Two announcements were made today for one of the state’s reddest Texas House districts. House District 60 will officially play host to a Republican primary battle.

In a Facebook post Monday, State Rep. Mike Lang (R–Granbury) announced his intention to run for re-election to the legislature.

The announcement from Lang, a former Fort Worth police officer and two-term representative, dispelled rumors he might be considering a run for Congress. U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway, the Midland Republican who represents a large swath of Texas west of Fort Worth to the Permian Basin, announced he would not be seeking re-election just over two weeks ago. Lang had been considered one of a handful of potential frontrunners to replace him if he entered the race. Lang, as it turns out, will be looking to keep his current position instead.

“Today, I am announcing my re-election for the Texas House!” the post read. “As you know, socialist liberals are more unhinged than ever before. They’re mad and they’re motivated. After liberal Democrats poured millions of dollars into Texas elections from California last year, they are mobilizing again with the goal of turning the Texas House blue.”

Lang, who was elected to chair the Texas Freedom Caucus back in February, also suggested Republicans needed to unify ahead of the 2020 election season to be better equipped to take on Democrats.

Only a few hours later, however, Lang had an opponent for the March 3 Republican primary election.

Granbury attorney Kellye SoRelle, who officially filed campaign paperwork with the Texas Ethics Commission last week, took to Facebook with a post of her own and announced she would be running as well.

SoRelle is a practicing attorney at the Hyde Law Firm in Granbury with her husband, Jeremy. The Texas Bar website lists SoRelle’s fields of practice as family, immigration, and juvenile. SoRelle’s husband is also the city attorney for Granbury and a member of the taxpayer-funded lobbying giant Texas Municipal League.

Though she has no campaign website yet, and it appears she has taken down her other social media sites, she does include a brief biography on her new Facebook page which says the candidate will be meeting with the voters of the district “to build a platform that Kellye will take to Austin.”

Voter data for Sorelle indicates she has voted in three of the last four Democrat primaries, skipping the 2018 primary elections altogether. No Republican primary voter history could be found for her at the time of this article’s publication.

With Democrats aiming to take the reins of the Texas House in 2020, it now appears they may even be looking to make gains on the Republican ballot.

Destin Sensky

Destin Sensky serves as a Capitol Correspondent for Texas Scorecard covering the Texas Legislature, working to bring Texans the honest and accurate coverage they need to hold their elected officials in Austin accountable.

RELATED POSTS