Will Newton,
NFIB/Texas Executive Director
NFIB/Texas is pleased to announce a very successful campaign
season for the Texas small business community. With all the results
tallied at the state level, NFIB scored a perfect 100 percent on all
small-business-backed candidates.
The Texas House of Representatives will see 25 new faces as
they begin their next legislative session in January 2015. Among the
newcomers is one returnee with former State Rep. Rodney Anderson winning in
House District 105 in the Irving area. The House will remain solidly
Republican with 98 members and the Democratic caucus will count 52 among their
ranks. NFIB endorsed and played a major role in 28 hotly contested races
in the lower chamber, winning all races. Included in the NFIB endorsement
are nine incoming freshmen representatives-elect.
The Texas Senate will see at least five new senators with
one player yet to be determined when current Senator-turned-State
Comptroller-elect Glenn Hegar resigns his seat and allows the governor to call
a special election to fill Senate District 18. The newbies include
senators-elect Bob Hall (District 2), Paul Bettencourt (District 7), Konni
Burton (District 10), and Van Taylor (District 8). Taylor isn’t necessarily
new to the State Capitol having served the people of House District 66 in
Collin County for several sessions, making him the only incoming state senator
that can be considered “House trained.” Hall defeated current Senator Bob
Deuell in the republican primary in March, Burton replaces Senator Wendy Davis
who ran unsuccessfully for Texas governor, and Bettencourt won the seat of
current Senator, now Lt. Governor-elect Dan Patrick.
Statewide, NFIB was perfect in our endorsements for
Governor-elect Greg Abbott, Lt. Governor-elect Dan Patrick, Comptroller-elect
Glenn Hegar, and Attorney General-elect Ken Paxton. Fortunately, Patrick,
Hegar and Paxton are perennial NFIB Champions of Small Business having received
the NFIB Guardian of Small Business Awards after successfully defending your
right to own, operate and grow your business. Governor-elect Abbott has
time and again demonstrated his belief in the free enterprise system in his
work as Texas attorney general, including his staunch support of NFIB in our
Supreme Court challenge to the Affordable Care Act in NFIB v. Sebelius.
Although we lost a 5-4 split decision with SCOTUS, we developed a strong
working relationship and steadfast friendship with Governor-elect Abbott.
Thanks to your strong support, we helped push these pro-business candidates
over the finish line and positioned our state to continue to be a great place
to own, operate and grow a small business. We know these NFIB-endorsed
candidates will be strong voices for the small business community in Texas, and
we look forward to working with each of them in 2015!
