House District 61 is newly located in Collin County following redistricting changes and is currently represented by State Rep. Phil King (R–Weatherford), who is now running for state Senate District 10.
Businessman Paul Chabot and former McKinney City Councilman Frederick Frazier will face off in the May 24 runoff election to determine the Republican nominee for HD 61.
Paul Chabot
A veteran, retired deputy sheriff, and founder of multiple real estate businesses, Chabot is active in local politics as the founder of McKinney Conservatives, the Keep Texas Red Super political action committee, and the Coalition for a Drug Free Texas.
According to data from Transparency USA, Chabot’s campaign is mostly funded by himself ($50,000) and fellow Plano real estate developer Cary Platt ($50,000). Additional donations from Chabot’s company Conservative Move ($27,132), as well as donors John Thomas ($22,500) and Anthony Garcia ($10,000), leave Chabot with less than $50,000 cash on hand.
Chabot has received the endorsements of Texas Right to Life, Texas Values Action, Texas Home School Coalition, and Gun Owners of America – Texas. Grassroots organizations such as Collin County Conservative Republicans and Collin County Patriots have also endorsed Chabot, alongside former Texas GOP Chairman Allen West. Chabot has also signed the Texans for Vaccine Choice pledge to end vaccine mandates in Texas.
Frederick Frazier
Frazier is a Dallas police officer—and former McKinney City Councilman and special deputy U.S. marshal—who chairs the Dallas Police Association PAC and has been actively lobbying in Austin for law enforcement priorities.
Based on data from Transparency USA, Frazier’s campaign is mostly funded by Republican PACs and law enforcement organizations. Frazier’s largest donors are the Associated Republicans of Texas ($75,500), the Protect and Serve Texas PAC ($13,132), the Dallas Fire Fighters Public Safety Committee ($11,000), and the Dallas Police Officer’s PAC ($10,000). Establishment organizations such as Texans for Lawsuit Reform and Texans for Responsible Government have given $10,000 donations, as well. Frazier currently has less than $60,000 cash on hand.
Frazier has received the endorsements of Gov. Greg Abbott and President Donald Trump. Trump’s Texas endorsements usually come at the recommendation of Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who also endorsed Frazier. The National Border Patrol Council and multiple law enforcement organizations from across the state have endorsed Frazier, as well. Other endorsements include the Associated Republicans of Texas, Texans for Responsible Government, Texans for Lawsuit Reform, Texas Farm Bureau, and fake pro-life organization Texas Alliance for Life.
The Issues
For the past several weeks, Texas Scorecard has been asking questions about issues voters care about as they head to the polls.
Chabot announced that he is against the practice of awarding House committee chairmanships to Democrats, while Frazier did not respond to Texas Scorecard’s inquiry on the matter. However, in an earlier campaign forum, Frazier said he would vote for a House speaker who appoints Democrats as committee chairs.
On the issue of protecting women’s collegiate athletics from men pretending to be women, Chabot, as the father of three daughters, came out in strong support of the protections. Frazier declined to answer the question.
Regarding property taxes, Chabot proposes allowing people to lock in their current rate/cost for life in order to halt the ascending property taxes for Texans. Frazier did not respond to Texas Scorecard’s inquiry.
Harmful gender ideologies permeating the classrooms of students across the state has many wanting to follow the lead of Florida and enact a similar Parental Rights in Education bill that would prohibit teachers from telling K-3 students about dangerous sexual ideologies. Chabot confirmed that he would support such a bill, while Frazier did not respond.
The current border crisis has been classified as an invasion by both Chabot and Frazier, and they agree the state needs to respond to the situation in the absence of action from the federal government.
Both Chabot and Fraizer have agreed to close the loopholes in Texas obscenity laws to protect children from pornographic materials in school libraries.
Texas has been awarding taxpayer-funded tax breaks and subsidies to large corporations—corporate welfare—and Chabot agrees this needs to stop. Frazier declined to comment.
Chabot and Fraizer agreed that vaccine mandates need to be stopped in the state of Texas, and both say they will support legislation to that effect.
Election Day
The winner of the Republican runoff will face Democrat Sheena King in November. The runoff Election Day is Tuesday, May 24. Early voting begins on May 16.
