LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Wesley Houck spent most of his life growing up in Oregon. When the state decriminalized possession of small amounts of drugs in 2020, he felt it was time for a change.
His research led him to the Lubbock area and he and his family decided to pack their bags and move to Wolfforth in 2022.
“There’s not people like this anywhere else,” Houck said. “This is kind of this weird little oasis in our nation of just good, good people.”
After settling down, Houck says he needed to fulfill his civic duty. That’s why he ran for Wolfforth city council and was sworn in in May 2024.
“Getting on the city council was a great education,” Houck said. “Not only just in the functions of a municipality, budgets, roads legalities, all those things, but also to build bridges.”
He says Precinct 1 County Commissioner Mike Dalby regularly attended Wolfforth city council meetings, and that inspired Houck to attend Lubbock county commissioner’s court meetings.
He believes the differences were night and day.
“You can be diversified in opinion but still focus on a mission, but I didn’t see a mission,” Houck said. “I didn’t see any focus, I didn’t see any X on the map. I just saw let’s get past this budget for this year, now we can kick up our feet for a minute, breathe, and then we’ll do this again next year.”
In order to fix those issues, Houck says he has three main pillars should he become the next Lubbock County Judge.
First is to have one-on-ones with county commissioners to discuss any problems they may see.
Second, Houck believes there has been a lack of transparency to residents in recent years, so he wants to make sure communication to the public is present and consistently updated.
Lastly, Houck feels there needs to be a long-term plan for the future. With a census population prediction of 500,000 for Lubbock county by 2040, he thinks there hasn’t been enough done already to ensure a good future for the next generation.
“I’m not a politician,” Houck said, “I’m just someone who happens to be running for a political office. That’s the mindset I kind of have coming into this. I want solutions, I want pragmatics. I’ve got four boys who are growing up, I want them to have something to grow up into. That’s what’s driving me and driving this whole campaign.”
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