Wes Houck, candidate for Lubbock County Judge in the Republican March Primary, is a third-generation Texan. Houck is challenging Curtis Parrish, the current incumbent.

“I was born in East Texas. The Houck side of the family is from Texas – but grew up in Oregon. And basically, my folks divorced when I was 3, and so we went back to mom’s support system, which was up in Oregon,” Houck said in a conversation with LubbockLights.com

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“If you’ve ever seen the movie ‘Goonies,’ that’s where I grew up. And I had a great time there – surfing, snowboarding, mountain biking – kind of living in a very northwest lifestyle,” Houck said.

Things changed.

Oregon decriminalized drugs in small amounts, which LubbockLights.com confirmed from news reports in 2020, he said.

“That included meth – and at that point finding people in our kids’ park – homeless encampments – all that. I saw really quickly the effects,” Houck said.

Houck told a public forum in January, “I saw a state kind of terraform from a fairly red conservative hardworking state to kind of a dysfunctional society.”

Oregon reversed the decision for certain drugs in 2024. By then Houck moved his family to Wolfforth.

“We didn’t want our boys growing up thinking this was normal. So, we searched and we searched and came across Lubbock, oddly enough, through a YouTube video. And I was like, ‘Whoa, this place sounds really interesting,” Houck said.

Houck cold-called people in Lubbock and came to visit in person. A month later he made the trip again with his wife.

“We loved it here,” he added – saying family slogan was, “We chose Lubbock.”

“We left everything we knew, everything we had, and fled Oregon and came to here,” Houck said.

Education, seminary and career

“After high school, I went to Multnomah University, which at the time was Multnomah Bible College, and got a bachelor’s of science in Biblical Studies, as well as a bachelor’s of science in Theology with a minor in Education, Business and Psychology,” Houck said.

He then spent time at seminary but did not finish. He was also studying to be a psychologist.

“But during that time, me and my brother were partners for quite a number of years in a construction home building company. We did custom homes as well as spec homes. Did that for almost 25 years.” Houck said.

He also did some finance work with a commercial lending company in Oregon, he said.

And now? He retired – until he didn’t.

“I picked up a part-time job at Tesla here in Lubbock, which has been really fun – and humbling to be taught how to do things from 20-year-olds,” Houck said.

Getting involved

Houck ran for a spot in the Wolfforth City Council two years ago – starting out with a sense of skepticism.

“As I served out those nearly two years, I saw a city that surprised me on how well it’s functioning … The leadership is strong and cohesive. The unity with the city of Wolfforth is amazing, especially with all the departments – EMS, fire, police, city hall – everyone just really unified,” Houck said.

That’s not what he saw when he attended Lubbock County Commissioners Court meetings.

“It’s okay to disagree, obviously, but I saw more than that. I saw contention, disunity, discord, all of those things,” Houck said.

He believes the problem is a leadership vacuum. Houck said in his businesses, he had to develop relationships. The county needs to find compromises and he said he doesn’t see that happening.

Houck thinks the top priority is infrastructure such as road and building repairs. He also feels like taxes are the nuclear option only to be raised when all other options have been exhausted.

“Throughout all four precincts, okay, let’s prioritize these [needs]. Let’s get them broken down into bite-sized chunks. … The big thing is just having a leadership that is open to listen – open to connect rather than to compete,” Houck said.

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