Schatzline’s message vs. Hill’s experience in Texas House District 93 Republican runoff
Republicans Nate Schatzline and former Southlake Mayor Laura Hill are headed for a runoff in the race for House District 93.
Schatzline, a former pastor, has 43.59% of the vote with all 191 of Tarrant County’s vote centers reporting. Hill, the former mayor of Southlake, received 36.52%, and Fort Worth city council member Cary Moon had 19.88%.
The winner of the May 24 runoff will face Democrat KC Chowdhury in the general election on Nov. 8. Chowdhury ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. The seat is held by outgoing state Rep. Matt Krause, who is in a runoff for Tarrant County district attorney.
Schatzline, a 30-year-old who had never run for political office, cited the support of Mercy Culture Church in Fort Worth for his strong showing.
“I feel like we shocked the world a bit,” he said Tuesdsay, reacting to his early vote lead. He also pointed to his being the most conservative candidate in the race as a major factor behind his strong showing.
Schatzline made education a pillar of his campaign. He advocated for getting rid of what he called “leftist indoctrination” in schools by outlawing the teaching of critical race theory and expanding school choice options for parents.
Critical race theory, which started as an intellectual movement in the 1970s, examines how racial inequity has been built into social systems and how that inequity continues to effect social systems. Education leaders have said the academic theory isn’t taught in Texas schools.
Schatzline said he objects to the teaching of systematic racism. He acknowledged America’s history of racial strife, but attributed it to the actions of racist individuals rather than a racist system.
“We have to understand that while there are bad people, while people make major mistakes, to blame a system is not only to not blame the individual, it’s just the wrong approach all together,” Schatzline said.
Hill, 64, said her message for the runoff is about more than just conservative credentials.
“It’s a message with good government, council, and service to back it up,” Hill said, arguing her previous government service gives her message more weight.
“It’s really easy to say I’m going to say no to everything, or I’m not going to do this or I will do that, but it’s much harder to say that when you don’t have a record,” Hill said.
Moon, who conceded the race Tuesday after falling behind in the early count, said in a text that both his and former Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price’s poor showings are a signal that previous experience might not be as important to h voters.
This story was originally published March 1, 2022 at 7:09 PM.
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