Confirming rumors reported earlier this week by Texas Scorecard, Midland City Councilman J. Ross Lacy announced his bid for the 11th Congressional District seat held by retiring Congressman Mike Conaway.
Lacy withdrew from his re-election bid to city council on Tuesday and quietly began sending text message invitations to his supporters for his campaign announcement event that was held Thursday at Rock Hound Stadium in Midland.
Standing before his supporters, Lacy took a hard stance on many national political issues, including the national debt.
Texas Scorecard has previously reported on Lacy’s record on the Midland City Council as having proposed the largest debt increase in Midland history.
Kimberly Crisp, who was running against Lacy for his council seat, responded to the news of Lacy leaving his re-election campaign in a statement on Facebook, saying that while she was surprised to hear of Congressman Conaway retiring from the seat, she wasn’t surprised that Lacy had decided to run for the open seat.
Crisp will continue her campaign for Lacys’ seat, but stated she anticipates a candidate being drafted to challenger her.
“I am going to continue to battle against the attempts of the establishment to preserve the status quo. I will keep fighting to bring accountability for taxpayers and to end the wasteful spending that groups like the MDC and Priority Midland are engaging in,” Crisp posted.
A project of the Midland Economic Development Corporation and the Midland City Council, Priority Midland recently incensed Midland citizens by hiring a consultant firm headed by retired General Stanley McCrystal. McCrystal has made national news for his strong anti-Trump rhetoric and gun-control advocacy. As a city councilman, J. Ross Lacy has supported the Priority Midland project, which has paid the McCrystal Group around $2 million in taxpayer funds.
First elected to city council in 2014, Lacy graduated from Lee High School in Midland and later obtained a BBA in finance from the University of Texas at the Permian Basin. Lacy is reported to be the head of Lacy Oil Corp. and has been heavily involved in the local Republican Party.
The only other person to publicly express interest in running for the seat is Aubrey Mayberry of Odessa, a Republican Party precinct chair who works in the energy industry.
