The primary elections in Texas have become akin to an old western. The campaigns are long, drawn-out mini battles, showing displays of who’s better at saving the damsel in distress (Texas) and who has the fastest draw (who can outsmart whom). In the end, it generally comes down to a duel and the one with the best gun (most money) and who fired first (had the last word) wins. After the dust settled in this campaign season’s “old western,” NFIB/Texas (the Sherriff) is pleased with the results and can rest easy knowing that mostly all of the business friendly incumbent legislators will mosey back into town again next session.
NFIB/Texas endorsed five Texas House races in this primary—all are NFIB members and all scored 100% with us.
Kyle Kacal—HD 12
John Raney—HD 14
John Cyrier—HD 17
Doug Miller—HD 73
Charlie Geren—HD 99
Kacal, Raney, Cyrier and Geren all won handily. Doug Miller, however, finds himself in a run-off with another small business owner. Miller’s opponent is Kyle Biedermann and he owns an ACE Hardware in Fredericksburg. NFIB/Texas has endorsed Miller because as an incumbent he has a full record that reflects support for small business.
All of NFIB’s nationally endorsed candidates with primary races won: Louie Gohmert, Sam Johnson, John Ratcliffe, Joe Barton, John Culberson, Kevin Brady, Randy Weber, Bill Flores, Lamar Smith, Michael Burgess, Blake Farenthold, Henry Cuellar, John Carter, Pete Sessions, and William Hurd.
All of our Small Biz 100 (those who voted with NFIB/TX 100% this session) who had primaries, won—with the exception of the following:
- State Rep. Marsha Farney (Georgetown)
- State Rep. Molly White (Temple)—Hugh Shine scraped by with a win over White. While NFIB lost a 100%er, we’re confident Shine will be supportive of NFIB’s initiatives as he was a former member of the Texas House years ago and is pro-business.
- State Rep. Wayne Smith (Baytown)—he faces a run-off
- State Rep. Debbie Riddle (Tomball)—she didn’t have a score calculated this year because she was in a hearing during a key NFIB vote, but she’s always been a 100%er with NFIB/TX. She served the House for many years and lost by a narrow margin.
Guardian award winner Speaker Joe Straus won by a large margin.
In the U.S. presidential primaries Ted Cruz (R) and Hillary Clinton (D) won Texas.
There will be a run-off for both the Democrat and Republican bid for Railroad Commissioner. Overall, there are 10 run-offs in the Texas House and two in the Texas Senate.
GREAT NEWS: Prop 3 on the Republican ballot—whether government should be allowed to deduct dues for union membership from public employee paychecks—passed overwhelmingly. Over two million Texas voters agreed that this current practice should be terminated, and that government should have no role in the union membership dues process.
BAD NEWS: Referenda item #1 on the Democrat ballot—relating to “economic stability and prosperity” (aka: mandated minimum wage, paid leave, paycheck fairness) passed overwhelmingly. Over one million Texas voters want to push these mandates on employers.
The Run-Off date is May 24th. Early voting for the run-offs are May 16-20. NFIB/Texas encourages all of its members to get out and vote if your district has a run-off. Check out the election night returns here.
It’s on to the general elections now, the final battle, until this old western can finally read “The End.”
