A swath of Tarrant County will have a new representative in the Texas Senate after voters have their say in a special election next month.
The Nov. 4 election for Texas Senate District 9 was triggered in June when Kelly Hancock, a North Richland Hills Republican, resigned from the seat to become acting state comptroller. The winner of the election will serve the remainder of Hancock’s term, which ends in January 2027, and must then seek reelection.
The candidates are John Huffman, a Republican former Southlake mayor; Taylor Rehmet, a Democrat, Army veteran and union organizer; and Leigh Wambsganss, a Republican and chief communications officer for the Patriot Mobile wireless service provider. Because the election is meant to fill Hancock’s vacant seat, all three candidates were placed on the ballot without a primary election.
Senate District 9 spans north and northwest Fort Worth and multiple Tarrant cities, including Keller, Southlake, North Richland Hills, Haltom City, Hurst, Haslet and White Settlement. Voters can find which Senate district they live in here.
Republicans have represented the district since 1991.
One candidate must win the majority of voters, otherwise the top two vote-getters will head to a runoff election in December. Wambsganss and Rehmet each told the Fort Worth Report they expect to head to a runoff against each other, while Huffman declined to make predictions.
Throughout the campaign, Huffman and Wambsganss have focused attacks on each other, while from the sidelines Rehmet has sought to win over the working-class vote.
Election Day is Nov. 4, and early voting runs from Oct. 20-31. In addition to the special election, Tarrant County voters will join all Texans in weighing 17 constitutional amendments.
Endorsements, contributions
Endorsements have been central to all three candidates’ campaigns, particularly Wambsganss, who has the support of President Donald Trump. The self-described “ultra MAGA” candidate has also garnered endorsements from far-right state and local Republicans, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, County Judge Tim O’Hare and Sheriff Bill Waybourn.
Huffman emphasized his endorsements from local Fort Worth Republican leaders, including Mayor Mattie Parker and former Mayor Betsy Price. He said their support is testimony that Fort Worth Republican voters can trust him as a representative despite his Southlake address.
“Look at the Fort Worth leaders that are supporting us that really think I’m going to be the best choice for exactly that type of voter,” he said.
Rehmet has garnered endorsements from a slate of state and local Democrats, including Rep. Chris Turner, County Commissioner Alisa Simmons, and several Fort Worth City Council members. He also highlighted his support from several prominent Texas labor unions and VoteVets, a progressive veteran organization.
The only Democrat on the ballot is confident in securing Democratic votes but knows he must win over Republicans in a conservative district that’s garnered national attention. His focus on working-class Texans will serve both parties, Rehmet said.
“If you’re a Republican and you’re trying to find out, ‘OK, which is the party of working people’ … go to the campaign finance and find out who’s actually powered by the people like I am — unions and people,” he said. “Find out who’s powered by people and who’s powered by special interests.”
Wambsganss significantly outraised her opponents, reporting donations of about $845,000 between July 1 and Sept. 25. Her biggest funder is the Texans United for a Conservative Majority PAC, a committee started by Republican Texas oil tycoons Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, which donated over $200,000 for campaign goods, including mailers and texts.
Other notable donations include $100,000 from James Wilkinson, chairman of TrailRunner International, and $10,000 from the Accountable Government Fund, a PAC primarily funded by the Bass family that is a frequent donor in Fort Worth political campaigns, according to Transparency USA.
Huffman trails behind Wambsganss, with his war chest almost entirely filled from a massive, $500,000 contribution from the Texas Sands PAC, a political action committee pushing for legalized gambling in Texas. It’s bankrolled by billionaire Miriam Adelson, a major Trump donor whose family owns the Dallas Mavericks and casino company Las Vegas Sands.
In total, Huffman reported about $576,000 in contributions between July 1 and Sept. 25.
Rehmet reported raising $70,200 in the first months of his campaign. His highest donor was the Machinist Non-Partisan Political League, which contributed $15,000.
Geography
In the months leading up to November, Huffman and Wambsganss have faced scrutiny for their ties to Southlake, a city ranking among the top 10 wealthiest U.S. suburbs.
Wambsganss said she came from a working-class background and held jobs in high school to help pay for her and her mother’s groceries and utilities. Everything she has now is the result of hard work and decades of activism, she said.
“A lot of people, from a misconception perspective, they see, ‘Oh, she lives in Southlake, Southlake silver spoon’ … God bless you if you have that. That was not mine or my husband’s journey,” Wambsganss said.
After repeatedly emphasizing his endorsements from Fort Worth officials, Huffman said he plans to be a senator who can address the “kitchen table politics” impacting his would-be constituents across the district, regardless of what city they live in.
“So the things (with) Fort Worth voters that I’ve talked to — and we’ve talked to hundreds, if not thousands of them in person — is that the geography doesn’t come up nearly as much as ‘What are you going to work on that affects me and my family?’” Huffman said.
Rehmet, however, hopes he can appeal to voters unenthused with two Southlake candidates. The Garland native moved to Fort Worth in 2018.
“I think I can speak to everyday Texans. I can really champion their issues,” Rehmet said. “And I don’t see how some rich folks from Southlake can.”
Priorities
The GOP candidates both listed lowering property taxes as their first priority, with Huffman saying that under the current tax rate “we all rent our homes from the government.”
Wambsganss pointed to the November election’s resolution to raise the homestead exemption and said she’d like to advocate for further increases. Wambsganss’ other priorities included public safety and border security investments.
Wambsganss said she feels a spiritual calling to the Senate. As a Christian conservative, she doesn’t believe politics are political — she believes they’re spiritual.
“This is a duty, and so that’s why I’m here,” she said. “I have no desire for higher office or other office, I’m just kind of following my calling.”
For Huffman, improving infrastructure, particularly in transit, water and power, is another priority, he said. City and regional water authorities are primarily funded by property taxes.
Rehmet and Huffman both listed improving education as a priority, although they differ on what that looks like. Rehmet wants to end school vouchers and “fully fund public schools,” as he feels teachers are overworked and have too many students — a situation that hurts children’s education.
Huffman supported expanding school choice and last session’s voucher initiatives — a program public education advocates fear will result in further defunding of school districts already strapped for cash. At the same time, he also wants to better support public school teachers with higher salaries.
“Those are two sides of that same coin,” he said. “We need parental empowerment, and we need full funding of our amazing educators who are teaching our kids.”
Rehmet’s other priorities are labor related. He wants to end Texas’ right-to-work laws, which he feels are “strangling unions,” as well as open up occupational pathways for trades so companies can more easily find a trained workforce.
“I’m still on the shop floor. I’m just trying to go to the Senate floor,” Rehmet said. “I really want to show that a regular, working person can get elected and serve honorably and serve the working constituents in their district or wherever they represent.”
In August, Tarrant County commissioners voted along party lines with Republicans to cut more than 100 Election Day polling sites and reduced the number of early voting locations for the special election. County officials said the move was needed to save money as nonpresidential elections historically see low voter turnout.
A full list of polling places for early and day-of voting is available on the county’s elections administration website.
Cecilia Lenzen and Drew Shaw are government accountability reporters for the Fort Worth Report. Contact them at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org and drew.shaw@fortworthreport.org.
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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