Two Texas House races will undergo manual recounts of their March 1 primary voting results.
In House District 64, which includes Denton County and part of Wise County, Andy Hopper is challenging the 88-vote margin of incumbent State Rep. Lynn Stucky, who defeated him in the Republican primary. No Democratic candidate is running for House District 64, so the winner of the Republican primary will take the seat.
“After the dust settled, our mission to rescue Wise and Denton Counties from the lobbyist-funded establishment hinges on a mere 88 votes. Today, we are initiating a full manual recount of ballots in Denton County,” said Hopper.
In the statement announcing his call for a recount, Hopper criticized Stucky for the “F” grade he received from Texans for Fiscal Responsibility and an $85,000 campaign donation he accepted from House Speaker Dade Phelan. Stucky also holds a “D” grade from the Young Conservatives of Texas.
“We always felt like this would be a very close election, despite none of the ‘pundits’ predicting it,” said Hopper. “With an election this close, I feel as if we owe it to everyone to make sure the votes were counted properly, and this manual recount will help ensure that.”
Hopper is a warrant officer in the Texas State Guard (TSG). He gained notoriety earlier this year when he alleged that a training session of the TSG included material “to indoctrinate a left-wing political agenda of cultural Marxism, critical race theory, and moral relativism upon” the Texas military force.
Unlike the Texas Army National Guard, the TSG is only under the authority of the Texas Governor, not any federal entity.
Stucky (R-Sanger) is a veterinarian who was first elected in 2016. His campaign website states that in 2017, he was named the Most Valuable Freshman by “Capitol Inside,” which has been covering state government for the past two decades. He earned the title for passing 63% of the legislation he authored — the highest passage rate of any member in the Texas House.
His campaign website touts a praising statement from Governor Greg Abbott in which he called Stucky “a strong leader who worked to rein in property taxes.”
Stuckey co-authored Senate Bill 8 in 2021, also known as the “heartbeat bill,” which banned all abortions in Texas once a heartbeat can be detected. For his efforts to limit abortion, he holds the highest possible grade from Texas Right to Life.
The Dallas Express reached out to Representative Stucky about the recount. He said, “Andy Hopper is a career politician of the worst kind. Repeatedly running for office, losing, and then attacking the process. That is not what it means to be a leader. He may have the right to request a recount, but that doesn’t give him a license to attack the people who carried out a free and fair election.”
Representative Stucky added, “If Mr. Hopper wants to attack anyone for misleading voters, he needs to start with himself. He put thousands of voters at risk by sending them faulty mail-in ballot applications. He should take more time making sure his campaign is following the law than he does attacking Denton County elections officials and the voters. I am confident this recount will affirm the voters decision voters made on March 1st. I am the best person to serve Denton and Wise Counties in the Texas Legislature.”
Meanwhile, in House District 17, a five-person race in the Republican Primary for an open seat ended with an incredibly tight margin in results. The incumbent Rep. John Cyrier announced his retirement in November.
Third-place finisher Tom Glass requested the recount after receiving just over 25% of the vote. Former Rick Perry staffer Stan Gerdes finished in first place with nearly 30% of the vote. Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape came in second, set to face Gerdes in a May 24 runoff after receiving nearly 28% of the vote.
Entrepreneur Madeline Eden ran unopposed in the Democratic primary for HD 17, meaning she will be her party’s nominee in the November election.
Glass, a retired system security specialist, came 424 votes short of Pape for second place and a spot in the runoff.
“I am aware of the many ways electronic voting systems can be compromised,” said Glass. “I worked for many years to see that Texas election systems have paper ballot backups, which can be used to check the integrity of electronic systems. If a tool for verification of election integrity is not used, it has no value.”
Four of the five counties that make up HD 17 do back up their votes with paper ballots, and those would be counted if Glass’ request for a recount is approved. The five counties that constitute HD 17, located east of Austin, are Bastrop, Burleson, Caldwell, Lee, and Milam.
“I have seen no evidence that has led me to conclude that the election administrators in House District 17 did anything questionable. They do a demanding job which presents many challenges,” Glass said. “But given allegations of remote hacking of Texas electronic systems in the 2020 presidential race, many Texans want to know for sure that our Texas elections are not compromised.”
Tax dollars are not used to complete recounts. Instead, the candidates that request the manual recounts must provide the funds to finance them.
Once a candidate submits a recount request and provides the deposit, their request is accepted. The Texas Republican Party will then be responsible for creating two separate committees to oversee the recount for both districts.
Though recounts rarely change the outcome of elections, it is not impossible. In 2019, a Midland school bond election recount uncovered a mystery box containing more than 800 uncounted ballots that changed the election’s results.
Note: This article was updated at 4:34 pm to include a response from Representative Stucky.