Conservative activist Shelley Luther announced she is challenging incumbent Republican State Rep. Reggie Smith to a rematch to represent House District 62 in North Texas.
Luther made state and national headlines in 2020 when she was jailed after refusing to close her salon during the COVID-19 shutdowns.
In 2021, Luther ran in a special election for Senate District 30. She was the top vote-getter in the jungle primary but lost the runoff to now-State Sen. Drew Springer (R–Muenster).
She lost that race as well but gained tremendous grassroots support for her stance against Gov. Greg Abbott’s COVID mandates.
Luther then ran in 2022 for House District 62 but lost to Smith, 41 percent to 58 percent.
In the spring of 2023, Luther suffered a brain aneurysm but has recovered exceptionally well.
She spoke on the Mark Davis Show Friday and said, “We look back at that—COVID—and we thought that was one of the biggest moments of our lives. And then God just tells us something different that this, you know, aneurysm and all the things that happened with that are your biggest moment in your life.”
We’re very excited to share with everybody the testimony that we have and of course, I will start off any political speech with make sure that you tell your loved ones that you love them. And anything that you can do to do the right thing is the right thing.
Luther then turned her focus to Smith, highlighting his record from this past session.
Smith, who has served in the Texas House since 2018, is part of the House leadership team, serving as chair of the House Election Committee under House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont). As chair, Smith either slow-walked or killed several Republican priority measures addressing election security.
Smith’s record from the past year also includes voting to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton—who was later acquitted by the Senate—and voting against school choice legislation.
Luther says she looks forward to working with Paxton in her campaign efforts and with Abbott in his push to pass school choice.
House District 62 includes Grayson, Fannin, and portions of Delta and Franklin counties.
Smith did not respond to Texas Scorecard’s request for comment before publication.
