Posts Tagged ‘Ben Bius’

Texas State House Republican Primary Candidates

Tuesday, February 20th, 2024

Today marked the start of early primary voting, so here’s a roundup on Republican state house races.

I’ve posted several times on the need to primary and defeat every one of the Dade Phelan toadies who voted to kill school choice or who voted to impeach Ken Paxton. Every candidate who voted to kill school choiceretired or draw a primary challenger.

So here is a list of every contested Republican state House race, whether the incumbent voted to kill school choice or impeach Paxton, and who their challengers are:

  • District 1: Gary VanDeaver:

    Voted to kill school choice? Yes
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challengers:
    Dale Huls
    Chris Spencer

  • District 2: Jill Dutton

    Dutton is listed as the incumbent because she won the special election for the seat of the expelled and disgraced Bryan Slaton. But she wasn’t in office to vote for or against school choice or the Paxton impeachment.

    Challenger:
    Brent Money

  • District 3: Keith Bell

    Voted to kill school choice? Yes
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Joshua Feuerstein

  • District 5: Cole Hefner:

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challengers:
    Dewey Collier
    Jeff Fletcher

  • District 7: Jay Dean

    Voted to kill school choice? Yes
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challengers:
    Bonnie Walters
    Joe McDaniel

  • District 8: Cody Harris

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Jaye Curtis

  • District 9: Trent Ashby

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Paulette Carson

  • District 11: Travis Clardy

    Voted to kill school choice? Yes
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Joanne Shofner

  • District 12: No incumbent (Kyle Kacal retiring)

    Challengers:
    Ben Bius
    John Slocum
    Trey Wharton

  • District 14: No incumbent (John Raney retiring)

    Challengers:
    Rick Davis
    Paul Dyson

  • District 15: Steve Toth

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Skeeter Hubert

  • District 17: Stan Gerdes

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Tom Glass

  • District 18: Ernest Bailes

    Voted to kill school choice? Yes
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Janis Holt
    Stephen Missick

  • District 19: Ellen Troxclair

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challengers:
    Kyle Biedermann
    Manny Campos

  • District 20: Terry Wilson

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Elva Janine Chapa

  • District 21: Dade Phalen

    As Speaker of the House, Phalen voted Present on the school choice gutting and Paxton impeachment votes, but is known to be the motivating factor behind both.

    Challengers:
    David Covey (Endorsed by President Trump.)
    Alicia Davis

  • District 24: Greg Bonnen

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Larissa Ramirez

  • District 26: Jacey Jetton

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challengers:
    Jessica Rose Huang
    Matt Morgan

  • District 28: Gary Gates

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Dan Matthews

  • District 29: No incumbent (Ed Thompson retiring)

    Challengers:
    Jeff Barry
    Alex Kamkar
    Edgar Pacheco Jr.
    Trent Perez

  • District 30: No incumbent (Geanie W. Morrison retiring)

    Challengers:
    Bret Baldwin
    Jeff Bauknight
    Vanessa Hicks-Callaway
    A.J. Louderback

  • District 33: Justin Holland

    Voted to kill school choice? Yes
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challengers:
    Dennis London
    Katrina Pierson

  • District 44: John Kuempel

    Voted to kill school choice? Yes
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challengers:
    Greg Switzer
    David Freimarck
    Alan Schoolcraft (Endorsed by President Trump)

  • District 53: No incumbent (Andrew S. Murr retiring)

    Challengers:
    Hatch Smith
    Wesley Virdell

  • District 55: Hugh Shine

    Voted to kill school choice? Yes
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challengers:
    Jorge Estrada
    Davis Ford
    Hillary Hickland

  • District 56: No incumbent (Charles “Doc” Anderson retiring)

    Challengers:
    Pat Curry
    Devvie Duke

  • District 58: DeWayne Burns

    Voted to kill school choice? Yes
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challengers:
    Helen Kerwin (Endorsed by President Trump)
    Lyndon Laird

  • District 60: Glenn Rogers

    Voted to kill school choice? Yes
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Mike Olcott (Endorsed by President Trump)

  • District 61: Frederick Frazier

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challengers:
    Chuck Branch
    Keresa Richardson

  • District 62: Reggie Smith

    Voted to kill school choice? Yes
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Shelley Luther

  • District 63: Ben Bumgarner

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challengers:
    Carlos Andino Jr. (website shows as expired)
    Vincent Gallo

  • District 64: Lynn Stucky

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challengers:
    Elaine Hays
    Andy Hopper

  • District 65: Kronda Thimesch

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Mitch Little

  • District 66: Matt Shaheen

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Wayne Richard

  • District 67: Jeff Leach

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Daren Meis

  • District 68: David Spiller

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Kerri Kingsbery

  • District 70: Incumbent Democrat Mihaela Plesa

    Voted to kill school choice? Yes
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Republican Challengers:
    Joe Collins
    Steven Kinard

  • District 71: Stan Lambert

    Voted to kill school choice? Yes
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challengers:
    Charles Byrn
    Liz Case (Endorsed by President Trump)

  • District 72: Drew Darby

    Voted to kill school choice? Yes
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Stormy Bradley

  • District 74: Incumbent Democrat Eddie Morales Jr.

