Drew Springer wins Texas Senate District 30 seat over Shelley Luther
State Rep. Drew Springer won a Saturday runoff for a North Texas state Senate seat, defeating Dallas salon owner and political outsider Shelley Luther.
The two Republicans were vying for Senate District 30 to replace Sen. Pat Fallon, R-Prosper, who is headed to Congress. Springer had a consistent lead over Luther throughout election night. Unofficial numbers from the Texas Secretary of State’s office showed Springer, R-Muenster, receiving 56.5% of the votes to Luther’s 43.6%, with all 410 precincts reporting.
By 8:30 p.m., with votes still trickling in, Springer had declared victory.
“As your next senator, I will continue advancing the conservative priorities of our district like reducing property taxes, securing the border, and standing up for our law enforcement and first responders who keep our communities safe,” Springer said in a Facebook post.
Luther and Springer advanced to a runoff from a field of three other Republicans and a Democrat. Luther had the narrow lead over Springer in the September special election, winning 32.04% of the votes to Springer’s 31.87%.
Senate District 30 spans 14 counties and includes parts of Collin and Denton counties. It stretches west into Parker and Palo Pinto counties and includes Wichita, Archer, Wise, and Young counties.
Springer received more votes than Luther in all but three counties: Collin, Grayson and Parker.
Since Springer is a state representative, Gov. Greg Abbott will have to call a special election to fill his House District 68 seat.
Much of the often contentious race focused on Abbott’s coronavirus response. Luther gained national attention earlier this year when she was jailed after refusing to close her Dallas salon, violating Abbott’s COVID-19 order related to business operations.
“Nine months ago, I was just a small business owner with zero political experience. Then Governor Abbott and some Democrats in Dallas put me in jail for opening my salon,” Luther said in a Facebook post congratulating Springer.
Luther continued that significant money was spent against her on “lies about me in an effort to stop our movement.”
“What they don’t know is that it only emboldens me more,” Luther said. “I won’t back down, and I’m not going anywhere.”
Luther, who has cast herself as being “detached from the Austin establishment,” has been critical of Abbott and what she describes as government overreach. Springer too believes the governor’s powers should be reined in, but has embraced Abbott’s endorsement of his bid and financial support in the form of in-kind campaign contributions.
“Drew ran an effective campaign that highlighted his experience as a principled conservative leader in the House, as well as his tireless commitment to protecting the values that keep Texas the best state in the nation,” Abbott said in a Saturday night statement. “He was a dynamic leader in the House, and I know that Drew will continue to be a dynamic leader in the Senate on behalf of Senate District 30.”
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, House Speaker Dennis Bonnen and presumptive speaker Rep. Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, also congratulated Springer on Twitter.
“Congratulations to (Drew Springer) on a decisive victory tonight,” Patrick said on Twitter. “Welcome to the Texas Senate!”
Luther has been supported by conservative mega-donor and Midland oilman Tim Dunn, who has invested $700,000 in her campaign during the runoff, in addition to a prior $1 million loan.
Austin-based GOP consultant Matt Mackowiak said Luther was running against the governor in her Senate bid, a strategy he questioned. Saturday’s outcome revealed “the limits of running against Abbott on just one issue.”
“She rode that issue into the runoff, but runoffs are different races,” Mackowiak said. “They have low turnout. It’s all about motivation. It’s all about organization, and it’s pretty clear from the returns Springer ran a much, much better runoff than she did.”
Mackowiak, who is also the Travis County Republican Party chair, said he was personally happy with the election outcome.
“My sense is that probably this election came down to who the voters were more comfortable with serving in an important office like the Texas Senate,” he said.
Springer in his Facebook post celebrating his win listed education and job creation as focal points for the coming legislative session, which starts Jan. 12. He also thanked his supporters for helping to turn out voters.
Political experts have said the race ultimately came down to an insider versus an outsider.
The two candidates would have likely performed similarly in the Legislature when it came to policy, said Jim Riddlesperger, a TCU political science professor.
“These were two very rock-solid conservative candidates, kind of jumping over each other in … a leap frog fashion to demonstrate which one was more conservative,” he said.
This story was originally published December 19, 2020 at 7:14 PM.
