Fierce GOP fight for Texas House District 92

The future of the Republican Party lies in Tarrant County.

And depending on how a few heated primary battles here turn out, it could help determine whether the party — and, more broadly, the Legislature — becomes more conservative or moderate.

Case in point: the contentious fight for House District 92, which pits uber conservative and outspoken Tea Party firebrand state Rep. Jonathan Stickland against Scott Fisher, a local pastor who is backed by establishment Republicans.

“This is the battle for the soul of the party and a good part of the state is watching these races in Tarrant County to take the temperature of the state,” said Harvey Kronberg, publisher of the Quorum Report, an Austin-based online political newsletter.

“The Stickland part of the party does best in the mid-term elections … because they’ve got their grassroots networks that are more effective in lower-turnout elections.”

Stickland and Fisher face off in the March 1 Republican primary to determine who will represent the district that includes Hurst, Euless, Bedford and parts of Arlington, Fort Worth and Grand Prairie.

At stake is a two-year term that pays $7,200 a year.

“If the GOP establishment and Austin Lobby could get rid of only one incumbent legislator this cycle, that incumbent would most likely be Stickland,” said Mark P. Jones, a political science professor at Rice University in Houston.

“Scott Fisher is a stronger candidate than Stickland’s 2012 rival, Andy Cargile, largely because it is much more difficult to paint the socially conservative pastor as a centrist.”

The winner of the Republican primary will face Democrat Kim K. Leach in November. Early voting runs Feb. 16-26.

The incumbent

Stickland, described as a political bomb thrower by some, was elected to office in 2012 and re-elected in 2014.

The 32-year-old oil and gas consultant has drawn headlines for everything from labeling himself as a “former fetus” to being the focus of an investigation into whether witness cards were falsified.

He said he’s running for another term to continue “the work to bring more freedom and less government to Texans.

“I’ve done exactly what I said I would do in office,” he said. “I have a proven track record of getting things done and voting conservatively.”

Recently, Fisher has raised questions about online comments Stickland posted years ago, when he spent a great deal of time on fantasy football sites, about rape and drugs.

Through the years, Stickland wrote online that he was “looking for a smoke buddy” and took a “few glorious rips from a blunt.” In 2008, he wrote on a fantasy sports page, in response to a request for sex advice, that “rape is non existent in marriage, take what you want my friend!”

Stickland, who has said he regrets the comments and has already asked for forgiveness, noted that “the gloves are coming off” in this race.

“For weeks my opponent Scott Fisher has been running a dirty, despicable, negative campaign full of personal attacks, lies and deception,” Stickland wrote in a campaign email. “It seems he is willing to do anything to take this seat from you the grassroots and hand it over to the Austin establishment.”

If re-elected, Stickland’s top priorities next year would include property tax reduction, cutting state spending, boosting border security, turning off “magnets that are attracting illegals here,” ending sanctuary cities and improving Texas’ public education system.

Local Tea Party Republicans say they have Stickland’s back.

“Not only is Jonathan Stickland a top-rated conservative in the House, there is no comparison to him in terms of growing the conservative movement in Texas,” said Julie McCarty, president of the NE Tarrant Tea Party. “Losing Jonathan would be a crushing blow to our movement, and the Austin establishment knows that.

“That’s why they are pulling out all the stops to unseat him,” she said. “They are terrified of what is building in Texas under Jonathan’s efforts.”

Stickland has received a number of endorsements, including those from state Sen. Konni Burton, R-Colleyville, Texas Eagle Forum President Cathie Adams, Texas Values President Jonathan Saenz and Liberty Institute President Kelly Shackleford.

Last month, he picked up $140,000 in new donations, giving him more than $300,000 in cash on hand, according to the most recent reports filed with the Texas Ethics Commission.

He received $5,000 from Midland oilman Tim Dunn, $25,000 from the Empower Texans PAC and $28,000 from Farris Wilks, a Cisco pastor and billionaire, and his wife Jo Ann.

“This race will be the bellwether for many more to come,” Stickland wrote in his campaign e-mail. “Win or lose, it will send shock waves through the political circles all across Texas. We must send the message that this conservative movement is NOT going away.”

The challenger

Fisher, a senior pastor of Metroplex Chapel of Euless and current chair of the Texas Juvenile Justice Commission, said he thought about running for office for a decade and finally decided to throw his hat into the ring for this House district.

A former communications director for the Texas Christian Coalition, Fisher was appointed through the years to a number of boards and commissions, many times by then-Gov. Rick Perry. He also served on the Board of Managers of the John Peter Smith Network for years, as well as on the state GOP executive committee, as a three-time national delegate, a precinct chair an election judge and more.

He said the main issues in this race “are the ineffectiveness of the incumbent in accomplishing any conservative goals.”

“The fact that the incumbent has alienated so many people hurts many of our local residents who now lack a voice,” the 57-year-old said. “In his time in office, no legislator has passed fewer of the bills they authored. He has goals, but he cannot achieve them. If things had been going well, I would not have decided it was so important to run.”

Empower Texans recently weighed in on the race, criticizing Fisher for his work while on the JPS Board. “Even as Jonathan Stickland was fighting against liberal efforts to bring Obamacare to Texas,” Fisher, as past chair of the JPS board, “advocated for the state to be pulled into ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion scheme.”

Fisher, whose previous political experience included an unsuccessful bid for Bedford mayor in 1994, said he actually “successfully led the fight to STOP a resolution in favor of Medicaid expansion.”

“I have fought Obamacare at every turn and will continue to do so in the Texas House,” he tweeted, also noting that the JPS system is “the first, and so far only unfortunately, public hospital system to not perform taxpayer funded abortions.”

He has picked up endorsements, including those from the Texas Municipal Police Association, Texas Alliance for Life PAC, Fort Worth Police Officers Association — and Perry.

Perry noted that Fisher “has an incredible record of achievement” and “knows how to take strong conservative values and turn them into successful conservative policies.”

Last month, Fisher received $5,980 in new donations, giving him nearly $15,000 in cash on hand. Some of his larger donations included $2,500 from Charles Butt, CEO of the H-E-B grocery stores; $500 from Cash America International, Inc. Multi-Candidate PAC; and $500 from the Todd Smith Campaign.

He has also received donations from Michael Berry, president of Alliance developer Hillwood Properties, the Committee for Public Safety for the Fort Worth Police Officers Association and from current and past GOP lawmakers, including former state Reps. Rob Orr of Burleson and Vicki Truitt of Keller.

This story was originally published February 10, 2016 at 6:18 PM with the headline "Fierce GOP fight for Texas House District 92."