Jeff Cason, Jeff Whitfield lead in Texas House District 92 primary races
Republican Jeff Cason will face Democrat Jeff Whitfield in November in for the House District 92 seat, according to unofficial results.
Caston had 54.09% of the vote compared to Bedford mayor Jim Griffin’s 36.62 with 100% of precincts reporting this morning.
Whitfield led Steven Riddell with 56.22% of the total votes. Just after midnight, Whitfield’s campaign declared victory. “I’m honored to have the support of the voters in House District 92,” he said in a statement. “I got in this race to fight for the issues that matter to the members of this community — increasing access to affordable healthcare, prioritizing public education, and promoting policies that grow our economy and create jobs. Now it’s for all of us to unite in this fight and win in November.”
Whitfield, an Air Force veteran who grew up in the Mid-Cities, was running for the first time. Riddell won the Democratic primary in 2018, with just over 5,600 total votes. More than 11,000 votes had been counted in the Democratic race Tuesday as of midnight. House District 92 mostly covers Hurst, Euless and Bedford, as well as other portions of northeast Tarrant County.
Cason is trying to prove that North Tarrant County remains a strong base for conservative Republicans. A former Bedford city councilman, he has identified key issues such as curbing illegal immigration and moving away from property taxes. The No. 1 priority listed on his campaign website is protecting life. Cason had the backing of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility and the True Texas Project (formerly the Northeast Tarrant Tea Party).
“These were the issues that we ran across over and over again,” Cason said. “I just feel like looking at the numbers, we have a good base going into November.”
Griffin, who was mayor of Bedford, ran on a more traditional Republican platform, stressing his business acumen and job creating abilities. Another candidate, Taylor Gillig, was in third place, with 9 percent of the vote. Nearly 12,000 votes had been counted in the Republican primary. Cason’s share of votes must remain above 50 percent to avoid a runoff.
Democrats, on a quest to take back the Texas House, view this seat as winnable. Tea party Republican Jonathan Stickland defeated Riddell in 2018 by less than 1,500 votes, or 2.4 percentage points.
Stickland, 36, then drew criticism in the 2019 legislative session for interrupting hearings with arguments that bothered Democrats and Republicans alike and nearly derailing, with a parliamentary maneuver, a mental health bill championed by Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
Texas Monthly gave Stickland its inaugural Cockroach Award for being a legislator who “accomplishes nothing but always manages to show up in the worst possible way.”
Stickland announced he would not seek reelection last June. Even without him, the general election is once again shaping up to feature a similar clash between a moderate Democrat and conservative Republican.
This story was originally published March 3, 2020 at 8:03 PM.
