House District 97 candidates in the Texas Democratic primary runoff
Democrats Diane Symons and Beth Llewellyn McLaughlin are competing in the primary runoff for Texas House District 9 after none of the original three candidates won more than 50% of votes in the March 3 election. The winning candidate will advance to the November ballot with Republican John W. McQueeney.
Here are the Democrats’ responses to the Star-Telegram’s candidate questionnaire, in the order they’ll appear on your ballot.
Diane Symons
Age (as of March 3): 54
Campaign website: www.Texas97.com
Best way for voters to reach you: 817.683.8027
Occupation: Currently a photographer. My career was in customer service as a representative, supervisor, manager, project manager, and subject matter expert.
Education: Associate of Arts
Have you run for elected office before? In 2024, I ran as a democrat candidate for Texas House District 97.
Please list the highlights of your civic involvement/activism in HD-97: In 2025, I attended 39 protests and rallies. I started the weekly bridge brigade in southwest Fort Worth in July of 2025. I was the precinct chair for precinct 1206 and the House District Coordinator for 97. I helped obtain precinct chairs to fill approximately 50% of the open seats. In order to be a candidate, I had to let go of being a precinct chair and House District Coordinator, however I remain available to those in need.
Have you ever been arrested, charged with a crime or otherwise been part of a criminal proceeding? When I was a young and dumb 22 year old, I had one public intoxication.
Have you been involved in a civil lawsuit or bankruptcy proceeding? No
Who are your top three campaign contributors? Carissa Hudson, Katherine O’Leary and Mimi Coffey
Why are you seeking this office? I want to stop the everyday struggles that people in my district and all around Texas are currently enduring. Food on the table, a roof over their head, paying utilities, being able to afford property taxes. We need affordable healthcare and great public education.
If elected, what would your top 3 policy priorities be?
1. Raise minimum wage to $20 and add $1 every year our economy grows in the state of Texas
2. Provide $10k a year for college or trade school in the state of Texas
3. Provide $0 property taxes to those receiving social security due to age or disability and to all teachers and school workers who are active or retired. When receiving a $0 tax invoice, they will have the ability to write in a dollar amount for hospital and ISD that they can afford if they choose and will be able to include the amount they pay on their annual income tax.
How will you measure your success as a member of the Texas House? When people can afford the basics needed to live, then I will consider that I was successful.
Why should voters choose you over your opponents? I have lived in every section of TX House District 97 at some point in my adulthood. I am the only candidate that has been in the community for the past 3 years talking and listening to the people about the struggles they face. I am talking to everyone not just democrats. I have come up with an actual platform that spells out how I plan to help people with the struggles they are currently facing. I am not saying look where we are at now, I can’t do worse. By not limiting who I have spoken to, I believe that we can achieve success.
As a state lawmaker, how would you interact and work with members of the opposite party? Are there specific policy ideas where you see opportunities for bipartisanship? Communication. Communication. Communication. First, you have 1:1 conversations and find out where they stand on the issues. You don’t provide them with the process, you allow them to think it is their idea
What is the biggest challenge facing HD-97? How would you address it if elected? I believe communication is the best way to build a relationship with the community. Being an elected official, you must know what the voters want and need and if you do not know, you can’t address their needs. I want to have a poll available that the residents can provide their input on bills that the house will be voting on. For example, school vouchers is not something the majority of House District 97 residents wanted, however received a yes vote for the governors endorsement and large financial donors. I believe monthly town halls are needed.
What, if anything, should the Texas Legislature do to address costs of living when they meet in 2027? Raise minimum wage. In 2009, federal minimum wage was increased to $7.25 per hour. Everything has increased in price, however minimum wage has not. I want a $20 minimum wage and add $1 every year that our economy grows in Texas. I personally love to shop at small businesses and I understand that this would put most out of business. I researched solutions and the one that works is to provide them a tax credit, which is tax-free to offset the additional salary expense. In 2009, if we would have included the additional $1 per hour every year our economy grew in Texas, our current minimum wage would be $22.25, which is currently considered a livable wage. It also would have offset inflation, so the working people of Texas would not have gone into so much debt and atruggle.
Is eliminating school property taxes for homeowners achievable and something you’d support? Why or why not, and what plan do you propose to achieve their elimination or as an alternative? I do not believe that eliminating property taxes is the right answer for Texas. If we eliminate property taxes all together, Texas would have to find another revenue source. Our county hospitals and ISDs are funded mostly through property taxes. Other options could include raising sales taxes and/or a state income tax. I recommend that tax abatements that only large corporations receive need to stop. Example: How does it benefit our economy to provide $2.8 million tax abatement for 10 years to a data center that only employs an average of 36 workers? The workers transfer here and are not hired locally. When they leave, we are stuck with a huge building, no county hospital or public education because they did not contribute financially. It is achievable to eliminate some property taxes. For instance, eliminate property taxes for people receiving social security due to age or disability, and for all teachers and school workers who are active or retired.
What steps, if any, should the state take to prepare for the rise of artificial intelligence? We must work on our infrastructure to ensure that we have the water resources and that our electric grid is stable enough. AI will drain our resources quickly. Electric prices will rise drastically. Texans will lose and large corporations will profit at the expense of Texans. Without water, our farmers will be the biggest loser. No water, no crops, no animals, no fishing and we must have water to drink or all things die.
What, if anything, should the Texas Legislature do to ensure there’s an adequate supply of water and electricity in the state now and in the future? We need to budget for building up our infrastructure throughout Texas. We need more man-made lakes.
What specific K-12 and higher education policies should state lawmakers prioritize in 2027?
