CORINTH, Texas—After serving only one term in office a state lawmaker is embroiled in a tough re-election fight from a candidate who doesn’t shy away from them.
Sanger veterinarian Lynn Stucky entered politics in 2016 when he filed to run for the open seat being vacated by liberal incumbent State Rep. Myra Crownover (R—Lake Dallas). Conservatives had much to be wary about given not only his curious record of city contracts, but also the issues he chose to campaign on.
First up was Stucky’s role as veterinarian for the City of Sanger’s animal shelter which turned out to be anything but a safe haven for vulnerable animals.
In 2010, CBS 11 investigated the City of Sanger’s animal shelter that was run under contract by Stucky. CBS 11 reviewed the records and found that over 900 animals were euthanized at the facility. During the investigation, Stucky was asked if the city was putting down animals that really should have been adopted out.
“That’s a great question,” said Stucky in an interview. “They tried very hard to adopt animals.”
However, records showed a different story. From 2006-2010 only two animals were adopted.
Next was his pledge to fight against the free speech of Texans should he be elected. On his website prior to the 2016 election, Stucky said he would “stand up to the powerful dark money interests and outside PACs and lobbyists who have hijacked our political system.” This is the language of the left and used to attack conservative speech. But despite Stucky’s red flags, voters sent him to Austin over a conservative option.
Before he even came to Austin, Stucky had already allied himself with the PACs and lobbyists he’d vowed to fight—and betrayed the interests of his own constituents—by accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from PACs and Austin special interests.
According to Transparency Texas’s compilation of Stucky’s campaign finance reports, Stucky has taken more than $161,000 from lobbyists and PACs already, and that doesn’t include any contributions from this Fall. Those won’t be available until next week.
The Austin lobby invested in Stucky and he delivered. On vote after vote he repeatedly sided with the corrupt leadership of the Texas House and the Austin Cartel over taxpayers—earning an “F” rating on the Fiscal Responsibility Index.
When the spotlight was on the obvious issues such as eliminating sanctuary cities, Stucky was savvy enough to avoid taking particularly perilous votes, but his body of work leaves much to be desired for taxpayers.
Most egregious was his decision to back a proposal to institute a “granny tax” on nursing home residents that would have concealed a rate increase on senior citizens and their families. That bill passed the House with Stucky’s support—despite a majority of Republicans voting in opposition.
Thankfully the legislation died in the Texas Senate.
For those reasons and more, Stucky is being challenged in the Republican Primary by Marine Corps combat veteran Mark Roy who has been endorsed by Texans for Fiscal Responsibility.
“We’re taking the fight right to him,” said Roy, a lieutenant colonel with three combat tours. “We’re spreading our positive message of conservative reform and pointing out where his record doesn’t match his rhetoric.”
One local citizen told Texas Scorecard he was supporting Roy simply because Stucky hadn’t been a conservative fighter in Austin.
“Lynn told us he was going to fight property tax raisers in Austin, but our bills keep going up,” he said. “Property taxes are our number one issue here in Denton County and he has done nothing to fix them.”
A relatively safe Republican district, the March 6th Republican Primary between Stucky and Roy will likely decide who represents House District 64 in the Texas House.
This article is part of Texas Scorecard’s “On the Trail Tour” series. To view more field reports on campaigns across the state of Texas, visit our website here.
Zach Maxwell and Brandon Waltens contributed to this report.
