Leigh Wambsganss has battled alongside grassroots movements in Texas for years; now, she is campaigning for Senate District 9.
Just a few years ago, Wambsganss remembers cutting her nails short so she could better load gun magazines. It was the COVID/Black Lives Matter era, and the threats that had followed her for much of her activist career were getting more vicious.
“We had gotten multiple death threats. People drove by my house screaming my children’s names with bullhorns. I was prepared to protect myself and my family,” she said in a recent interview with The Dallas Express.
Wambsganss, the chief communications officer of Patriot Mobile, grew up facing economic adversity. She worked odd jobs to buy groceries for her family after her parents divorced at a young age.
Despite these humble beginnings in Virginia and Oklahoma, her life looks much different now. She has been working in Texas since the late 1990s and built a home in Southlake on land that has been in her husband’s family for decades.
“I believe in the American dream,” Wambsganss said. “I’ve been a volunteer public servant my whole life,” she told The Dallas Express. “I’m not a politician.”
Wambsganss is seeking to take her volunteer spirit to Austin as a candidate for the Texas Senate, entering the race at a pivotal moment in the state’s political evolution.
Early voting begins October 20, and the stakes, Wambsganss says, are high.
Out of the 31 state Senate districts in Texas, 20 are currently held by Republicans — but five of those seats are open this cycle. “It’s the largest number of Senate seats to fill in decades,” she said. “It’s a really important race for the state Senate and really important for the state of Texas.”
Beyond the partisan balance, observers are watching closely to see how this new Senate might shape the state’s future on key issues — among them, casino expansion. The Texas Senate has long been viewed as a firewall against efforts by gambling interests to bring Las Vegas–style casinos to Texas. But that firewall is being tested. The Las Vegas Sands network has invested millions of dollars in Texas politics, focusing on state legislators and local officials to build momentum for casino legalization. Wambsganss has cast herself as a bulwark against that push.
Despite decades of public scrutiny and harassment, Wambsganss’ tone is steady and determined. “We need a warrior in Austin fighting for constituents of Senate District 9,” she said. “Not a go-along-to-get-along politician.”
She faces former-Southlake Republican Mayor John Huffman and Democrat labor leader Taylor Rehmet in the November 4 general election to replace former Senator Kelly Hancock.
Property Taxes
Wambsganss says property tax relief remains one of the state’s most urgent needs. “I would like to continue to expand the homestead exemption,” she said, adding that she also supports compression and the exploration of long-term strategies to reduce Texans’ reliance on property taxation.
“You don’t really own your home if you have to pay the state to stay in your home,” she said.
Crime / Public Safety
As the daughter of a police officer and Army military policeman, Wambsganss said her commitment to public safety runs deep.“I’m a big supporter of our law enforcement,” she said. “These are the people that are running into the fire when we’re running out.”
She supports fully funding police departments and giving officers a voice in determining what tools they need. “I want them to tell me what they need. They’re the ones on the streets.”
Wambsganss explained that sometimes the answers can be unexpected. She explained that her company once drove supplies to the border during the Biden administration because local agencies lacked the equipment they needed. “At one point, we asked the sheriffs what they needed. And they said, ‘We need body bags because our American citizens on our side of the fence are finding these bodies of these victims that the cartel brought over.'”
Immigration
Wambsganss described border security as both a state and moral imperative: “We can never again let our citizens be subject to an open border just because of who may be in the White House.”
Wambsganss supports continuing and strengthening Operation Lone Star, endorses the use of 287(g) cooperation agreements with federal immigration authorities, and believes declaring an “invasion” should remain an available legal tool. “I testified in support of 287(g) when it came up for renewal in Tarrant County,” she said. “I’m the only candidate in this race with a public record supporting that in our county.”
While open to mandatory E-Verify, she wants to ensure unfunded mandates do not burden small businesses. It is a “good tool,” she said. However, she noted that she was told there are “inaccuracies in the program, and a lot of people are missed.”
Casinos
It has been widely reported that the network of entities allied with the Las Vegas Sands Casino is backing Huffman. The former Southlake Mayor reported a $500,000 contribution from the Sand’s political arm in the latest campaign finance report covering the period through September 25, Texas Scorecard reported.
Wambsganss said she found this concerning. She cited law enforcement sources who told her that “for every dollar casinos bring to a community, it costs $4 in taxpayer dollars from law enforcement and social services.”
“It’s just not necessary,” she said. “We’re doing great without casinos.”
Abortion
Wambsganss calls herself “incredibly pro-life” and says that position extends far beyond campaign rhetoric. “I have spent years and years and thousands of hours volunteering for pro-life causes,” she said.
She has served as a volunteer, emcee, gala chair, and board member for Mercy House Ministries, a crisis pregnancy home. She also worked with Alliance Defending Freedom on litigation related to abortion pills and FDA oversight. “I want to make sure our abortion pill laws are strong,” she said. “That will be one of my first priorities.”
Guns
For Wambsganss, the Second Amendment is not just a right but a personal conviction. “As a 120-pound female, the right to bear arms is the great equalizer,” she recalls testifying before a Texas House committee.
She opposes red flag laws, which she argues “violate the Constitution and due process,” and supports legislation modeled on “Kyle’s Law” to protect lawful gun owners from civil lawsuits after justified self-defense. She concluded that without that protection, we “don’t have a Second Amendment right.”
Experience
Wambsganss has served as a Republican precinct chair for two decades — an elected position in the party primaries — though she notes no one has ever run against her.
In contrast, Huffman has served as the Mayor of Southlake and previously as a councilman. She notes that Huffman’s experience is limited to one city and “it is not stellar.” This she contrasted with her own record: “My experience is doing things for the whole county and the whole state as well as the nation.”
She points to her decades of grassroots activism, work on faith and family causes, and her leadership in conservative networks across Texas.“I think my 34 years of commitment to conservative governance — the fight for faith, family, and freedom — speaks for itself.”