Texas Nationalists Celebrate as Independence Vote 'Virtually Guaranteed'

Texan nationalists are celebrating a string of victories in Tuesday's primary elections, which means legislation calling for a referendum on Texas becoming an independent state is "virtually guaranteed" to appear before the state legislature, according to a leading campaigner.

Daniel Miller, president of the pro-independence Texas Nationalist Movement, made the claim. The TNM organizes the "Texas First Pledge," which encourages candidates for office in the state to declare their backing for a formal independence referendum.

According to a list released by the TNM, seven candidates who had signed the "Texas First Pledge" advanced to the general election on Tuesday, with another five making it to run-off elections.

Signatories to the "Texas First Pledge" vow to "vote for legislation and resolutions to call for a vote on Texas reasserting its status as an independent nation in every term that I am elected until such a referendum is held."

They also pledge that if a majority of Texans vote for independence in a referendum, they will "work toward a fair and expedient separation of Texas from the federal government, placing the interests of Texans first."

The seven candidates listed by the TNM as "Texas First Pledge" signatories who advanced to the general election are Joseph L. Trahan, Steve Toth, Janis Holt, Wesley Virdell, Shelley Luther, Mitch Little and Ben Mostyn. All seven are Republicans, with Trahan running for the Texas Senate while the other six are targeting the state's House of Representatives.

In addition, signatories David Covey, Andy Hopper, Summara Kanwal, Lea Simmons, and David Lowe, all Republicans, advanced to the run-off election.

Speaking to Newsweek, Miller said: "This was a big night for us. It means that we are virtually guaranteed to see the Texas Independence Referendum Act filed in the next session of the Texas Legislature, putting Texans one step closer to a vote on TEXIT. It shows that we are winning the battle for the future of Texas."

A Texas Independence Referendum Act, calling for a referendum on whether Texas should "reassert its status as an independent nation," was proposed by then-Republican state Representative Bryan Slaton in 2023 but failed to pass the committee stage.

In a statement released shortly after Tuesday's elections, Miller commented: "We are beyond proud of the candidates who won their elections tonight while putting Texas FIRST.

"These men and women are Texians who are refusing to cower or back down to outside pressure from dark money establishment groups, and they are dominating the elections as a result."

A survey of 814 eligible voters in Texas conducted exclusively for Newsweek by Redfield & Wilton Strategies between February 1 and 3 found 23 percent of respondents would vote for Texas to be an "independent country" in a hypothetical independence referendum, versus 67 percent for "a state within the United States."

The survey also found that 44 percent of Texans were either more likely or significantly more likely to back independence due to the ongoing migrant crisis on the southern border. This contrasted with 35 percent who said it made them "neither more nor less likely" to back secession from the U.S. and 16 percent who replied it makes them less likely to support independence.

Tensions between Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the Biden administration surged in January after the Supreme Court ruled federal agents could remove razor wire placed along the Texan-Mexican border. In response, Abbott claimed Texas was being "invaded" and invoked the state's "constitutional authority to defend and protect itself."