    Voted to kill school choice? Yes
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Republican Challengers:
    Robert Garza
    John McLeon

  • District 76: Incumbent Democrat Suleman Lalani

    Voted to kill school choice? Yes
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Republican Challengers:
    Dayo David
    Summara Kanwal
    Lea Simmons

  • District 80: No incumbent (Democrat Tracy King retiring)

    Republican Challengers:
    Don McLaughlin
    Clint Powell
    JR Ramirez

  • District 83: Dustin Burrows

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Wade Cowen

  • District 85: Stan Kitzman

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Tim Greeson

  • District 86: John Smithee

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? No

    Challenger:
    Jamie Haynes

  • District 87: No incumbent (John Four Price retiring)

    Challengers:
    Richard Beyea
    Cindi Bulla
    Caroline Fairly
    Jesse Quackenbush

  • District 88: Ken King

    Voted to kill school choice? Yes
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Karen Post

  • District 89: Candy Noble

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Abraham George

  • District 91: Stephanie Klick

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challengers:
    Teresa Ramirez Gonzalez
    David Lowe

  • District 97: No incumbent (Craig Goldman retired to run for U.S. Congress)

    Challengers:
    Cheryl Bean
    John McQueeney
    Leslie Robnett

  • District 98: Giovanni Capriglione

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Brad Schofield

  • District 99: Charlie Geren

    Voted to kill school choice? Yes
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Jack Reynolds

  • District 108: Morgan Meyer

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Barry Wernick

  • District 112: Angie Chen Button

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Chad Carnahan

  • District 119: Incumbent Democrat Elizabeth Campos

    Voted to kill school choice? Yes
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Republican Challengers:
    Brandon Grable
    Dan Sawatzki

  • District 121: Steve Allison

    Voted to kill school choice? Yes
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challengers:
    Marc LaHood
    Michael Champion

  • District 128: Briscoe Cain

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Bianca Gracia

  • District 133: Mano Deayala

    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    John Perez

  • District 138: Lacey Hull
    Voted to kill school choice? No
    Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes

    Challenger:
    Jared Woodfill

    • Sources:

  • List of Texas state house races
  • School choice vote role call
  • Paxton impeachment vote roll call
  • Ballot information for the 2024 election.

    • I’m still missing a few candidate websites, so if you note any errors or omissions, let me know in the comments below.

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    Posted in Democrats, Regulation, Republicans, Texas, Uncategorized | 7 Comments »

    One Down: State Rep. Kyle Kacal Declines Reelection Bid

    Monday, November 27th, 2023

    Remember how a group of Republican state representatives helped kill school choice in this year’s fourth special session?

    Rep. Kyle Kacal (R-College Station) was one of them. He also:

  • Voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton.
  • Voted to create a “Office of Health Equity Policy” in the Texas Department of State Health Services.
  • Voted against banning taxpayer-funded lobbying.

    • Fortunately, we’re no longer going to have him around to do Dade Phalen’s bidding in killing conservative legislation.

    Exactly two weeks before the filing deadline for the Texas primary election, state Rep. Kyle Kacal (R-College Station) announced he would not seek re-election to the state House.

    The decision is a reversal of his announcement in September that he would seek a seventh term.

    The six-term lawmaker characterized Texas as the “envy of the nation” and expressed satisfaction with his record in the Legislature.

    Well, that makes one person satisfied with his record.

    Republican Ben Bius forced Kacal into a runoff in the March 2022 Republican primary. Bius even had the endorsement of outgoing Rep. Ben Leman (R-Anderson).

    Kacal voted for the impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton. He also voted for an amendment by Rep. John Raney (R-Bryan) to remove education savings accounts from the public education bill currently under consideration in the fourth special session. Critics of the plan say education savings accounts are operationally the same as vouchers.

    During the 87th Legislature in 2021, Kacal joined Democrats and only eight other Republicans to back the expansion of Medicaid.

    There were 21 Republicans voting against school choice. Andrew Murr already announced he wasn’t seeking. That leaves twenty more that need to be retired, one way or another.

    The 20th, of course, is Dade Phalen…

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    Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | 6 Comments »

    Mailers. I Get Mailers.

    Monday, May 28th, 2012

    If you’re wondering what this election year is like in Williamson County, I’ve saved all the political flyers I’ve gotten. As usual, click to embiggen.

    The most mail I’ve gotten has been for the Lisa Birkman vs. Lee Ann Seitsinger race (which is going to be very close), and the Seitsinger piece comparing Birkman to Obama is probably the most ridiculous attack mailer I’ve received (unless I get one from Dewhurst pushing the amnesty lie tomorrow). Next would probably be Jana Duty vs. John Bradley for the Williamson County District Attorney race, and the State Senate District 5 (Charles Schwertner vs. Ben Bius) and House District 136 (Tony Dale vs. Paul Matthews) all ranking ahead of the U.S. Senate race. I don’t think I’ve received a single flyer from Tom Leppert or Craig James.

