Our Record

In the 2008 election, 26 of 34 leaders in contested races endorsed by the Texas League of Conservation Voters Political Action Committee won at the ballot box, setting the stage for the election of a pro-conservation Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. In our 14 top priority races for the Texas House, the pro-conservation leader won in 11.

Conservation Incumbents Returned to Texas House of Representatives

The League’s Political Committee’s victories include helping return the following incumbents, all in difficult races, to office:

  • Rep. Allen Vaught, District 107, Dallas. Last session, Rep. Vaught championed efforts to stop dirty coal plants. Our efforts helped Rep. Vaught get re-elected, and his leadership will continue to benefit the Texas environment.
  • Rep. Hubert Vo, District 149, Houston. Thanks in part to the financial support of conservation voters, our mail efforts and our telephone calls, Rep. Hubert Vo will continue to be a clean air leader in the House.
  • Rep. Stephen Frost, District 1, Northeast Texas. Rep. Frost earned and deserved re-election because of his commitment to stopping the harmful Marvin Nichols reservoir. The League looks forward to working with this expert ‘water guy’ in the next session.
  • Rep. Chuck Hopson, District 11, East Texas. Rep. Hopson earned our endorsement because of his true commitment to protecting wildlife habitat and strengthening our state parks system. He eked out a very narrow victory over an anti-conservation challenger. We look forward to working with him to secure parks funding next session.

Conservation challengers win big in Texas House

These challengers were able to upset anti-conservation incumbents or win open seats:

  • Carol Kent, District 102, Dallas County. Carol Kent is more than just an alternative to a mealy-mouthed, false-promise making incumbent – she’s ready to be a clean air leader for Texas. Rep. Goolsby lost his campaign because he was out of touch with voters in his district, who needed, and elected, a leader ready to work on improving North Texas’ abysmal air quality.
  • Robert Miklos, District 101, Mesquite. In this Dallas suburb, Robert Miklos’s clean air leadership won a clear victory over his opponent, a former mayor.
  • Chris Turner, District 96, Tarrant County. Defeating a bad incumbent, former U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards’ staffer Chris Turner picked up this critical seat in the Fort Worth area. Chris joins a slate of pro-conservation officials from Tarrant County, including Reps. Lon Burnam, Paula Pierson and newly elected Senator Wendy Davis.
  • Joe Moody, District 78, El Paso. Voters sent a powerful message with the election of Joe Moody, who will bring common sense leadership to El Paso for urgent conservation issues such as keeping Asarco closed, reforming clean air policies that encourage pollution, and expanding our ailing state parks system.
  • Diana Maldonado, District 52, Williamson County. Education leader Diana Maldonado won an impressive victory in a formerly conservative district. She earned our support and endorsement because of her commitment to building Texas’ future green economy.
  • Kristi Thibaut, District 133, Harris County. In a close race, the incumbent lost to pro-conservation candidate Kristi Thibaut, in a real victory that can lead to cleaner air quality for Houston.

The Texas Senate

The League’s Political Committee endorsed three leaders for the Texas Senate, only one of whom lost:

  • Wendy Davis, District 10. In a difficult race against an entrenched incumbent in Tarrant County, Wendy Davis pulled off a narrow victory. She will be a new conservation leader in the Senate.
  • Chris Bell won the most votes on Election Day, but lost in the runoff for District 11 on the Gulf Coast. Regrettably, Joe Jaworski was unable to topple “Toxic Mike” Jackson for District 17 in Galveston.

The Speaker of the House

In part because of the League’s work electing pro-conservation leaders to the Texas House, there was a razor-thin 76-74 partisan split of the House. House members were able to challenge former Speaker Tom Craddick for House leadership. Building a bipartisan coalition, members defeated Speaker Craddick and elected moderate Republican Joe Straus as Speaker. Speaker Straus carried an important conservation bill last session and his leadership to date in the House, in contrast to Craddick’s, indicates a willingness to create structures in which conservation legislation can get a fair hearing.