Voters from across Tarrant County and surrounding areas attended the Tarrant County GOP’s candidate fair this Saturday to hear from candidates for various offices and to participate in a straw poll. Over the course of the day, almost 700 votes were cast — for everything from the presidential nomination to constable — and the results should encourage area conservatives.
Most notable are the results for the House race in District 99 — where liberal Straus loyalist Rep. Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth) faces conservative challenger Bo French. Despite an incumbent advantage, Geren lost the straw poll, garnering only 44.9% of the votes cast in the race, compared to French’s 55.1%. Considering the veritable backing behind Geren’s fifteen-year incumbency, such numbers are quite encouraging.
But the good news doesn’t stop there. Taxpayer Champion Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R-Arlington) also managed to trounce his establishment challenger in House District 94 by 61.48%, despite being absent from the event. This is especially encouraging considering his opponent was able to visit personally with event attendees, where his duplicitous attempts to trick voters of his “conservatism” apparently fell flat.
Furthermore, Taxpayer Champion State Rep. Jonathan Stickland (R-Hurst) also crushed the opponent hand-picked for him by the Austin establishment by an impressive 67.18%. The most impressive margin, however, goes to Taxpayer Champion Rep. Bill Zedler (R-Arlington) — who managed to win his straw poll with a whopping 93.18%.
During primary season, just about every candidate is going to label themselves a conservative for political expediency. Hopefully, voters will look to records, not rhetoric, when making that evaluation. The results for District 99 give conservatives optimism in that regard.
The full results for Saturday’s straw poll can be viewed in full detail here.
