Northwest ISD trustee is running for the Texas House: ‘Someone has got to do it’
Northwest school board trustee Steve Sprowls announced this week he will challenge Rep. Nate Schatzline in House District 93 next year.
Schatzline said earlier this week he would run for an open Senate seat in District 9, but on Friday changed his mind after conservative activist Leigh Wambsganss announced she was entering the Senate race. Schatzline now intends to run for reelection.
Sprowls said Friday he intends to stay in the House District 93 race. “My initial intention was to run against Nate,” he told the Star-Telegram. “This is the race I wanted.”
Sprowls, a 54-year-old Republican who previously served as the school board’s president, said he had been thinking about serving in the legislature for several months after growing frustrated with what he described as a lack of support for public education from Schatzline. The election is in 2026.
Sprowls, who has served on the Northwest ISD board for nine years, said he invited Schatzline to several events in the school district such as an all-community pep rally and reading to elementary students. He said that Schatzline attended the school events but did not advocate for students while in Austin.
“He pretended to care, but once he got to Austin it was a different story. I just got tired of our kids being ignored and put on the back burner for personal ambition,” Sprowls said.
Schatzline declined to comment on Sprowls running for District 93. “I’m focusing on my own race right now,” he told the Star-Telegram.
Sprowls said he decided to seek the District 93 seat when Schatzline announced this week that he is running for the open Senate District 9 seat, previously held by Kelly Hancock of North Richland Hills, who resigned to become Texas comptroller on July 1.
During the 89th legislative session, Sprowls said he and other Northwest ISD trustees met with legislators asking them to support fully funding public education.
Sprowls expressed concerns on his Facebook page that the school voucher program would impact the public schools.
He described meeting with an aide for Schatzline who “tried to push us toward Nate’s side.”
Sprowls said he is glad that the Legislature implemented more funding for safety and security for schools, and that teachers are getting raises. But he added that support staff such as bus drivers should also get pay increases.
“It takes a team to run the school district,” he said.
Sprowls grew up in Bedford and became a pilot for Southwest Airlines after he retired from the Air Force.
He said he had some second thoughts before hitting the “send button on his Facebook post announcing his intention to run for office.”
“I thought what the hell are you doing, opening yourself up to vitriol, but someone has got to do it. I’ve got the name recognition to do this,” he said.
Along with his concerns about public education funding, Sprowls said he is worried about the state of the Republican Party in Tarrant County and the U.S., saying that it has become too extreme.
“Someone’s got to bring common sense back to the Republican Party,” he said.
Sprowls added that extremes have taken over both sides, meaning the right and the left.
This story was originally published June 27, 2025 at 11:34 AM.