32 Days Until The Filing Deadline - How Many Republicans Are Still Unopposed?

We can do this, Texas and we have 32 days to find candidates for these open seats.

Last night, I met with several organizations recruiting candidates to run against unopposed Republicans. We are dwindling them down. I can’t tell you all the candidates because many haven’t announced their campaigns yet. More importantly, we need to discuss which seats are still open.

Over the next month, I’ll discuss these races in greater detail.

If you’re thinking of running for office or know someone who is, I’ll list resources at the bottom of this article to help you get started.

State Board of Education.

These are essential elections that never get enough attention. However, the gravity of these officials cannot be understated. These people decide what goes in your child’s school books. Earlier this year, insurrectionist School Board member Julie Pickren was trying to get PragerU implemented in Texas schools. We only need to flip three seats on the SBOE for Democrats to have a majority.

SBOE district map.

SBOE10, SBOE11, and SBOE15 are up for grabs. These Republicans are running unopposed. While 15 may be challenging for a Democratic candidate, 10 and 11 can flip with the right candidate.

Congress.

Did you know you don’t have to live in the Congressional district you’re running for in Texas? Of course, it probably matters to voters, and you’ll have to work in the district to get the votes, but if you live a block away from the district line, it doesn’t matter—food for thought.

TX02, currently held by Dan Crenshaw, has no Democratic challenger. This district is flippable despite the gerrymandering, especially if we see a high Democratic turnout next year.

TX04, currently held by Pat Fallon, has no challenger yet. There’s a rumor that Fallon is considering leaving Congress and running for his old Texas Senate seat. Regardless, we need a Democrat running in TX04.

TX11, held by August Pfluger, needs a Democrat running. Did you know that Pflugerville was named after August Pfluger’s ancestor? He probably was a jackass, too. Pfluger’s big thing in Congress is how much he hates immigrants, and he regularly spreads lies and misinformation about the border.

TX13 is currently held by the drunk, embarrassing Trump bootlicker Ronny Jackson. TX13 is gerrymandered to be held by Republicans. It’s a long shot, but Ronny Jackson is a traitor to America and had a front-row seat to Trump’s coup. We shouldn’t let him run unopposed.

TX14, currently held by Randy Weber, I believe can be flipped before 2030. If, in 2024, we see a massive blue wave in Texas, like we’ve seen all around the country recently, we can flip this seat, too. Of course, it’s a coin-flip and will depend on how Democrats can galvanize their base over the next year.

TX17, currently held by Pete Sessions, is also up for grabs. It is my opinion that Pete Sessions is the most racist congressman in Texas. That should speak volumes, considering it’s Texas.

TX19 is currently held by Jodey Arrington, who, for some reason, reminds me of Frodo Baggins. This is another West Texas seat that will be a hard flip because of gerrymandering. However, Arrington participated in Trump’s coup and shouldn’t be unopposed.

TX36, held by Brian Babin, really needs a challenger. Babin, also an insurrectionist and Trump bootlicker, is a pathological liar. If you pay any attention to him, you’ll notice all he does is go on TV and social media and tell lies. He’s terrible.

Texas Senate.

SD08 is currently held by Angela Paxton. Collin County, please don’t let me down. Angela Paxton is Bonnie, and Ken Paxton is Clyde. Two corrupt criminals use public office to gain power and riches. Let’s take her out of the equation, and next cycle, we can take her husband out (if he isn’t in prison by then).

SD12, currently held by Tan Parker, is up for grabs. Did you know that Parker originally hailed from Philadelphia? One of our carpetbagger Senators, Parker, has worked hard to take away the rights of Black and brown Texans. This district is spread between Dallas, Tarrant, and Denton counties. Between the three of them, we should be able to find a candidate… right?

SD17 is held by the ageless Joan Huffman. Even though she’s an awful person, I am always so entertained watching her because she pushes racist and oppressive legislation but always does it with a smile on her face and a sweet attitude. It’s incredibly fake. Plus, she’s always flirting with Dan Patrick in the Senate sessions. She has to go.

SD25, currently held by Donna Campbell, needs a Democratic challenger. Campbell is supposed to be a doctor. However, she does not subscribe to the mantra “do not harm,” as she has spent her entire legislative career harming people. Let’s not let her run unopposed.

Texas House.

HD03, currently held by Cecil Bell, needs a Democratic challenger. Did you know that Bell is a multi-millionaire? Like many other multi-millionaires in the House, Bell focuses on legislation to enrich himself and his peer group.

HD05 is held by Cole Hefner. In 2021, Hefner had a public affair with Houston Representative Lacey Hull. This father of eight made it to Barstool Sports after leaked text messages indicated Hull was pegging the married man. During the last legislative session, Hefner was responsible for the bill that sent chaplains to public schools instead of counselors.

