House District 84 encompasses part of Lubbock County, with State Rep. John Frullo (R–Lubbock) currently representing HD 84. Frullo chose not to run for re-election.
The runoff election will see either attorney David Glasheen or former Lubbock County Republican Party Chairman Carl Tepper win the GOP nomination.
David Glasheen
A veteran, judge adjutant general (JAG) officer, and Lubbock attorney, David Glasheen is active in the local conservative movement.
According to the most recent data from the Texas Ethics Commission, Glasheen has self-funded his campaign to the tune of $950,000 and currently has around $100,000 cash on hand. Glasheen had previously received donations from fellow law firm partners Noe Valles ($10,000) and Chad Inderman ($5,000), as well as $10,000 from Paul Terrill Jr. and $5,000 each from Elaine Brock (Glasheen’s mother) and Mark Griffin (Texas Tech regent). Glasheen also received $500 from the Texas State Association of Fire Fighters and $500 from the Texas Dental Association political action committee.
Glasheen has received the endorsements of the Texas State Association of Fire Fighters and the Lubbock Professional Firefighters Association. Additionally, Glasheen has signed the Texans for Vaccine Choice Pledge to prohibit vaccine mandates and received the recommendation of the grassroots organization True Texas Project.
Carl Tepper
A veteran, real estate professional, and former chairman of the Lubbock County Republican Party, Tepper is a fixture in Lubbock politics.
Based on data from the Texas Ethics Commission, Tepper has raised nearly $750,000 throughout his campaign and currently has around $40,000 cash on hand. Tepper’s largest donor is Texans for Lawsuit Reform, with about $400,000 coming from TLR. State Sen. Charles Perry (R–Lubbock) and the 4 West Texas PAC have each donated $10,000. Recently, the Texans for Responsible Government PAC ($5,000) and the Texas REALTORS PAC ($2,500) also contributed to Tepper’s campaign.
Tepper has been endorsed by Texans for Lawsuit Reform, State Sen. Charles Perry, the 4 West Texas PAC, the Texas Farm Bureau, the Young Conservatives of Texas, the Texas Association of Realtors, the Texas Home School Coalition, Charter Schools Now, the Texas Medical Association (TXPAC), and Governor Greg Abbott.
The Issues
For the past several weeks, Texas Scorecard has been questioning all state legislative runoff candidates on issues important to voters as they head to the polls.
Neither Tepper nor Glasheen responded to Texas Scorecard’s inquiry on whether they would support ending the practice of awarding committee chairmanships to Democrats in the Texas House.
However, both Glasheen and Tepper confirmed that they would support extending the protections for girls’ sports to women’s collegiate athletics in order to protect the competitions from men pretending to be women.
Regarding property taxes, Glasheen is interested in consumption-based taxation over property taxation, whereas Tepper wants appraisal caps for the homestead exemptions to control the rampant increases in property appraisals, which further raise tax bills.
On the issue of protecting parental rights in education by prohibiting teaching dangerous gender and sexual ideologies to elementary-aged children, Glasheen would support such a prohibition, whereas Tepper declined to respond.
Due to federal inaction as the border crisis continues, Glasheen supports Texas taking all legal action to handle the invasion itself. Tepper did not respond to Texas Scorecard’s inquiry.
Glasheen supports closing the loopholes in Texas obscenity laws that allow pornographic books in children’s school libraries. Tepper declined to respond.
Ending corporate welfare—taxpayer-funded tax breaks and subsidies to large corporations—is an issue Glasheen supports. Tepper declined to comment.
Vaccine mandates continue in colleges and businesses throughout Texas. Glasheen supports a prohibition on vaccine mandates, whereas Tepper did not respond to Texas Scorecard’s inquiry.
Election Day
The winner of the Republican runoff on May 24 will win the November general election by default, since there is not a Democrat candidate for HD 84. Early voting for the runoff election is ongoing through May 20.
