Our recommendation for GOP voters in Fort Worth-area House race to replace Stickland
Republicans in Northeast Tarrant County have a range of ideological and experience options as they seek a candidate to replace departing state Rep. Jonathan Stickland.
Former Bedford City Council member Jeff Cason is carrying Stickland’s tea party and Christian conservative standard in the House District 92 primary, along with the incumbent’s endorsement. Small-business owner Taylor Gillig is running as a classic free-market conservative. And former Bedford Mayor Jim Griffin is running as the GOP veteran.
It’s a close call, but we recommend voters go with Griffin. His years serving Bedford and collaborating with neighboring cities and other governments give him an edge in serving the district and tending to its needs in Austin.
He’ll be positioned from day one to collaborate in the House and build coalitions. After years of Stickland’s focus on ideological battles, that’s something the district needs in its next representative.
Griffin, 62, a longtime Verizon team leader, is emphasizing increased state support for school funding to bring down local property taxes. He wants badly needed reforms to the property appraisal process to help homeowners. His focus on improving mental health services is admirable, too. He has a track record of working to coordinate services for early intervention programs.
Gillig, 31, a former Marine officer who served in Afghanistan, is the kind of candidate Republicans should cultivate. He has served as a policy analyst to a state senator and, with his wife, started a small business that has given him a front-seat view of the challenges that government can impose on entrepreneurs. Gillig, who is Hispanic, would also bring sorely needed diversity to the GOP House caucus.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREHey, who is behind these endorsements?
Members of the Editorial Board, which serves as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s institutional voice, decide candidates and positions to recommend to voters. The members of the board are: Cynthia M. Allen, columnist; Steve Coffman, editor and president; Bud Kennedy, columnist; Ryan J. Rusak, opinion editor; and Nicole Russell, opinion writer.
Members of our Community Advisory Board may also participate in candidate interviews and offer their views, but they do not vote on which candidate to recommend.
Read more by clicking the arrow in the upper right.
How does the process work?
The Editorial Board interviews candidates, asking about positions on issues, experience and qualifications, and how they would approach holding the office for which they are running. Board members do additional research on candidates’ backgrounds and the issues at hand. After that, members discuss the candidates and generally aim to arrive at a consensus, though not necessarily unanimity. All members contribute observations and ideas, so the resulting editorials represent the board’s view, not a particular writer.
How do partisanship and ideology factor in?
We’re not tied to one party or the other, and our positions on issues range across the ideological spectrum. We tend to prefer candidates who align with our previously stated positions, but qualifications, temperament and experience are important, too.
He needs a little more seasoning, though, and a sharper policy agenda. Gillig is passionate about applying free-market principles to issues such as regulation and reforming property appraisals, but he struggled to explain to us how exactly he would do so. And he can’t match Griffin’s experience in and knowledge of the district.
Cason, a 66-year-old sales manager who says he recently retired, represents the staunch-conservative lane in the race. He has the backing of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, the political arm of Empower Texans, the groups that has consistently nettled House GOP leadership.
It’s safe to assume that Cason, who declined to meet with our Editorial Board to discuss the race, would offer a policy agenda and views similar to Stickland, if not the same go-it-alone style.
The GOP winner will face one of two Democrats in a race that’s seen as important to the overall control of the House. It’s been a Republican stronghold, but Stickland struggled to hang on in 2018 amid the Democratic wave.
The best option for the primary, both for electability and ability to serve the needs of the district’s communities, is Griffin.
This story was originally published February 5, 2020 at 5:06 AM.