The former law partner of Paul Pressler who is accused of supplying Pressler with young interns to be abused by the Southern Baptist judge appears to have lost his campaign for a seat in the Texas House of Representatives.
As of midnight Central Time on election day, Woodfill was trailing incumbent Lacey Hull, who had a 62% to 38% lead with more than half the vote reported.
Woodfill, former chairman of the Harris County Republican Party, not only hoped to be sent to the Texas House but said he wanted to be elected speaker of the House. He and other far-right Republicans have put a target on the back of current Speaker Dade Phelan for allowing the House to vote to impeach Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Phelan, meanwhile, is headed to a runoff election with challenger David Covey, who is supported by Paxton and other far-right Republicans who believe the conservative speaker has given too much leeway to Democrats. They also fault him for the House’s unwillingness to pass a school voucher bill urgently demanded by Gov. Greg Abbott yet rejected three times.
Woodfill sought to take a House seat serving the 138th district, which includes northwestern parts of Houston. He has attacked Hull, for voting to impeach Paxton on corruption charges. Republicans in the House had the courage to impeach Paxton, but outside threats from Donald Trump are said to have scared off enough senators to keep from convicting and removing Paxton, who has been under a cloud of scandal ever since taking office.
Jared Woodfill
Woodfill is a member of Second Baptist Church in Houston, where Pressler began attending after leaders of First Baptist Church confronted him about allegations of inappropriate behavior with boys and young men. That church change and Woodfill’s alleged knowledge of Pressler’s behavior are documented in filings for a lawsuit settled out of court in December.
The Texas Tribune reported that Woodfill testified under oath he was made aware of child sexual abuse claims against Pressler in 2004, when the two of them were law partners.
“Despite that, Woodfill continued to lean on the political connections of Pressler — who did almost no work for their firm but was compensated via a string of young, male personal assistants who worked out of his home. Three have accused Pressler of sexual assault or misconduct,” the news outlet wrote.
The Tribune article claims Woodfill “continued to furnish Pressler with young aides until at least 2017 — 13 years after he was first warned that Pressler was a sexual predator, and less than a year after he was made aware of new sexual misconduct allegations.”
Woodfill has denied any wrongdoing.
But that is not all the controversy Woodfill has faced. As chair of the Harris County GOP, he was seen as a divisive figure and eventually replaced. He championed anti-gay efforts in Houston, and in 2018 the Harris County DA’s office raided Woodfill’s office, accusing him of stealing thousands of dollars from former clients.
However, the Houston Chronicle recently reported that Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg quietly dropped the case against Woodfill for no clear reason.
Ogg, a Democrat who was dogged with this and other allegations of abuse of office, lost her primary this week to former prosecutor Sean Teare. That means Ogg, a two-term incumbent, will not be on the November ballot and will lose her post.
Related articles:
Texas Tribune says candidate for Texas House enabled Pressler’s antics with boys and young men
Confidential settlement reached in Pressler sexual abuse case
SBC attorney calls Pressler a ‘monster,’ a ‘predator’ and ‘of the devil’
New court documents show First Baptist Houston leaders knew of allegations against Pressler in 2004