With redistricting having literally changed Texas’ political playing field, conservatives must remain on their toes going into next year’s primary elections. The new House District 106 is no exception, where a self-proclaimed tax-raiser is being supported in the Republican primary by members of House Speaker Joe Straus’ leadership team.
This new district is made up by parts of The Colony, Little Elm, Cross Roads and Oak Point, as well as the Denton County portion of Frisco. As of today, there are two candidates gearing up for the Republican nomination to this Denton County seat: Amber Fulton and Pat Fallon. Until recently, Ms. Fulton served on the Lewisville ISD school board where she worked to limit voter involvement in tax increase decisions. Mr. Fallon, currently the Mayor Pro Tem of Frisco, fought successfully against tax hikes and new debt.
Having freshly lost her re-election bid on the Lewisville ISD board in May, Fulton quickly announced her intention to fill a seat in the Texas House. She proclaimed that Denton County taxpayers “need a fiscal conservative fighting for them in Austin.”
It’s not abundantly clear Ms. Fulton is up to that job. Her record certainly indicates otherwise. During the 2011 legislative session Fulton traveled to Austin to lobby the legislature for the ability to increase local taxes without holding an election. Her efforts failed, as did her May re-election campaign for school board. (coincidence?)
Taxpayers need legislators in Austin fighting for them; Fulton shows a propensity to work against taxpayers.
It’s also interesting to note that when kicking off her campaign Fulton cited the support of Fort Worth-area legislators Charlie Geren and Diane Patrick as proof of her credentials. According to the Fiscal Responsibility Index, Rep. Geren has earned a cumulative score of a “D” with Rep. Patrick doing slightly better with a “D+” rating on fiscally conservative principles. Mr. Geren is a committee chairman appointed by Speaker Straus.
On the other hand, Pat Fallon is campaigning for voters to “look beyond the rhetoric” as he leans heavily on his record of conservative leadership in Frisco.
Apart from his years of activism in Republican politics, Mr. Fallon’s record in public office is markedly different from Ms. Fulton’s. Mayor Pro Tem Fallon voted against a Frisco tax rate increase in 2009, voted against a city budget that would have “raided the reserves” in 2010, and fought against a push to add more debt to Frisco’s Arts of Collin County bonds.
In addition to his opposition to expanding debt and increasing taxes, Mr. Fallon has also pushed for greater electoral transparency, by advocating that Lewisville ISD’s residents living in Frisco have a central voting location rather than three locations for three separate elections.
It is clear that from Denton County’s HD 106 both Ms. Fulton and Mr. Fallon want to join the fight in Austin. What voters should be concerned with is on which side these candidates will be fighting; who will fight for the taxpayer, and who has a record of fighting against them?