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    Posted in Austin, Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »

    One More Reason to Vote for Charles Schweitner Over Ben Bius

    Sunday, May 27th, 2012

    I’ve already mentioned that, despite having voted for Ben Bius against Steve Ogden in 2010, I wasn’t inclined to vote for Bius over Charles Schwertner in the Senate District 5 race. However, even if I weren’t so inclined, the news that Schwertner supports Governor Perry’s Budget Compact, while Bius opposes it, would be enough for me to vote for Schwertner over Bius.

    I don’t want to oversell the budget compact. Getting Republicans to agree to it is the first step of a long (and no doubt frequently painful) process to get it implemented, and I don’t imagine that it will be the absolute “game changer” some have made it out to. And even if passed, it could all be undone in a single legislative session (especially if Democrats ever get their act together in Texas). But if it doesn’t yet create the ratchets for long-term control of the state government’s size, budget, and growth rate, it at least lays the groundwork for those ratchets to be implemented.

    For that reason, among many others, I will be voting for Charles Schwertner (who Perry has endorsed) over Ben Bius in the Senate District 5 race, and urge any readers in SD5 to do the same.

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    Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | 2 Comments »

    LinkSwarm for May 16, 2012

    Wednesday, May 16th, 2012

    All sorts of news bubbling up, reportage of which is in various stages of completion.

  • 49 headless bodies found in Mexico.
  • Bork bork bork.
  • Cherokee genealogist to Elizabeth Warren: “Your ancestors are found in plenty of historical records, and every time, they are found living as white people among other white people. Never are your ancestors ever found living among the Cherokees.”
  • Ten things about Rille Hunter. Words “crazy” and “golddigger” strangely absent. But the fact her father once paid a hitman to kill his own daughter’s horse is plenty weird…
  • Even with a Republican House, spending cuts are still a tough sell. But not as tough as they once were. Baby steps…
  • But high ranking Republicans are still addicted to earmarks.
  • Boehner growing a spine?
  • Holly Hunter has more on Lee Ann Seitsinger’s endorsement of a Democrat.
  • A look at the Senate District 5 race. I supported Ben Bius the last time around, mainly because I thought Steve Ogden had been in the office too long, was dismissive of constituent concerns and insufficiently conservative. This time around, I’m a lot more comfortable with Charles Schwertner’s conservative bonafides than I was with Ogden’s. Schwertner will probably win the race running away.
  • The astrotruf campaign for UT President Bill Powers.
  • The Wisconsin recall effort may be backfiring.
  • Today’s amusing Twitter tag roundup: #Fauxcahontas, #LowerUnderObama”, and #ObamainHistory.

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    Posted in Austin, Border Control, Budget, Crime, Democrats, Republicans, Texas | 2 Comments »

    Republican Primary on Tuesday, March 2: State Senate District 5, Ogden vs. Bius

    Monday, March 1st, 2010

    The State Senate District 5 race pits incumbent Steve Ogden vs. challenger Ben Bius.

    Some news articles on the race:

    • A Statesmen article. Ogden’s semi-slam of the Tea Party movement doesn’t exactly endear himself to me. Yes, I’m sure you can find some Perot and Ron Paul supporters among it’s ranks, but to suggest it’s entirely made up of them is both unwise and politically tone-deaf.
    • The Bryan/College Station Eagle.
    • The Texas Tribune. It seems in the week between the Statesman article and this one, someone gave Odgen a clue-by-four, as he’s reined in his Tea Party criticisms.

    I am irritated by the fact that Ogden’s campaign website features no obvious link for “issues” or “positions.” You would think that would be a pretty fundamental requirement when you’re running for office. Maybe Ogden thinks he’s above such things.

    Ogden is no liberal; he’s been endorsed by the Young Conservative of Texas, among others. But he has been playing up the “old experienced hand” angle. (“Look at me! I’m an insider!”) He also voted against allowing concealed carry on college campuses, and initially supported Rick Perry’s Trans-Texas Corridor boondoggle.

    Bius is generally good on the issues, but I don’t like the fact that he brags about his conservative, budget-cutting ways, then turns around and slags Ogden for derailing a retired teacher cost-of-living adjustment. “I’m for controlling spending, except when it costs me votes.” On the other hand, he gets points for making the ending of inter-generational welfare dependency a centerpiece of his campaign.

    If the Statesman article is to be believed, Ogden has raised about 100x as much campaign money as Bius, which would suggest he’s a shoe-in. However, it’s a bad year for clueless Republican incumbents to dismiss Tea Party voters. Right now I’m leaning toward Bius as being the more conservative candidate.

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    Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | 1 Comment »