Texas Senate Runoff Race Will Determine Grassroots Conservative Agenda
Jose Nino
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December 19, 2020 will be host to one of the most important runoff races in Texas State politics.
The race for the open seat in Texas Senate District 30 will pit Shelley Luther against State Representative Drew Springer.
Luther has gained folk hero status for protesting the lockdowns by continuing to operate her salon business in defiance of Dallas County shutdown ordinances. She did so until she was arrested.
Luther would eventually be released from jail after Governor Greg Abbott decided to intervene. Now she is facing off against Springer in a classic grassroots vs. establishment match-up.
Springer has made a slight pivot towards more pro-grassroots positions on issues such as Constitutional Carry.
However, Springer’s track record on Constitutional Carry generally tells a different story.
In an email addressed to members, Texas Gun Rights exposed Springer’s refusal to sponsor Constitutional Carry.
Chris McNutt, the Executive Director of Texas Gun Rights PAC observed that “When Constitutional Carry was filed in 2015 (HB 195), 2017 (HB 375), and 2019 (HB 357), Representative Springer never offered his name as a co-author.”
The bill’s author, former State Representative Jonathan Stickland. claims that Springer refused to co-sponsor the bill despite being approached “over a dozen times.”
Springer even admitted to The Texas Tribune on January 28, 2015 that he was against Constitutional Carry.
Because of how pro-gun Springer’s district is, HD 68, Springer ended up co-authoring a watered down comprise to Constitutional Carry,
He did so to give his House colleagues cover for derailing Constitutional Carry and try to pacify grassroots activists who had been angered by the establishment’s successful efforts to derail Constitutional Carry on multiple occasions.
On top of that, the Texas open carry law that Springer helped pass ended up being more restrictive than the open carry laws of liberal states such as Michigan and 29 states that don’t require a license for open carrying a handgun.
Texas Gun Rights also reported that Springer has refused to return his Texas Gun Rights Candidate Survey every time Springer ran for re-election in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020.
By contrast, Luther returned her candidate survey 100% pro-gun, vowing to pass Constitutional Carry if elected. On top of that, she is opposed to “Red Flag” gun confiscation orders, which allow government officials to confiscate firearms from lawful citizens without due process nor there being a crime committed.
Luther also vowed to oppose universal background checks which would ban private sales and transfers of firearms between lawful people, unless they pay for a government permission slip.
On the Constitutional Carry front, having Luther in the Senate would be a major win in Texas since there haven’t been many senators who have taken up the legislation in the last few years.
Early voting for the Senate runoff in Texas started on December 9.
If Texans in Senate District 30 are serious about passing pro-gun reforms such as Constitutional Carry, the only choice for them is Shelley Luther
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