Removing the voucher program is number 1, however, having a Republican majority in the House and the Senate, a republican Governor that has been bought to pass the voucher program, and a republican Lt. Gov that will not put a bill on the Senate floor if he doesn’t agree with it, we must first vote them out.
I believe people should follow their passions. I will pass a bill to provide $10k per year for trade schools and colleges in the state of Texas. My recommendation is that students pay it forward by performing community service. Let them help beautify their communities and learn different cultures, so we can stop some of this hate.
What role should the state play in immigration and border security? What, if any, specific policies would you support as a state lawmaker? Stop 287g. People should not be harrassed due to their accent, color of skin or the language they speak. We do need border security, however removing people that are following the correct process is wrong. We are stronger as a state because of immigrants. They contribute hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes annually and they do not receive benefits in return.
What, if anything, should the Texas Legislature do in the way of hemp and marijuana policy? We need to legalize marijuana in Texas. We can regulate it and ensure people know what they’re getting vs it being laced with other drugs and chemicals. Matijuana is brought into Texas from Oklahoma more than it is through the Mexican border. We should be keeping the revenue within Texas. Marijuana revenue should be placed into a medical fund to help county hospitals, mental health, vision and dental assistance.
Beth Llewellyn McLaughlin
Age (as of March 3): 68
Campaign website: bethfor97.com
Best way for voters to reach you: hello@bethfor97.com
Occupation: Retired Teacher
Education: B.A. in French, German and Political Science, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Have you run for elected office before?
Yes, State House District 97, 2018
Please list the highlights of your civic involvement/activism in HD-97:
French Teacher, Southwest High School, FWISD, 1981-2010
Elected Member of FWISD District Advisory Board 2007-2009
Volunteer Kimbell Docent, 2012-present
Board Member, Tarrant Together, 2018-2021
Board Member, Texans Defending Democracy, 2024-25
Have you ever been arrested, charged with a crime or otherwise been part of a criminal proceeding? No
Have you been involved in a civil lawsuit or bankruptcy proceeding? No
Who are your top three campaign contributors? Diane Crane, Kathy Spicer, Robert Fox
Why are you seeking this office?
I have lived and worked in HD97 for over 40 years. As an educator, I have forged deep ties with families here. I believe more educators should have a seat at the table in Austin, where decisions impact public schools the most.
If elected, what would your top 3 policy priorities be?
Stable and adequate funding for public education, restoring individual freedom to make decisions about one’s own body, expanding access to healthcare
How will you measure your success as a member of the Texas House?
I want to be part of a team that finally makes progress in areas of the greatest impact to everyday Texans. It will be a collaborative effort to pass legislation that has languished under decades of GOP control.
Why should voters choose you over your opponents?
I am a skilled communicator, with experience connecting with people of all ages and of diverse backgrounds. I have a perspective that, while grounded in my hometown and my home state, is broadened by a lifetime of exposure to other cultures.
As a state lawmaker, how would you interact and work with members of the opposite party? Are there specific policy ideas where you see opportunities for bipartisanship?
Personal relationships are key to developing the trust that allows frank discussions about policy. I believe there are many areas of common ground. The governor has focused too much time on divisive issues, and demanded all members follow his lead. This is particularly true about public education, which used to be noncontroversial.
What is the biggest challenge facing HD-97? How would you address it if elected?
The takeover of the FWISD by the TEA. Local districts should be helped, not punished excessively due to the struggles of one school. This process is flawed and it can be changed. Control must remain with locally elected school boards.
What, if anything, should the Texas Legislature do to address costs of living when they meet in 2027?
Expand Medicare. Bring our federal tax dollars back to serve Texans. Research ways to help renters and first-time homeowners, as housing is unaffordable. Raise the minimum wage.
Is eliminating school property taxes for homeowners achievable and something you’d support? Why or why not, and what plan do you propose to achieve their elimination or as an alternative?
This is an extremely complicated question. Something has to change, because the current formulas are not sustainable. Many experts and organizations have been working on possible solutions for years, including Raise Your Hand Texas. I can’t pretend to have the answer. I do think we need the WILL to prioritize finding a way forward.
What steps, if any, should the state take to prepare for the rise of artificial intelligence?
The strain of data centers on public infrastruction-power and water-is being minimized as they are built in Texas. That is just the physical beginning of what could become the main issue of the 21st century globally-how to ethically manage information not created by humans.
What, if anything, should the Texas Legislature do to ensure there’s an adequate supply of water and electricity in the state now and in the future?
I think is it unwise for Texas NOT to connect to the national grid. We are bowing to private industry rather than providing protections for the consumer. Water conservation and sourcing is critical as Texas’ population continues to grow.
What specific K-12 and higher education policies should state lawmakers prioritize in 2027?
Universal pre-K programs, reading interventions at Grade 3, free tuition at community colleges and technical schools for qualified students. I also believe we should pass laws protecting the intellectual freedom of educators, reassert the separation of church and state in public schools, and reestablish the worthy goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion-by a different name, as the demonization of these common sense ideals is complete.
What role should the state play in immigration and border security? What, if any, specific policies would you support as a state lawmaker?
This is the jurisdiction of the federal government. I strongly disagree with Gov. Abbott’s collaboration with the Trump administration’s mass deportation policy. I would fight for due process laws to be applied to all migrants. I would support a ban on mass detention centers. For Texas to be party to the inhumane treatment of vulnerable people is unacceptable to me.
What, if anything, should the Texas Legislature do in the way of hemp and marijuana policy?
It is not practical or logical for Texas to continue to ban and/or criminalize marijuana when it is legal in other states. It will happen here inevitably. Common sense laws should be established now.
This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 3:39 PM with the headline "House District 97 candidates in the Texas Democratic primary runoff."