<\/p>\n
The Texas State Capitol in Austin on Nov. 2025. <\/p>\n
RONALDO SCHEMIDT<\/p>\n
AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Republican voters in Arlington, Hurst and Bedford are looking to replace a stalwart conservative as Rep. Tony Tinderholt runs for county commissioner<\/a> after six Texas House terms. Veteran party activist Susan Valliant<\/a> is the best choice among five candidates on the ballot.<\/p>\n Valliant, a 63-year-old nurse who has lived in Arlington for decades, has been a member of the State Republican Executive Committee, among other party posts. She has seen the local political scene and the state party change and knows how to be effective from day one.<\/p>\n As a House member, Valliant told us, she wants to work on maintaining local control for communities, noting concern over a proposal for new apartments<\/a> in southwest Arlington. Protecting elections and eliminating duplication in state government are also priorities.<\/p>\n Other candidates have more prominent endorsements but can\u2019t match Valliant\u2019s experience in the community. Cheryl Bean<\/a>, a construction business owner, has been active in the party, too, but is a newcomer to this community. She ran unsuccessfully for the House just two years ago in southwestern Tarrant County. Bean, 69, was not able to attend our interviews. She touts the support of Tinderholt and Tarrant County Judge Tim O\u2019Hare, among other GOP leaders.<\/p>\n Jackie Schlegel,<\/a> 44, of Arlington is a prominent activist against vaccine mandates and knows her way around the Capitol. But she isn\u2019t as well-versed on other issues. Gov. Greg Abbott is supporting her campaign. Rounding out the ballot are Michael Daughenbaugh<\/a>, 50, an Arlington accountant, and Michael Ingraham<\/a>, 49, a Bedford mortgage broker.<\/p>\n Early voting is Feb. 17-27, and a runoff is likely. If no candidate wins more than half the vote in the March 3 primary, the top two finishers advance to a May 26 runoff. The ultimate winner will face Democrat Katie O\u2019Brien Duzan in the fall. House members serve two-year terms.<\/p>\n Editor\u2019s note: An earlier version listed an incorrect occupation for candidate Michael Ingraham.<\/p>\n Members of the Editorial Board, which serves as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram\u2019s institutional voice, decide candidates and positions to recommend to voters. The members of the board are: Cynthia M. Allen<\/a>, columnist; Steve Coffman, editor and president; Bud Kennedy<\/a>, columnist; and Ryan J. Rusak<\/a>, opinion editor.\u00a0<\/p>\n Read more by clicking the arrow in the upper right.<\/p>\n How does the process work? <\/p>\n The Editorial Board interviews candidates, asking about positions on issues, experience and qualifications, and how they would approach holding the office for which they are running. Board members do additional research on candidates\u2019 backgrounds and the issues at hand. After that, members discuss the candidates and generally aim to arrive at a consensus, though not necessarily unanimity. All members contribute observations and ideas, so the resulting editorials represent the board\u2019s view, not a particular writer.<\/p>\n How do partisanship and ideology factor in? <\/p>\n We\u2019re not tied to one party or the other, and our positions on issues range across the ideological spectrum. We tend to prefer candidates who align with our previously stated positions, but qualifications, temperament and experience are important, too.<\/p>\n This story was originally published February 12, 2026 at 1:34 PM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Texas State Capitol in Austin on Nov. 2025. RONALDO SCHEMIDT AFP via Getty Images Republican voters in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166407,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,67573,151,37621,67572,122,27],"class_list":{"0":"post-166406","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arlington","8":"tag-arlington","9":"tag-arlington-headlines","10":"tag-arlington-house-district-94","11":"tag-arlington-news","12":"tag-republican-primary","13":"tag-susan-valliant","14":"tag-tarrant-county","15":"tag-texas"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} Susan Valliant, candidate for House District 94 About our campaign endorsements BEHIND THE STORY MORE <\/a> Hey, who is behind these endorsements? <\/p>\n