When asked why she was running for Texas House District 97, Cheryl Bean told The Dallas Express, “I am here to do God’s work and to represent the people.”
Bean is set to face off against businessman John McQueeney in a Republican primary runoff election in a bid to fill the vacant seat of outgoing Rep. Craig Goldman (R-Fort Worth). She has been endorsed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare. McQueeney has been endorsed by Gov. Greg Abbott.
Her campaign is focused on protecting children, border security, fiscal responsibility, election integrity, and empowering parents, according to her campaign website.
Bean has lived in Fort Worth for over 60 years.
“I went to schools here in the public school systems,” Bean said. “I know the people. I am a hometown girl.”
She has been on PTA boards, worked for Lockheed Martin, and traveled abroad. Bean’s family started B Smart Builders, which focuses on designing, building, and remodeling homes.
“God put me in various specific roles to give me a unique perspective,” Bean said. “I did threat assessments. I understand the terrorist motive. I understand both the Russian wars and … the Middle Eastern wars. Not only have I had the training from a professional basis, but I’ve moved around the world internationally a great deal. I actually worked for an Israeli company and spent a great [amount of] time in Israel.”
Bean has been involved in politics since she was in college. She said she “witnessed the disaster of the Carter presidency … [when] aircraft were being hijacked.” However, she did not get heavily involved in politics until after her kids had grown up and left the house.
“[The Texas House] is broken. Five sessions and we didn’t pass a single one of the eight Republican priorities. Didn’t even get most of them on the floor because our House is broken,” she told DX.
“If you look at the top issues that we in Texas and America are facing, one is obviously the border crisis,” said Bean. “The cartel is the largest terrorist [organization] in the entire world. It’s much bigger, and it’s much meaner, and it’s spread across the world more than ISIS or Taliban or anything like that, and that’s what we are up against.”
Bean also said she would fight to protect kids from gender ideology and ensure sex separation in schools for bathrooms and athletics, highlighting her previous experience as a charter school trustee and the work she has done to protect students.
“I ended up on the board of one of our local charter schools, where gender identity hit me flat in the face. And I’m proud to say we stood strong against it,” Bean told DX.
She mentioned she signed the Contract with Texas, which is focused on reforming the Texas House by excluding Democrats from serving as committee chairs and reforming the Calendars Committee.
“I have signed and agree 100% with the Contract with Texas. Those are all the key issues, and I said from day one: no more Democrat chairs,” Bean said.
When asked what endorsements reflect about a candidate, Bean said they show whether a candidate has grassroots support.
“My campaign is a grassroots campaign, and so I think my base is strong,” Bean said, stressing that she received the endorsements she did because people know who she is and what she stands for.
“And every one of those people — you know, Ted Cruz, Dan Patrick, Paxton, Sid Miller, Tim O’Hare — they are fighters. And they don’t do this for popularity reasons, and they don’t do this to go along to get along,” she said. “They see a commonality.”
When asked about the negative attack ads against her campaign, Bean told DX that her opponent was afraid.
“I can’t be bought. And I am proud of that,” Bean said. “That is the reason they are coming at me, because I am going to stand strong and firm. Let them try. I don’t want to be in a position where I have to be bought in order to get into office. God is in control.”
Bean said that McQueeney knows she is ahead in the race and “he’s desperate.”
She claimed that the PACs and organizations supporting her opponent were “very swampy” and that their support would come with strings attached.
“It’s definitely a fight for the soul of the [Republican Party] and a fight for the soul of the country,” Bean said of her race. “That’s the difference to me between … [the] more conservative side and the other side, who’s really doing it for greed and power and not for the people.”