HD08 is Cody Harris’ seat. Harris is your typical East Texas hillbilly who votes lock-step with all of the oppressive and racist bills that come from the Republican party. Harris was the man we saw Representative Walle yelling at in the recent viral video over the “Show Me Your Papers” bill.

HD09 is currently held by Trent Ashby. I can’t tell you a lot about Ashby because, in the Texas House, he basically serves as furniture. Maybe he’s just a background character or an NPC. He is not popular, nor is he ever the author of key legislation, but he votes with the rest of them.

HD10 is Brian Harrison’s district. Rumors have swirled that Harrison might try to take on Jake Elzey in the Congressional primaries, but he hasn’t said anything directly about it. Harrison is a media whore with a loud mouth that spends most of his time on NewsMax, lying about whatever the reactionary topic is of the moment.

HD11, currently held by Travis Clardy, needs a Democratic candidate. HD11 encompasses Nacogdoches, which has a good solid Democratic population. Clardy has had challengers in the past, but he’s still around. During the 87th Legislative session, he tested positive for COVID-19 but felt fine and went to work anyway.

HD12, held by Kyle Kacal, is also up for grabs. I can’t tell you a lot about Kacal other than the Republican establishment seems to hate him and calls him a “RINO.” Unpopular candidates should be easy to run against, even in red districts.

HD13 is Angelia Orr’s district. When Orr first ran for office, the About section on her website talked more about her husband than it did her. I pointed that out way back then, and she’s since changed it. However, she left us all with the impression that she doesn’t have a mind of her own and does what her husband tells her.

HD15 is the New Yorker Steve Toth’s seat. Toth recently refused to denounce Nazism and white supremacy due to his political contributions from Jonathan Stickland. He was also the author of the anti-CRT bill and refused to denounce white supremacy in the 87th Legislature.

HD17, currently held by Stan Gerdes, is up for grabs. Gerdes ran his campaign on saving Confederate statues. I don’t know what to say about him other than he’s pro-Confederate.

HD18 is Ernest Bailes’ seat. Bailes is a wrangling-wearing, straw-in-his-mouth type of country boy. Bailes is another House millionaire whose primary focus in the Legislature has been enriching himself and his buddies.

HD20, currently held by Terry Wilson, needs a Democrat running. Williamson County went blue in 2020; I expect it to go blue again in 2024. Wilson isn’t anything special, just another rank-and-file Republican.

HD21 is Speaker Dade Phelan’s district. This district covers old Ku Klux Klan safe havens like Vidor and Jasper. A Democrat hasn’t run here in many years. This seat will be hard to flip, but we need to put up a fight.

HD23 is held by Teri Leo-Wilson, not to be confused with Terry Wilson. Leo-Wilson is Valoree Swanson’s arch-enemy and has given us plenty of entertainment this last session. However, she’s a terrible legislator.

HD24, currently held by Greg Bonnen, needs a Democratic candidate. Bonnen is the brother of the disgraced former Speaker Dennis Bonnen. Greg Bonnen is a doctor, but like the other Republican doctors in the Legislature, he uses his title to hurt marginalized communities.

HD30 is held by Geanie Morrison. However, she announced today that she won’t be running for reelection. This is a perfect opportunity for a rising star to make some waves.

HD31 is the traitor Ryan Guillen’s district. He used to be a Democrat, then he got millions of dollars to switch, and now he’s the Hispanic face of every racist bill the GOP pushes about the border.

HD33, currently held by Justin Holland, encompasses Rockwall County and a tiny sliver of Collin County. Holland is relatively moderate, which the Republican establishment hates. He needs an opponent.

HD43 is held by J. M. Lozano. This district is 63% Hispanic and would be served well under a solid Democrat who works for their constituent’s best interest.

HD58, held by DeWayne Burns, is over Johnson and Hood County. Usually, this area would be an uphill battle for any Democrat, but this week, Granbury defeated all book burners running for their school board. It gives me hope for this area.

HD59 is currently held by Shelby Slawson. She is one of Valoree Swanson’s minions and does whatever Swanson says. Slawson had an alleged extramarital affair with Representative Jared Patterson in the 87th Legislature. By the 88th Legislature, Slawson no longer wore her wedding ring, but she spent every committee hearing scrolling on her phone and ignoring the meeting.

HD64 is held by Lynn Stucky, who wears a brown sports coat with dark brown leather elbows. I want to tell you something different about these Reps, but Stucky is just more of the same.

HD69, currently held by James Frank, also needs a Democratic challenger. Frank has been in the Texas House for ten years, and I can’t tell you one meaningful thing he’s done.

