Texas Politics In 2025: The Gilead Wives Club’s Next Moves

Inside the patriarchal playbook for Texas’ 89th Session.

Nov 27, 2024

If you didn’t follow me during past legislative sessions, you might wonder, “Who is the Gilead Wives Club?” and “How did they get that name?”

It all started in the Texas House in 2021 when Representative Shelby Slawson (R-HD59) spearheaded Texas’ abortion ban. When the abortion ban debate happened, all of the other Republican women gathered around Slawson at the podium. Maybe it was for moral support? Perhaps it was for encouragement? They all scowled and stared down the Democrats at the back mic.

The optics of it:

And from that, a meme was born:

If you’re unfamiliar, the women at the top of the picture are the wives of Gilead from the Hulu series The Handmaid’s Tale, based on the novel of the same title by Margaret Atwood. If you haven’t read the book or watched the series, the wives in Gilead held the Handmaids down while their husbands raped them.

The similarities between the fictional wives of Gilead and the Republican women in the so-called “Gilead Wives Club” lie in their roles as enforcers of a patriarchal agenda. In The Handmaid’s Tale, the wives actively uphold a system that oppresses women, even though they, too, are constrained by its rules. Likewise, the Republican women in the Texas Legislature have played a pivotal role in advancing legislation that strips women of their rights and bodily autonomy.

By being the arbiters of the abortion policy, they actively enforce a system that denies women their autonomy. Much like the wives of Gilead, they use their positions of relative privilege and power not to challenge systemic injustice but to reinforce it, ensuring that the dystopian ideals they support are inflicted on others.

And that’s how some of the Republican women in the Texas House became known as the “Gilead Wives Club.”

Their dynamics are cliche, and they operate like a high school clique of mean girls. When one of them has a turn at the front mic, they all crowd around her in solidarity, no matter the bill. But some Republican women never rush to their sides and are shunned and outcasts from their group for various reasons. So, as it stands, not all Republican women are part of the Gilead Wives Club.

Which ones are?

Representative Valoree Swanson (R-HD150) - The HBIC.

Valoree Swanson may seem unassuming, but she has a lot of influence in the Texas House and Harris County politics. Swanson has been known to bully the other Republican women in the Texas House, hold secrets over their heads, and even blackmail them. The other GOP women are scared of her because she has so much influence with big donors, right-wing influencers, and the Freedom Caucus.

The Republican women under Valoree Swanson’s wings allow themselves to be bullied and pushed around because the consequences for them could be devastating. Loss of donations or being drawn out of their district have all been threats levied against them by Swanson.

The other Republican women, especially the younger ones, follow Swanson around like baby ducklings follow their mothers. Swanson is more than a mentor to them; she also acts as their gang leader. She guides them on legislation and relationships.

Aside from being a close ally and collaborator to Senator Paul Bettencourt, the Republicans’ voter suppression czar, Swanson has also made limiting women’s bodily autonomy one of her top priorities.

Before the abortion ban became law in Texas, Swanson was behind many bills making it harder to obtain abortions. Here are the sponsored:

An insurance premium increase for non-emergency abortions (2017).
Requiring parents’ permission for a minor to receive abortion care (2017).
Establishment of the “Preborn Act” (2019).
She’s behind the “Choose Life” grants, which fund the fake Christian pregnancy centers (2019).
She sponsored a bill that dictated requirements for abortions resulting in premature birth (2019).

It should be no surprise that she was a co-sponsor of the bill, which ultimately banned all abortions in Texas, even in cases of rape, incest, or when the mother’s life is at risk.

Swanson’s terror of women is set to continue in the 89th Legislature. She’s already filed HB818 to ban mifepristone and HB293, which would exacerbate housing insecurity, which disproportionately affects women, particularly single mothers. Swanson will also be at the forefront of attacking the transgender community this upcoming year.

The Cappos - Representatives Candy Noble (R-HD89), Lacey Hull (R-HD138), and Shelby Slawson (R-HD59).

