State Rep. Dan Huberty (R-Kingwood), a longtime ally of outgoing House Speaker Joe Straus, has spent almost the entirety of the primary season attempting to stifle his opposition in court.
Reginald Grant, who announced his candidacy against Huberty last year, is being challenged in court by Huberty over his eligibility to run in State House District 127.
Grant is a Marine Corps veteran, former Republican National Convention Delegate and State Delegate, Harris County Republican Party Precinct Chair, and a former YCT President at Texas Southern University.
The argument stems from a divorce that Grant is currently litigating. As a result of that divorce, Grant’s wife currently lives in the house that they own within District 127, but Grant temporarily moved out in mid-2017 in order to honor the court ruling. He moved in with his father for the time being, who lives slightly outside of the district. However, Grant still receives mail to his house within the district, owns the property he lived in, and has his voter registration and licenses registered in that district.
Grant has spent his campaign making this issue clear to the constituents in HD 127.
None of this was enough to stop Huberty from manipulating his conservative challenger’s personal issue in order to benefit.
Earlier this year, a Harris County district court judge ruled in favor of Huberty. The case was never sent to a jury.
In an interview, Grant said that this decision is not final, and that he is confident that he and his team will be able to appeal the decision in court this summer.
This hasn’t deterred Huberty. He has spent the campaign spreading fake news, saying that Grant has been “disqualified” from running and will be ineligible to serve if elected, none of which is currently true.
Grant said that he had decided to run after hearing Huberty fed Harris County Republicans, and his constituents lies. After each session, Huberty would come home and promise to be “more conservative” in the next session. His three straight ratings of “F” on the Fiscal Responsibility Index show that this never came to fruition.
“[We were] tired of hearing the same old, same old. We want him to retire with Straus,” Grant stated.
Despite an uphill battle, Grant continues to campaign as hard as ever. He is active on social media, attends various events, and meets constituents across the district. He remains “pretty positive.”
Huberty’s attempt to undermine a primary opponent who has the values and credentials to beat him only further shows that he is a denizen of the swamp who will do anything to remain in office.
