House District 2 sprawls over three counties east of Dallas: Hunt, Hopkins, and Van Zandt. The area has seen hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on politics in the past few months. It's going to see much more.
After a six-way special election, Republicans Brent Money and Jill Dutton will continue to run for the seat in a runoff election likely scheduled in December by Gov. Greg Abbott (R).
The seat opened up when former Rep. Bryan Slaton (R-Royse City) was expelled from the Texas House after an investigation found he got a young staffer drunk and had sex with her.
The special election was called to fill the remainder of Slaton's term. Candidates can fill for the 2025 term and run in the March 2024 primary and November general. Depending on the outcome of the runoff, county voters may get the same people pitching them for the next term's seat.
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Tuesday night, Greenville lawyer Brent Money won with 32% of the vote. Former school board trustee and founder of the Republican Women of Van Zandt County, Jill Dutton, came in second with 25%. Attorney Heath Hyde gave Dutton a run early in the night with support from the Texas Farm Bureau and ended with 21% of the vote.
The race was seen by many as a proxy war between the supporters of Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton and the supporters of House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont). Phelan's House impeached Paxton on abuse of power and bribery allegations. Paxton was acquitted by the Texas Senate earlier this fall.
Money was endorsed by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Paxton. He also was backed by tens of thousands of dollars from the Defend Texas Liberty PAC. That group was one of Paxton's largest defenders in his impeachment trial and recently was embroiled in scandal after its president met with well-known white supremacist Nick Fuentes. The group is one of the most powerful in the state and also supported the former representative Bryan Slaton.
Money wrote after the election that "two things are clear."
"The Speaker and all his liberal friends in Austin came together to purchase a seat for their chosen liberal candidate Jill Dutton," Money wrote, "This district is hungry for true conservative values, and THOSE are the values that won out."
Dutton, by far had the most campaign contributions with nearly $450,000, according to the Texas Tribune. Most donations came from groups usually supporting Phelan's leadership team and incumbent Republicans: Texans for Lawsuit Reform and the Associated Republicans of Texas. Dutton also got a late October endorsement by former Gov. Rick Perry. She's also been endorsed by State Rep. Lance Gooden and eight area state reps.
"Thank you to the thousands of people in Hunt, Hopkins, and Van Zandt counties who put their trust in me to represent their conservative values. I hear you loud and clear: we must secure the border, we must permanently cut our property taxes, we must further empower parents when it comes to their children's education, and we must ensure that rural Texas gains another strong advocate in the Capitol," said Dutton in a statement.
She went on to thank her Republican opponents Heath Hyde, Doug Roszhart, and Krista Schild for "campaigning with dignity and honor." She did not mention Money.
In the weeks before the election, the race took a turn to the negative. Dutton focused on Money's past criticism of former President Donald Trump. Money later said the former President proved him wrong.
Money criticized Dutton, claiming she voted to raise property taxes while on the Van ISD school board.
The Democrat in the race, Kristen Washington, received 11% of the vote Tuesday.
