Amid the departure of eight Texas congressmen, the reshuffling in Texas politics left an open state house seat in Central Texas. Incumbent State Representative Jason Isaac decided not to seek re-election, opting instead for an ultimately failed bid to go to D.C.

A five-way race ensued to represent Hays and Blanco counties in the House District 45 Republican primary. Ken Strange defeated Amber Pearce, Naomi Narvaiz, Austin Talley, and Amy Akers. Strange’s closest competition in the race was Amber Pearce.

Here’a a quick look at the numbers:

Strange won without a runoff, an impressive feat, given the number of people in the race and how little he spent. His campaign may very well have been the least expensive successful campaign in recent memory. Strange is an Air Force Veteran, school board member, and Director of Wimberly EMS. Amber Pearce and her husband have five kids and built an oil and gas company together in Blanco County. While the HD 45 race wasn’t much on the radar for Austin insiders, things could be different next cycle. Like most lawmakers within the Texas Republican House caucus, Strange will likely have to choose whether to side more with conservative or liberal Republican members. It’s easy to create enemies in Austin, and having an already known opponent in-district who can self-fund a campaign could spell problems.

Key Takeaways from the HD 45 Race:

1. Education at the forefront.
   Anyone following Texas Republicans know there’s an ongoing struggle between those who believe public education is the only education structure the state should be championing, versus those conservatives who believe more educational choices for each child is actually the answer to the state’s education woes. As a school board president, Ken Strange received $7,000 from the Texas Parent PAC, a group which advocates for additional funding for public education. In fact, Strange received Parent PAC’s third largest political contribution. Notably, Parent PAC and Strange share the same consulting firm – Patterson & Company. Perhaps the interest in Strange’s race stemmed from Amber Pearce’s strong conviction in favor of school choice for all Texas students?
2. Texas BBQ meets politics.
   You can’t visit central Texas without stopping by the legendary Salt Lick BBQ. Apparently, the Roberts family wanted a say in who their next state representative would be, as Salt Lick BBQ was the single largest contributor to Strange’s campaign. The only other candidate whom Sat Lick president Scott Roberts has donated to is the area’s former representative, Jason Isaac. The Salt Lick has been in the news lately advocating for legislative changes. Currently, in Texas, a person cannot own a restaurant which sells alcohol and own a winery. Roberts would like to do both, and having a champion in your state lawmaker definitely won’t hurt
3. In-district numbers don’t really tell the whole story.
   On first blush, Pearce seems to have impressive stats on in-district money vs. out-district.  A closer look reveals that her largest contribution was in fact, a $125,000 contribution from herself. Overall, Pearce’s lack of individual donors actually benefitted Strange, despite the fact that she substantially out-raised and out-spent him.  Strange’s ability to garner more than 100 in-district donors once again proved a small contribution from a voter is a reliable predictor of them turning out to vote —  which, at the end of the day, is all that really counts.

Before you go…

Former Republican Chairman of Public Education, Jimmie Don Aycock isn’t entirely absent from the Texas political scene since retiring. Chairman Aycock contributed $100 to Strange’s efforts. Perhaps Aycock also preferred Strange’s support of public education rather than Pearce’s preference for school choice.

Our Race to Raise series takes a deeper look at the most high-profile races of the election cycle, focusing specifically on money raised by those seeking to serve in public office. Stay tuned for the next installment.