Collin County’s only Democrat in the Texas House faces a challenge from a local former judge.
State Rep. Mihaela Plesa (D-Plano), who flipped House District (HD) 70 in a closely watched race in 2022, is defending her seat against Republican George Flint, a district court judge and former attorney.
Here’s a summary of each candidate’s background and platform.
Plesa
When the Texas Legislature redrew Texas House district maps in 2021, it made most districts less competitive, with a few exceptions. Based on voting data, HD 70 was one such exception. After Plesa’s Republican predecessor, state Rep. Scott Sanford (R-McKinney), announced his retirement, the Texas House shifted the formerly deep-red district in Democrats’ favor. The district’s Texas Partisan Index (TPI), a calculation based on the ratio of Republican to Democratic votes over the last two election cycles, moved from a strong R-63% to even.
Plesa quickly found the spotlight in her freshman term, using procedural moves to stall Republican election-integrity legislation. Her opposition to school choice earned Plesa a “Champion Award” from Raise Your Hand Texas, given to lawmakers who “withstood intense political pressure in order to do right by families, schools, and communities, and took votes to prevent vouchers in Texas.” By the end of her first session, Rice University political scientist Mark P. Jones ranked Plesa the 12th most liberal member of the Texas House.
Democratic leaders have invested hundreds of thousands in Plesa’s campaigns. In 2024, the Texas Democratic Party and Fair Shot Texas PAC together put $180,000 in Plesa’s ultimately successful race against Republican Steve Kinard.
Plesa was one of 13 Democrats whom Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton petitioned to remove for breaking quorum in 2025 when the Texas Legislature was redrawing congressional districts.
Plesa’s website lists public education, public safety, health care, and affordability as her top issues.
She’s focused on education in particular in the Capitol. Alongside education savings accounts, Plesa is an outspoken critic of the “Robin Hood” recapture system, which siphons property tax revenue from property-wealthy school districts, such as those in her district, to shore up budgets in property-poor districts. Plesa has called for reforms that would allow property-wealthy districts to keep more of their tax revenue.
Accordingly, Plesa has been endorsed by the Texas State Teachers Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and the Texas Retired Teachers Association. She also has endorsements from several major labor unions, including the Texas AFL-CIO and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Plesa is also endorsed by Moms Demand Action, Planned Parenthood Texas Votes PAC, and police unions in Dallas and Houston.
Flint
Flint has spent more than 40 years practicing law in Collin County, including four years as a district court judge. He’s also a former chairman of the Collin County Republican Party.
Flint lists nine top priorities on his website: supporting police, securing the border, eliminating property taxes, banning taxpayer-funded lobbying, building reliable energy and water infrastructure, promoting education options, reducing health care costs, improving public transparency, and defending the fundamental rights of the Constitution.
In a survey for Community Impact, Flint said the Legislature should “provide full state funding for each student so as to be able to eliminate property taxes for homeowners.”
Flint has the endorsements of Texas Right to Life, the True Texas Project, the Young Conservatives of Texas, Texas Gun Rights, and the American Hindu Coalition.
He’s also been endorsed by state Reps. Keresa Richardson (R-McKinney), Mitch Little (R-Lewisville), and David Lowe (R-North Richland Hills), as well as former Republican Party of Texas Chairman Allen West.
After two election cycles in the new district boundaries, HD 70’s TPI is D-51%.