HD71 is Stan Lambert’s district. Lambert is not a lion. He’s more like a mouse. He squeaks in the background while the star Republicans make all the moves. He’s 70 years old and has been in office for six years.

HD73 is held by the genius Carrie Isaac. Why is she a genius? See the video below. Also, she’s married to ex-legislator and now lobbyist Jason Isaac.

HD83, currently held by Dustin Burrows, is up for grabs. Burrows is the millionaire who wrote the Death Star Bill last session, which stripped cities of local control and ensured the state would mandate local laws. The courts overturned that overreaching bill.

HD84, held by Carl Depper, desperately needs Democratic representation. Tepper moved to Texas from New York to write racist legislation to hurt native Texans. Tepper was responsible for the anti-DEI bill earlier this year.

HD85 is Stan Kitzman’s district. Kitzman’s presence in the Legislature is a testament to the tragedy of gerrymandering. His district includes Fort Bend County, the most diverse county in Texas. Yet, Kitzman votes with the other Republicans on all of the GOP’s racist priorities.

HD86 is John Smithee’s district. Although Smithee has been in office for nearly 40 years, he didn’t become well known until this year, when he gave a speech against Ken Paxton’s impeachment, and Dan Patrick sang his praises when putting Tim Dunn’s $3 million at work.

HD87 is held by Four Price, who is retiring this year to spend more time with his son, Five. This is an Amarillo district, which will be red. Democrats should always try and put up a fight, even when it’s an uphill battle.

HD88 is currently held by Ken King, another panhandle district. The Legislature had Tracy King, Ken King, and Phil King. It gets confusing, but they all suck.

HD91 is held by another one of Valoree Swanson’s minions, Candy Noble. Noble does everything Swanson tells her, and when they are caught on camera together, she always looks at Swanson with googly eyes.

HD96, held by David Cook, needs fair representation. Cook is the former Mansfield mayor, so he has clout with low-informed voters, but his scandals are as long as his political career. Mansfield, like South Arlington, is headed blue and deserves fair representation.

HD97 is Craig Goldman’s district. Goldman announced recently that he would be running for TX12 instead of HD97. There was a Democratic candidate for this seat, but he recently pulled out and threw his hat in for TX12, too.

HD98, currently held by Giovanni Capriglione, is in desperate need of an anti-racist Democrat. This district includes Southlake, Colleyville, and Keller. If you’ve heard the NBC podcasts, you know there are serious issues with racism in this Tarrant County area.

HD121 is held by Steve Allison, who is pushing 80 but vows to stay in office until he’s 100. Someone considered this San Antonio seat, but he has since pulled out.

HD122 is another San Antonio district in need of Democratic representation. This district is currently held by Mark Dorazio, who has recently been involved with the Defend Texas Liberty/Nick Fuentes scandal. Tim Dunn likes Dorazio.

HD126, currently held by Sam Harless, is up for grabs. Harless hasn’t had a Democratic challenger in many years. It’s way past time.

HD127 is held by Charles Cunningham. He’s a Black Republican in the age of anti-CRT and anti-DEI.

HD129, held by Dennis Paul, needs a Democratic challenger. Paul has been in office for nine years and played a part in all of the worst legislation that went through the Legislature over the last decade.

HD150 is Valoree Swanson’s district. Swanson acts like a mafia boss with all the other Republican women in the Texas House. Aside from Leo-Wilson and Orr, Swanson is the one calling all the shots when it comes to what Republican women do. She’s even been known to threaten these ladies and their spouses to get her way.

Official filing to run starts on November 11.

And it goes until December 11. We have fewer open seats than we did in the last election cycle, but as you can see, we need more.

If all of the current trends hold through the year, in 2024, we will see a massive underperformance from Texas Republicans and an overperformance from Texas Democrats.

But we have to have candidates on the ballot for Democratic voters to vote for. Not all of these seats will be flippable, but the more Democrats on the ticket, the more motivated the voters will be.

Here are resources to help you get started:

• The Texas Democratic Party’s new program for training and candidate resources is Lone Star Rising.

• If you’re young and progressive (I love you), Run For Something will help you with all stages of your campaign.

• Blue Horizons Texas will help you every step of the way if you’re considering running in a red or rural district.

• If you’re a member of the LGBTQ community, make sure to reach out to the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund.

• Are you a woman? You can get help running for office from Emily’s List.

• And as soon as possible, contact your County Party to get them on board with your campaign.

Even if running for office isn’t something for you, share this because perhaps someone you know was considering this. We can flip Texas, but it will take all of us. Voter turnout is the most important thing, but we have to have the candidates for voters to vote for in the first place.

If you are considering running or know someone who is and needs more information on open seats or how to get started, feel free to contact me. I’d be glad to help.

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