Two out of these three women have had extramarital affairs in the Texas House with their Republican coworkers. In both cases, it led to divorces in their own marriages.

These women, the Cappos of the Gilead Wives Club, are the most loyal to Valoree Swanson. During the legislative session, they’re the ones who are almost always at her side. They are the ones who always make sure to ask her questions in committees while Swanson lays out her bills. It’s always a funny interaction when Swanson lays out bills in committees these women are on. None of the other committee members will ask questions, and then one of the Cappos will ask random, often pointless, questions to give Swanson more speaking time.

Candy Noble, first elected in Collin County in 2018, has co-sponsored all of the bills targeting women’s bodily autonomy since, although most of her legislative priorities seem to be race-based. For example, she co-sponsored a bill to militarize border communities or the ban on Republicans’ interpretation of Critical Race Theory. During the last legislative session, Noble was behind the House bill, which required the Ten Commandments to be placed in every Texas classroom (it failed).

Lacey Hull is probably the person in their clique closest to Valoree Swanson because they are the only two from Harris County. Swanson helped Hull get elected. During Hull’s first election, her then-husband discovered she was sleeping with Representative Cole Hefner (R-HD05) and a Harris County Republican Consultant. The husband threatened to alert the media about Hull’s extracurricular activities. It was alleged that Valoree Swanson called the husband, threatening custodianship of their child through her connections with Rachel Hooper in Kim Ogg’s office. Because of that threat, Hull’s ex-husband waited until election day to file for a divorce.

Shortly after, Lacey Hull’s former campaign manager leaked her text messages to the media, including her messages to Cole Hefner, a married father of seven. Barstool Sports published messages between Hull and Hefner, seemingly confirming that Hull had pegged Hefner. If you’re unfamiliar with what that means, Lacey Hull used a strap-on to have sex with Cole Hefner’s butt.

The party of family values didn’t care; they looked the other way and re-elected her. The following session, she was photographed in a park, sitting alone with Representative Jeff Leach (R-HD67), who was separated from his wife at the time. Hull was re-elected again after that. So, when Republicans tell you that they are the party of family values, know that they don’t actually mean it.

Hull has sponsored or co-sponsored every bill limiting a woman’s right to bodily autonomy. But because she’s had her own problems with CPS, she’s also been behind all of the recent legislation targeting CPS. For example, in 2023, Hull co-authored the bill that would prevent CPS from investigating anonymous complaints of child abuse. This law will likely lead to abused children not being reported to CPS. However, since the law has only been in effect for just over a year, no one has produced a report on the outcome yet.

Shelby Slawson was the author of the Heartbeat Bill in 2021, despite knowing little about how a woman’s body functions or the statistics related to pregnancy, miscarriage, and rape. The debate over the Heartbeat Bill was one of the most despicable performances of Republicans in recent years. See for yourself:

A few years back, Shelby Slawson spoke at the Young Republicans of Texas Gala, where she told the audience that she had a miscarriage, which made her sad, and that was the reason she wanted to stop other women in Texas from making decisions about their own bodies. Legislating other people’s lives based on your emotional trauma is a sign of low emotional intelligence, but Slawson is far from the only Republican to do it. Representative Tony Tinderholt (R-HD94) has also expressed his reason for wanting to dictate what women do with their bodies is because his current wife had eight miscarriages. Personal trauma should never be a reason to take away the rights of others.

When Slawson first ran for office, she was married, and there were many rumors about her and her husband being in the upside-down pineapple club, but she’s no longer married. During the first Legislative Session she served, she was seen canoodling with a married Republican coworker at a local bar in Austin.

Shelby Slawson also believes children can buy cocaine and marijuana on Twitter and Instagram:

It turns out that we’ve been using social media wrong all this time.

The Soldiers - Representative Ellen Troxclair (R-HD19), Caroline Harris Davila (R-HD52), and Carrie Isaac (R-HD73).

