Plano businessman Wayne Richard announced he is running in the March 2024 Republican primary for Texas House District 66 in Collin County.
“Our community deserves a representative who will stand against the political regime and radical activism,” Richard said in his campaign launch statement. “I will fight for the interests, values, and priorities of hardworking Texas voters.”
Richard previously ran for the HD 66 seat in 2010 but lost to Van Taylor.
Richard said he is running again because Texas is “on the front line of almost every issue that impacts our nation and society, including border control, economic prosperity, education reform, and moral decency.”
But our own compromised establishment politicians and game-players are circumventing voters and undermining the principles and practices essential to Texas and American greatness.
Richard is challenging five-term State Rep. Matt Shaheen (R–Plano).
Shaheen has a career “A” rating on the Fiscal Responsibility Index, but his scores have declined over his five terms in office. He earned a 71 out of 100 for his votes on fiscal issues in this year’s 2023 regular session.
He also voted to impeach Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a fellow Collin County resident who remains popular with voters in Shaheen’s district.
Shaheen’s top campaign contributors in the 2022 election cycle were Texans for Lawsuit Reform ($202,860) and Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan ($47,356).
Shaheen has not faced a primary opponent since he was first elected to the House in 2014.
He narrowly won the 2018 and 2020 general elections over a Democrat opponent. But following redistricting in 2021 that significantly changed the boundaries of the district, making it solidly Republican, Shaheen won re-election in 2022 with 60 percent of the vote.
Primary Election Day is March 5, 2024.
