After making it to a runoff, State Rep. Kevin Roberts was soundly defeated in his congressional bid by retired Navy SEAL Dan Crenshaw, with Crenshaw earning nearly 70% of the vote in the election.
Roberts served one term in the Texas House before beginning his failed campaign for the 2nd Congressional District seat vacated by retiring Congressman Ted Poe (R–TX).
After an introduction from Houston talk radio czar Michael Berry, Crenshaw thanked a crowd of supporters for their support at his election night party, evoking a quote from Ronald Reagan, “the greatest leader is not necessarily the leader that does the greatest things. He’s the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.”
With a failing record on the Fiscal Responsibility Index, Roberts had little to show for the one term of “experience” he often touted as the differentiating factor between him and his opponent.
In fact, the piece of legislation Roberts referred to as the “most important bill he filed” last session, which would have banned fireworks in other members’ districts, was defeated in spectacular fashion, 23-111.
During his short time in office, Roberts was in conflict with conservatives throughout the session, voting with Democrats to kill property tax reform, voting to kill a state spending limit bill pushed by Gov. Greg Abbott, and voting to create a “granny tax” on nursing home residents.
Crenshaw will face Democrat candidate Todd Linton in the November general election. Congressional District 2 which includes Kingwood, and much of East Houston is thought to be a reliably red district.
