The principle
Texas first. Before any other nation or state.
Principle 9 of the Texas Nationalist Movement, the Primacy of Nation. In March, about 1.6 million Texans voted for a candidate who signed the pledge. Here is what it asks of the people who represent you.
Texas First is the ninth founding principle of the Texas Nationalist Movement. It has a formal name, the Primacy of Nation, and a meaning that has not changed since 2005.
The interests of Texas supersede the interests of all other nations and states.
Texas Nationalist Movement, Principle 9
The pledge puts it in an officeholder’s own words. A signer places the interests of Texas and Texans before any other nation, state, political entity, organization, or individual.
The test every officeholder takes
Every officeholder hits the same fork in the road, over and over. When the interests of Texas and the interests of someone else collide, which one wins? Texas First answers it. Before party. Before Washington. Before the donor class. Before the next office up the ladder. A signer who holds office has said, on the record, which way they vote when that fork comes.
Fig. 1 · The 2026 primary
It already has a constituency
Texans cast a ballot for at least one Texas First Pledge signer in the March 2026 Republican primary, roughly three in four primary voters.
It belongs to no party
A Republican can put Texas first. So can a Democrat, a Libertarian, an independent. The roster already crosses party lines. The fight isn’t left against right. It’s Texas against whatever puts Texas second.
Signing is not a vote for independence
Putting Texas first does not commit anyone to TEXIT. The pledge defends a right already written into the Texas Constitution: the right of Texans to decide their own future, in Article I, Section 2, and the duty of an officeholder to honor that decision once Texans make it. The vote belongs to the people of Texas. The pledge makes sure they get to hold it.
Read the four sentences in full, including the constitutional right the pledge defends.
Fig. 2 · On the record
The base is already statewide
Texans on record with the movement who want a vote on independence, across all 254 counties.