The Gilead Wives Club Soldiers were entirely subservient to Valoree Swanson in the 88th Legislative Session, which was each’s first session. These three women have been called many things, but no one has ever accused them of being very bright.

Ellen Troxclair is self-made, an author, and a business owner, yet frequently rails against feminism. Her opposition to feminism, which she credits for many of society’s perceived ills, stands in stark contrast to her achievements, which were only made possible because of the progress feminism fought for. Troxclair is known for championing legislation that undermines women’s rights, including anti-abortion measures and efforts to defund public education. Her books and public speeches often emphasize the importance of traditional gender roles, further aligning her with the patriarchal agenda of the Gilead Wives Club.

Carrie Isaac, the wife of retired House Rep turned lobbyist Jason Isaac, can be summarized in one cringe-worthy video:

Caroline Harris-Davila, the youngest Texas House Rep, follows her elder Republican peers everywhere they go. She’s often been glued to Slawson, Hull, and Troxclair as they read and debate bills. However, since the last legislative session, Harris-Davila married Lt. Governor Dan Patrick’s Chief of Staff, who is roughly about 20 years her senior. It’s unclear whether Harris-Davila will continue to be a loyal member of the Gilead Wives Club in the 89th Legislative Session or if her new husband will guide her in another direction.

Republican Outcast Women - Representatives Angelia Orr (R-HD13), Terri Leo-Wilson (R-HD23), Janie Lopez (R-HD37), and Angie Chen-Button (R-HD112).

These four women have not joined the Gilead Wives Club for various reasons. In some cases, they have been shunned, and in other cases, it’s been about personal feuds. It also shouldn’t be lost to blind eyes that the Gilead Wives Club clique is all white, and the few Republican women of color have not been a part of their activities. Before the session starts, I’ll publish another tell-all regarding the Republican Outcast Women and the dynamics between them and the others. So, stay tuned for that.

The New and Unknown - Representatives Joanne Schofner (R-HD11), Janis Holt (R-HD18), Katrina Pierson (R-HD33), Denise Villalobos (R-HD34), Hillary Hickland (R-HD55), Helen Kerwin (R-HD58), Keresa Richardson (R-HD61), Shelley Luther (R-HD62), and Caroline Fairly (R-HD87).

Can you believe there are nine new Republican women headed into the Texas House? That puts the total number of Republican women in the House at 20, the most ever. While they should be congratulated, most of them are anti-feminists. How do you commend an anti-feminist for a feminist achievement?

For the record, 31 Democratic women will be in the 89th Legislative Session—50% of the Democratic Caucus. (The 20 Republican women only comprise 23% of the Republican Caucus—still male-dominated.)

It’s unclear whether the new incoming Republican women will join the Gilead Wives Club, become Outcasts, or start a new club—maybe the “Patriarchy Preservation Society” or the “Stepford Squad.”

Until the Legislative Session is underway, we won’t see where these women’s allegiances lie, but we know it won’t be with the people of Texas.

So, what can we expect from the Gilead Wives Club in 2025?

The Gilead Wives Club will continue its march toward enforcing policies prioritizing control over compassion. From dismantling women’s rights to attacking marginalized communities, their agenda is clear: to uphold a dystopian vision of Texas that serves the interests of the powerful while silencing the voices of the vulnerable. With Valoree Swanson at the helm and her loyal clique of enablers in tow, the 89th Legislative Session will likely see more of the same regressive policies aimed at turning back the clock on progress.

Texas deserves leaders who will fight for public education, healthcare, and fundamental freedoms—not ones who prioritize patriarchal control and self-serving alliances. As the session unfolds, keep watching, stay informed, and, most importantly, stay engaged. The future of Texas depends on it.

December 9: House Administration Committee meets to debate rules.
January 14: The 89th Legislative Session begins.
March 14: The last day Legislators can file bills.
June 2: The 89th Legislative Session ends.