Republican Leslie Robnett is seeking election in House District 97, following incumbent Rep. Craig Goldman’s decision to run for U.S. Congress; Goldman hopes to fill the seat vacated by longtime Congressperson Kay Granger.
Robnett is a sixth-generation Texas lawyer and former intern to now-state Sen. Phil King, in 1999, when the Weatherford Republican was serving as a representative in the state House, according to the biography on her campaign website. She eventually became King’s chief of staff, according to Craig Murphy from her campaign.
“I am a mom of three school-aged children. I am a military spouse. I have a background in every facet of the law that you can imagine,” she told the Report. “I feel very called to do this, especially with this district where I think I am this district, you know, (a) young professional mother dealing with all the issues I think that a lot of the constituents in this district deal with. I think that I’m the right kind of voice for Austin from up here.”
Robnett listed education funding, small businesses and property tax appraisals and relief as some of her top priorities.
“The appraisal process up here since we moved to Fort Worth, it’s just really, really out of control, and that’s across the board. When I talk to people, that’s been their same struggle,” she said. “There’s almost no checks and balances on the appraisal process, so when your appraisal goes up through the roof and property taxes are out of control, it really hurts our pocketbook.”
House District 97 represents Benbrook, White Settlement, Crowley and parts of Fort Worth south of Camp Bowie Boulevard and on the Texas Christian University campus.
Goldman has represented the district since winning the 2012 election.
The filing period ends at 6 p.m. Dec. 11. As of this writing, fellow Republicans Cheryl Bean and John McQueeney and Democrats Diane Symons and Carlos Walker have also filed to run.
Representatives in the Texas House earn $7,200 a year.
Editor’s note: This piece was updated at 9 a.m. Dec. 8 to add additional information from her campaign.
Marcheta Fornoff covers the arts for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at marcheta.fornoff@fortworthreport.org or on Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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