Republican runoff candidate Keresa Richardson is all in on a new conservative Contract with Texas to reform the state House rules and elect a “real” Republican speaker.
Richardson, who is challenging freshman State Rep. Frederick Frazier of McKinney in the GOP primary runoff for House District 61, publicly praised the plan on social media soon after its release Monday.
“Great work … I agree 100%!” she posted on X.
Richardson has since signed the contract along with several other Republican runoff candidates.
The Contract with Texas, originally signed by five current state representatives and eight March primary winners, proposes a dozen reforms promising to “improve the integrity, transparency, and efficiency of the House.”
Richardson already signed a similar contract created last year by Collin County conservative activists.
The Republican Contract with Texas, created by the grassroots network Collin Strong, includes many of the same reforms found in the new House contract.
At the top of both lists is electing a speaker who will put Republican Party legislative priorities first and will appoint only Republicans as committee chairs.
The Collin Strong contract also lists several priority issues that signers commit to act on during next year’s legislative session.
Collin Strong’s president, Brian Newman, told Texas Scorecard, “The Contract with Texas represents our top goals for the session. It is a useful tool for our elected officials to use in order to stay on the path and to remember their mission and the constituents they work for.”
Newman founded the grassroots network in 2018 to maintain and grow conservative Republican influence in the county.
He said the contract written by his group “brings focus to an elected official’s daily activities.”
“We live in a world of distractions, and people who don’t have a plan quickly fail. Our state capitols are no exception. Elected officials who don’t publicly commit to a course of principled action will be overcome by evil,” he said.
Frazier has not responded to a request for comment on whether he would sign either contract.
In the past, Frazier has defended Speaker Dade Phelan—who was Frazier’s top campaign contributor in 2022 ($171,949) and is his second-largest contributor so far in the 2024 election cycle ($116,750 as of February). Frazier has also argued that Democrat committee chairs are necessary to pass bipartisan legislation.
The former McKinney City Councilman’s first term in Austin has been mired in scandal, including criminal investigations into his vandalizing a 2022 primary opponent’s campaign signs that resulted in misdemeanor charges and two felony indictments.
After finally admitting to multiple crimes, Frazier retired from the Dallas Police Department in December with a dishonorable discharge rather than face possible termination. He was the subject of an ongoing internal investigation and had been placed on the Brady List of officers considered not credible when testifying at a trial.
State Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R–Arlington), one of the original signers of the new contract, has called for a House investigation into Frazier’s conduct.
Tinderholt posted on X last week that he was still waiting for a response to his January request for an investigation.
He and other House members who drafted the new Contract with Texas are inviting all representatives to sign on.
In addition to Richardson, other Republican runoff candidates who have signed the contract include Cheryl Bean, Ben Bius, David Covey, Andy Hopper, Helen Kerwin, AJ Louderback, David Lowe, Katrina Pierson, and Alan Schoolcraft.
Primary runoff elections will be held on May 28.
