Incumbent Texas Rep. Candy Noble of Lucas and challenger Abraham George faced off at the recent Republican Club candidate forum in Fairview as they battle to represent the Party in the election for Texas House District 89.
The Heritage Ranch ballroom was filled with 260 interested citizens wanting to learn more about the candidates. Noble and George sat side-by-side at a table in front of the audience, the former having the endorsement of Gov. Greg Abbott, the latter the endorsement of Attorney General Ken Paxton. HD89’s population tops 190,000 and includes an extensive list of cities such as Allen, Fairview, Princeton, and Wylie.
One of the issues each candidate addressed was whether committee chairs should only be Republicans when the Party holds the majority in the Texas House.
“My position has been very clear from the beginning,” said George. “One of the reasons why I am running is because Democrats still control our Texas House. They kill our bills. I will not work for a speaker who will put a single Democrat as a committee chair in the Texas House,” adding that this bottom line stance is necessary as currently, “we elect Republicans and put them into office, then we give up all our power to the Democrats.”
However, Noble contended, “It is really important to me that we follow our Party rules. Our Party rules say that as Republicans, we go into a caucus and, among ourselves, in the Texas House, we pick who our speaker candidate is going to be,” adding, “I would not break our Party rules by not voting for whoever that candidate would be.”
“Of course, I would love for all of the chairs to be not just Republicans but conservative Republicans. In fact, I would love for just my friends to be committee chairs so all my bills get heard. Wouldn’t that be fun?” Noble rebutted.
“The truth is we can’t pass a constitutional amendment to get on the ballot in Texas without 100 votes. Right now today, we have 86 Republicans in the Texas House. So we need to join hands with some of these moderate Democrats to vote in constitutional amendments such as the teacher retirement pay raise and the property tax relief,” she said. “Together as Texans, we can further things along.”
“The Texas House is working,” Noble asserted. “Don’t make the Texas House into Washington, D.C.”
The pair also addressed the educational system, with Noble stating she is a certified elementary school teacher who understands how important the issue of education is to Texans.
“The number one predictor of a child’s success is parental involvement,” Noble highlighted.
“And what better way to get parents involved in their child’s education than to pick the best education for each of their children?” she challenged, explaining that public schools are “great, but they are not a good fit for every child.”
“I am completely in favor of school choice,” said Noble. “The funds should follow the child for the best educational fit for them.”
Part of Noble’s continued focus has been to champion right-leaning values in the education system.
She noted that the foundation of education in the U.S., even before the country’s establishment, “was centered around the McGuffey Reader and the New-England Primer, both filled with the Ten Commandments – that’s what our education system was founded on. Also, many of our judicial opinions are based on the Ten Commandments.
“How do we treat others? Do we respect authority? Do we steal from others? Do we lie? Do we kill? These [principles] are foundational to us as a society,” Noble told The Dallas Express.
George also spoke in support of school choice but remarked that part of this choice “should be actually funding the public education,” giving students in public schools “a better education so we don’t have to worry about taking everyone out of the public education system that [taxpayers] have already paid for.”
George concluded his remarks that evening by stressing he was running to be a public servant, keeping the desires of his constituents as his focus.
“I will represent the people,” George told The Dallas Express.
“We are to represent the people,” he said, emphasizing that elected officials should be serving their district by taking stances that represent what their constituents want, not necessarily what their cohorts want.
“The people we are elected to serve are the boss. It is our job to take the people’s message to the district. Unfortunately, this is not what is being done. [Elected officials] go into the House or Senate, and they think their colleagues are their constituents. This needs to stop.”
While Noble praised the efforts of Gov. Abbott to secure the border, saying, “Texas has stepped up to protect America, and America owes us,” George used Abbott as an example of ‘serving’ versus ‘leading.’
“The reason for all of [the border security initiatives] is the elections,” George told the crowd. “Gov. Abbott has [only] been an advocate for closing the border for the last” — he paused — “four and a half weeks. The border has been open since Biden took over the presidency.”
“It is time for us to close the border and stop the border invasion — not just bus [unlawful migrants] to another city, but actually stop it forever,” added George.
Underscoring her commitment to being a servant of the people, Noble told DX, “I have a long history of service to my community, to the State, to the Party, and to the people of House District 89.”
“I am proud to be an American,” she added. “Where else on earth do people want to be here so badly that they break the laws to get here? They want to be in America, and by the way, they want to be Texans because it is the best place in America.”