With early voting just weeks away, the establishment is attempting to come to the rescue of State Rep. Stephanie Klick (R–Fort Worth) as she faces opposition in the primary election.
Klick is the chairman of the House Public Health Committee, to which legislation to ban child gender modification was referred. As chairman, Klick decided not to give a public hearing to one of the Senate versions of the legislation and slow-walked the House version to the committee coordinator in an effort to stall its consideration before key deadlines in the House of Representatives.
Ultimately, the effort was killed, leading to frustration within the conservative grassroots with Klick.
That frustration has now led to Klick receiving four challengers in the Republican primary, the most of any incumbent. Those challengers include Army veteran David Lowe, podcast host David Silvey, former Haltom City Councilman Anthony Reed, and nurse Benjamin Damico.
Even as far back as November, ads began playing in her district highlighting her role in killing legislation to ban child gender modification.
Earlier this week, Gov. Greg Abbott gave his first Texas House endorsement to Klick, calling her “a good friend and staunch supporter of our conservative agenda.”
Additionally, the newly created Texans for Responsible Government political action committee, funded by Abbott mega-donor Michael Porter, gave one of its first donations of the cycle to Klick in the amount of $10,000.
The Texas Association of Realtors, a fixture of establishment politics in Austin, has listed Klick’s race as one of its “Hot Races” for the 2022 primary election and donated $5,000 to her campaign.
Early voting begins on February 14. Election Day is March 1.
