Incumbent Stephanie Klick wins Republican runoff for House District 91
State Rep. Stephanie Klick has won the runoff for House District 91 in a race where the longtime incumbent’s conservative credentials were questioned by opponent David Lowe.
Klick received 54.34% of votes to Lowe’s 45.66% with all 152 precincts reporting countywide, unofficial results from Tarrant County show. There isn’t a Democrat is running in the November general election, so Tuesday’s winner is likely to represent the district come January. The district covers Richland Hills, North Richland Hills, Watauga, most of Haltom City, and parts of Fort Worth and Hurst.
“I am humbled by the vote of confidence from Republicans who affirmed my conservative record of defending the unborn, fighting for taxpayers and backing the men and women in blue,” Klick said in a statement. “I’m ready to get back to work for the citizens of House District 91 and am honored by their continued trust.”
Lowe has pushed to “abolish” abortion and ban gender-affirming health care for transgender children while labeling himself the “anti-establishment candidate.”
Klick, a nurse who has served in the Legislature since 2013, serves as the chair of the public health committee. She’s pointed out that her committee passed Senate Bill 8, which effectively bans abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy and a bill that would have barred gender-affirming procedures for kids, and told the Star-Telegram Lowe has been dishonest on the campaign trail.
Lowe took issue with Klick’s team for a radio advertisement in which Lowe states he’d “vote no on any pro-life bill.” The words were taken out of context, Lowe’s website says. “The only thing we need to do is abolish abortion,” he goes on to say in the interview that was used in the ad.
In the final stretch of the campaign, Lowe has been hit by a mailer from the Protect and Serve Texas PAC linking him to a website called FindSomeSex.com. In a statement, Lowe said more than a decade ago he bought and sold website domains to resell them and asked voters to not judge him on his “actions in difficult times, but as the man who in recent years has continually sought both God’s will for his life and only to serve his community and best represent District 91 in Austin.”
Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn and Manny Ramirez, president of the Fort Worth Police Officers Association, criticized Lowe’s actions in statements sent by Klick’s campaign. Waybourn and the association have endorsed Klick for reelection.
“The type of judgment that leads to promoting such things has an incredibly negative impact on countless lives,” Waybourn said. “While I strongly believe in redemption, I do believe these actions disqualify someone from state leadership.”
Headed into Election Day, Klick had the financial edge over her opponent, reporting roughly $955,272 in contributions in a campaign finance report covering Feb. 20 to May 14. Lowe reported $262,567 for the same time period. Since then, Klick’s additional contributions have included $26,500 in digital advertisements from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s campaign.
Klick spent $471,693 and Lowe spent $53,089 between Feb. 20 and May 14.
Much of Klick’s financial support on her runoff campaign finance report came from members of the Texas Legislature, including House Speaker Dade Phelan who donated $235,226 worth of in-kind contributions for things like canvassing, cable and polling. In-kind contributions refers to the donation of goods or services. The bulk of Klick’s contributions ($615,499 worth) were in-kind, including contributions of political material from Texans for Lawsuit Reform, the Texas Alliance for Life PAC and the Protect and Serve Texas PAC.
Lowe’s top donors included the Defend Texas Liberty PAC, which contributed $170,708 in a combination of in-kind and monetary donations, and the Conservative Action for Texas PAC, which contributed $52,500 in-kind.
“The establishment did not hold back - they had to spend over one million dollars to retain their power,” Lowe said in a Wednesday statement.
He criticized Klick’s campaign as peddling “obvious lies and half truths” but called on voters to come together to defeat Democrats in November and “continue to hold our elected officials accountable for their votes and positions at all times.”
“To all my supporters and the voters of North Richland Hills, Richland Hills, Watauga, Haltom City and Fort Worth, my political journey has just begun!” Lowes said.
This story was originally published May 24, 2022 at 7:31 PM.
