Geren wraps up GOP nomination for Texas House District 99

State Rep. Charlie Geren wrapped up the Republican nomination for his District 99 seat, easily beating opponent Bo French Tuesday night in one of Tarrant County's most contentious races.

With 100 percent of precincts in District 99 reporting Tuesday night, the long-time Fort Worth lawmaker Geren received 57 percent of the vote with French earning 43 percent.

Reached Tuesday night at the Original Mexican Eats Cafe in west Fort Worth, Geren said that if he is re-elected to the Texas House of Representatives it will be because of "good, hard work by my campaign staff, my volunteers and my friends and people not wanting to be bought."

Geren said one of his challenges during the campaign was fending off attacks from some of French's supporters, who were backed by supporters from elsewhere in the state.

"Cisco and Midland don't own Tarrant County," Geren said. "Tarrant County is very independent, and we don't need somebody else telling us what to do."

Geren will face Democrat Michael Stackhouse in the November election. Stackhouse was unopposed in Tuesday's primary.

The Geren-French race had its share of fireworks.

A few weeks ago, a complaint was filed in Austin against Empower Texans, a conservative group that endorsed French, alleging that Empower Texans mailed out a piece of campaign material that was purposefully made to look like an official government document, which could be a violation of election laws.

The material cited Geren's relationship with a lobbyist, Mindy Ellmer, who also happens to be his wife.

Geren and French are former longtime friends.

French also unsuccessfully challenged Geren in 2016, and late last year filed a lawsuit alleging that false allegations of child abuse were leveled against French and his wife during the campaign.

Geren has maintained that he had no prior knowledge of the allegations, and that they had nothing to do with his re-election bid.

District 99 includes west Fort Worth, Pelican Bay, River Crest and Azle.

Geren has represented the area since 2000 and was a longtime supporter of Speaker of the House Joe Straus, who has said he will not seek re-election after five terms as speaker.

Gordon Dickson: 817-390-7796; @gdickson

This story was originally published March 6, 2018 at 7:54 PM with the headline "Geren wraps up GOP nomination for Texas House District 99."