convention space before events begin at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, Florida, on Wednesday August 29, 2012 on the third day of the Republican National Convention events. Todd Heisler / The New York Times

Every four years, prominent Texans show up in large numbers to the Republican National Convention.

But this year in Cleveland, with some Texas Republicans openly refusing to endorse their party's presumptive nominee, Donald Trump, the Texas footprint may be noticeably smaller.

To be sure, plenty of Texas Republicans plan on attending the convention, which starts Monday, including two recent presidential candidates — former Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who is expected to be one of the convention speakers. 

Also planning to attend: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, Attorney General Ken Paxton, Texas House Speaker Joe Straus and most of the U.S. House committee chairmen from Texas.

The Texas Tribune thanks its sponsors. Become one.

But a sizable sum of high profile Texas officeholders are quietly sitting out the proceedings, including nearly half of the congressional delegation.

If any the absences are actually boycotts, no one is saying so explicitly.

"Commissioner George P. Bush is focused on continuing to bring conservative leadership to the General Land Office and at this time has not made any plans related to the Republican National Convention," Bush spokesman Kasey Pipes said.

Bush is the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a presidential candidate whom Trump made a practice of eviscerating on the campaign trail. Bush's grandfather and uncle, former presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, drew national attention for declining to endorse Trump.  

U.S. Rep. Kenny Marchant of Coppell said conventions are just not a habit for him.

"It's not a boycott," Marchant. " It's just not something I generally do."

The Texas Tribune thanks its sponsors. Become one.

Perhaps the biggest question has nothing to do with Trump but with Gov. Greg Abbott, who originally intended to be Cleveland-bound. On Monday, Abbott was admitted to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio for treatment of burns on both legs related to an accident days earlier in Wyoming. Whether he will make it to the convention remains unclear, according to his office.