Texas’ 12th Congressional District is facing its most contentious primary in over 20 years as anti-establishment candidate Chris Putnam challenges 12-term GOP incumbent Rep. Kay Granger. 

Already, conservative outside groups backing Putnam have spent millions to oppose Granger’s campaign. Club for Growth Action spent nearly $1 million in attack ads against Granger. The anti-tax super PAC launched ads criticizing government spending approved by Granger and her past positions on abortion. 

Even with Putnam’s attacks, Granger secured an endorsement from the anti-abortion group National Right to Life last month. As ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, Granger still has support from current GOP congressional leadership. 

Granger is supported by a handful of outside groups such as the National Association of Realtors, WFW Action Fund and the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC backed by House GOP leadership. The Fund spent about $1.2 million in support of Granger. The conservative super PAC’s support was joined by the National Association of Realtors’ $51,665 pro-Granger spending. 

Granger has raised $1.4 million towards defending her seat in the safely Republican district, half of which comes from PACs. That’s almost $1 million more than Putnam raised from donors other than himself ahead of the March 3 primary. 

Granger is relying on her consistent support from the defense industry, specifically Lockheed Martin. The global defense giant leads in Granger’s campaign contributions with close to $75,000 to Granger’s campaign committee. Lockheed’s F-35 fighter jets are manufactured in Granger’s Fort Worth district.

This isn’t unusual political behavior from the company that relies heavily on government spending. Granger was their top recipient for the 2018 election cycle with over $131,000 in contributions from Lockheed’s PAC and employees. Throughout her congressional career, Lockheed Martin’s employees and PAC gave over $634,000, making them Granger’s top donor of all time. 

In past elections, Granger’s stronghold in Fort Worth and big-dollar donations from the aerospace defense industry were enough to scare away competitors. Putnam’s opposing campaign is one of the most well-funded forces that Granger has faced since joining the House in 1997. 

“She’s [Granger] never had a serious primary challenge since she’s been in office,” said Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University. “This is a real departure from the norm.”

Last Friday, Putnam loaned his campaign committee an additional $250,000, bringing his total personal loans to $500,000, federal election records show. Overall, Putnam has raised over $785,000 for his congressional run, including those loans. 

Club for Growth Action isn’t the only outside group helping Putnam in the primary race. The Club also works closely with Protect Freedom PAC, which spent close to $1.2 million opposing Granger’s reelection. Both groups are largely backed by Jeff Yass, a donor to Republican and Libertarian causes.

Putnam was endorsed by multiple tea party organizations such as Empower Texas, Young Conservatives of Texas and Texas Right to Life PAC. 

President Donald Trump endorsed Granger back in December in a tweet, “Congresswoman Kay @GrangerCampaign has worked hard for Texas and been a strong supporter of our #MAGA Agenda.”

Despite Trump’s blessing of Granger, Putnam is attacking her for not being supportive enough of the president. During Trump’s 2016 presidential run, Granger condemned the then-candidate after the release of an Access Hollywood tape, where Trump talks about sexually assaulting women. These attacks by Putnam aren’t sticking since Granger has Trump’s endorsement, according to Robert Stein, a political science professor at Rice University.

“He [Trump] has taken real efforts to penalize candidates who deviate from that,” Stein said. “The fact that Granger is getting his endorsement tells me a lot.” 

Granger politically supported Trump after his election and her voting record aligns with the Trump administration’s goals, according to FiveThirtyEight’s congressional vote tracker. 

If Putnam wins the primary, he’ll remove the only female Texas Republican in the House and reduce GOP leadership on an influential committee. 

“This effort to oust Granger is very distasteful,” Jones said. “A real weak point of the Texas Republican Party has is with Anglo-women. The last thing the party needs is for its one woman incumbent to be defeated by an Anglo-male.”

Early voting in Texas started on Feb. 18 and ends Feb. 28 ahead of the March 3rd primary. 

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