Currently represented by Stephanie Klick (R-Fort Worth), House District 91 is in Tarrant County.
Klick, who has a Fiscal Responsibility Index rating of 54 and came under fire in the 87th Legislative Session for killing legislation that would protect children from gender mutilation, faces local conservative activist David Lowe.
Stephanie Klick
As HD 91’s incumbent state representative, Klick earned a rating of 74 from the Young Conservatives of Texas, a 100 from Texas Right to Life, and the aforementioned 54 from Texans for Fiscal Responsibility.
According to the most recent campaign finance data, Klick has received more than $950,000 during this runoff election campaign. Her largest donor is House Speaker Dade Phelan, who gave more than $235,000 in in-kind contributions to Klick’s campaign. The Texans for Responsible Government political action committee, funded by Abbott mega-donor Michael Porter, also donated $25,000 to Klick. She maintains more than $100,000 cash on hand.
Klick was the first Texas House member to receive Gov. Greg Abbott’s endorsement. She has also received the endorsements of Texas Right to Life, Texas Values Action, Texas Home School Coalition, the National Federation of Independent Business, the National Rifle Association, Texans for Lawsuit Reform, and the Texas Association of REALTORS.
David Lowe
A veteran who also served in the criminal justice field, Lowe has been active in local politics for the last several years, including as the North Texas regional director of the Texas GOP.
Based on data from the Texas Ethics Commission, Lowe has raised more than $260,000 throughout the runoff election and currently has less than $6,000 cash on hand. Lowe’s largest donor is the Defend Texas Liberty PAC at $81,000. Defend Texas Liberty has also given more than $140,000 in in-kind contributions to fund campaign activities such as block walking. Otherwise, Lowe seems to be running a grassroots campaign, with many donors giving anywhere from $5 to $500.
Lowe has received the endorsements of Abolish Abortion Texas, Texas Gun Rights, Free the States, as well as grassroots organizations such as Grassroots America –We The People. True Texas Project has recommended Lowe, and a multitude of grassroots leaders have endorsed him.
The Issues
For the past several weeks, Texas Scorecard has been questioning all legislative runoff candidates on issues important to voters as they head to the polls.
On the issue of Democrat committee chairs in the Republican-majority Texas House, Lowe confirmed he is against the practice, while Klick declined to respond. Notably, Klick voted against an amendment in the last legislative session that would have ended the practice of awarding House committee chairmanships to Democrats.
Regarding extending the protections for girls’ sports to women’s collegiate-level athletics, both Klick and Lowe support such a move by the Legislature.
As property taxes continue to skyrocket, Klick supports buying down property taxes using the state surplus to eventually eliminate property taxes altogether. Meanwhile, Lowe acknowledges that appraisals cause half the problem with rising property taxes and wants to freeze the current appraisals and then audit all school districts—since school maintenance and operation taxes make up more than half of each property tax bill.
Protecting parental rights in education by prohibiting dangerous sexual and gender ideologies from being taught in K-3 classrooms is an issue Lowe supports. Klick declined to comment.
As the border invasion continues, the federal government refuses to enforce existing immigration statutes and continues releasing mass numbers of illegal aliens into the United States rather than defending the southern border. Lowe is supportive of Texas acting to stem the tide of illegal border crossers and re-establish order on the border. Klick did not respond to Texas Scorecard’s inquiry on the matter.
Lowe supports closing the loopholes in Texas obscenity laws that currently allow for pornographic materials in school libraries for “educational” purposes. Klick did not respond.
Lowe says he supports ending corporate welfare—-taxpayer-funded tax breaks and subsidies to large corporations—and allowing the free market to determine who wins and loses in the marketplace. Klick did not respond.
Vaccine mandates continue to be handed down by colleges and businesses. Lowe opposes vaccine mandates, while Klick declined to respond.
Election Day
The winner of the Republican runoff will win the November election by default since there is not a Democrat challenger. Election Day for the runoff is Tuesday, May 24. Early voting is ongoing this week.
