Fort Worth City Councilman Cary Moon is exploring a run for the Republican nomination for state House District 93.
In an interview with the Fort Worth Report on Wednesday, Moon said he expects to make a decision by Nov. 9 about whether he will run for the seat held by Republican state Rep. Matt Krause. That’s the date of the next City Council meeting at which the council members may make announcements.
District 93 included parts of Fort Worth and Arlington, but it was recently redrawn to include only parts of Fort Worth, largely extending from Northeast Loop 820 to Alliance Airport. Gov. Abbott signed new political maps into law on Oct. 25.
Krause is one of a handful of candidates running for Texas Attorney General and made headlines this week for launching an investigation into school districts’ books on race and sexuality.
Meanwhile, voters first elected Moon to City Council in 2015. He represents District 4, which includes neighborhoods from inside Loop 820 to the far north. He was re-elected in May, and his current term ends in 2023.
He said he was most proud of helping speed up the time it takes the city to issue permits for development, adding conditional use permits and bringing International Leadership of Texas Public Charter School to East Fort Worth.
As chairman of the city’s internal audit commission, Moon said, he’s identified and stopped wasteful spending.
“That came from not having good controls, whether it be managing a parking garage contract we had or whether it be paying for utilities for buildings we did not own or paying for equipment we did not use,” he said. “I’m the fiscal conservative guy.”
He’s currently working to make the city’s payroll system more accurate for its about 7,000 employees and to bring a soccer stadium to the city, he said.
Moon did not offer an opinion about Krause’s book investigation, but said he supports the job Krause has done as state representative and his AG candidacy.
“If he’s someone who wins the AG race, it would be good not just for Texas, but also for Fort Worth,” Moon said.
The filing deadline is Dec. 13. The primary election is March 1.
Council members running for higher office hold their seat until a successor is elected, City Attorney Sarah Fullenwider said this morning. This means if Moon announces a run for state representative on Nov. 9, he’d continue to represent District 4 on City Council until a special election could be held in May of 2022.
This story was updated on Thursday, Oct. 28 to add information from the city attorney. This story was updated on Tuesday, Nov. 2 to include information about the new shape of Texas House District 93.
Jessica Priest is an investigative journalist for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at jessica.priest@fortworthreport.org or via 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.