Posts Tagged ‘Mihaela Plesa’

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.