Appellate court throws out lawsuit filed by State Rep. Pat Curry against Courageous Conservatives PAC
WACO, Texas (KWTX) - An intermediate appellate court in Waco has thrown out a lawsuit filed by State Rep. Pat Curry against a Virginia-based political action committee that called Curry a “turncoat” and disseminated his personal cell phone number through widespread text messages to his constituents.
In a 12-page opinion written by Justice Steve Smith and released Thursday, Waco’s 10th Court of Appeals reversed a decision by Visiting Judge Jack Jones, who denied a motion to dismiss Curry’s lawsuit against the Courageous Conservatives PAC and its chairman, Chris Ekstrom.
The opinion sends the case back to Waco’s 74th State District with orders for Jones to dismiss Curry’s claims against the PAC and to determine reasonable attorneys’ fees for the PAC that Curry must pay along with other relief authorized by the Texas Citizens Participation Act (TCPA).
Ekstrom said Thursday that the opinion is a “complete vindication for me and my fully legitimate political activism.”
“Pat Curry is a bully,” Ekstrom said in a statement. “He uses Lawfare to intimidate Texans. Not me. Not the Waco Court. I will continue to take a robust view of my First Amendment rights. Pat Curry got a lesson in Constitutional Law. I hope he learns his lesson.”
A disappointed Curry said he disagrees with the opinion.
“We will review our options with attorneys moving forward,” he said. “It is sad that out-of-state money can come into a local district and try to ruin good people’s reputations and cause harm to their personal and business lives. We will continue to fight to stop these types of attacks and pray for justice.”
While Jones, a retired judge from Bell County, held a hearing to consider the Courageous Conservatives PAC motion to dismiss the suit, the judge never ruled and it was denied by operation of law.
Curry’s lawsuit said he had committed to voting for State Rep. David Cook, R-Mansfield, in his battle with State Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, for House speaker. On Dec. 6, 2024, the day before the Republican Caucus was expected to vote, “Curry became aware that his personal cell phone number was sent in a mass text ‘blast’ to an unknown number of individuals in and around his district.”
The text message said Curry, a freshman lawmaker from Waco whose first term representing House District 56 began in January 2025, had not agreed to vote for Cook and called him a “turncoat” who “left the Republicans to side with the Democrats in electing a new closet Democrat speaker, Dustin Burrows.” Curry voted for Cook.
The text messages and Facebook posts encouraged recipients to contact Curry on his personal cell phone and ask him to oppose Burrows and vote for Cook.
Within hours of the text messages being sent out, Curry said he received hundreds of calls and texts, some that included “menacing words and veiled threats” that led to security concerns.
The same message was posted on the PAC’s Facebook page.
Curry’s lawsuit also alleged the PAC violated the Election Code by failing to file a treasurer appointment with the Texas Ethics Commission and asked for an injunction ordering the PAC to cease political advocacy in Texas until the proper paperwork was filed.
Curry also asked the trial court to order the PAC to remove his personal cell phone number from future posts and to take down the existing posts.
In its motion to dismiss Curry’s lawsuit, the PAC argued that its actions are covered by the TCPA and the First Amendment’s freedom of speech guarantees.
The 10th Court agreed.
“The PAC established that the TCPA applies to Curry’s claims,” the opinion states. “Curry did not establish that the commercial speech exemption applies, he did not establish a prima facie case for any of his claims, and the trial court should have granted the PAC’s motion to dismiss.”
After Curry filed his lawsuit, Ekstrom and his new PAC, Texas Truth PAC, spent at least $13,500 on radio and text messages in a large-scale recruitment campaign to find an opponent for Curry.
Ralph Patterson, former McLennan County Republican Party chairman, filed last week to oppose Curry in the March 2026 Republican primary.
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