Republican Marc LaHood declares victory in Texas House District 121 election

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UPDATE AT 1:34 A.M. WEDNESDAY:

Republican Marc LaHood declared victory on Tuesday night over Democrat Laurel Jordan Swift in the race for State Representative District 121.

LaHood, a San Antonio criminal defense attorney, overpowered Swift by 6 percentage points to secure the State Representative District 121 seat.

LaHood told supporters of his campaign that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office contacted him to congratulate him on the win.

KSAT attended election night campaign events for both candidates.

• LaHood said: “Because I want to know what the people of (HD) 121 value, what they want from their servant. Republican, Democrat, in the middle, consistently had the same concerns: security, safety, finances, taxes, making sure their families were safe, secure, and free. I’m exhausted. My wife and I and our family put our heart and soul into this. I knocked on thousands of doors. The team knocked on 10,000-15,000 doors. I knocked on 4,000 doors, before (Gov.) Abbott came in, by myself.”
• Swift said: “Of course, I wanted to be up, but there was a lot of negative advertising about me. You know, it’s tough. It’s tough to come back. We’ve had a lot of Republicans that we know care about public education tell us that they voted for us. Which makes it very difficult to look at Republican numbers versus Democrat numbers. I know a lot of Republicans voted for us.”

In the 2022 general election, Republican incumbent Steve Allison defended her seat over Democrat Becca DeFelice by 10 percentage points.

In 2020, Republican incumbent Allison won against Democrat Celina Montoya by 7 percentage points.

BACKGROUND

San Antonio criminal defense attorney Marc LaHood used a late surge of support and the backing of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott this spring to upset State Rep. Steve Allison in the Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 121.

Allison, an opponent of school vouchers and three-term incumbent, blamed Abbott for his loss in the March primary, telling the media on election night that the governor had targeted “quality representatives.”

Now, LaHood takes on Democrat Laurel Jordan Swift in the Nov. 5 election after she easily defeated Shekhar Sinha in that party’s March primary.

Swift, like Allison, also opposes voucher programs and has made public education a main focus of her run for the Texas House, according to her campaign website.

In fact, Allison endorsed Swift over fellow Republican LaHood as early voting got underway, according to the Quorum Report.

The district covers Alamo Heights, Olmos Park and parts of north San Antonio. Before Allison, moderate Republican Joe Straus held the seat for a decade and a half and was a longtime speaker of the Texas House.

What the candidates are saying

“This election cycle is about good, hard-working people taking their power back into their own hands. Texas doesn’t need any more politicians. We need leaders who will revitalize our education system, secure our borders, and continue to build one of the world’s strongest economies,” LaHood told KSAT in a written statement.

“I believe folks in District 121, and across the state, agree on more than we disagree. We want our government officials to work together, across party lines, to solve the issues facing Texas today. That’s how I intend to represent my neighbors in this district,” Swift told KSAT in a written statement.

Campaign finance

LaHood received nearly $360,000 in political contributions from the start of July until late September and had more than $108,000 cash on hand, according to the most recent campaign expenditure report received by the Texas Ethics Commission.

The contributions include more than $50,000 in digital advertising and other in-kind contributions from the Greg Abbott Campaign, state records show.

Swift’s campaign reported receiving more than $378,000 in political contributions from the start of July through late September, according to Texas Ethics Commission records.

Swift had just under $58,000 cash on hand late last month, records show.

Swift’s major contributors included a trade union for public employees and Annie’s List, a Texas-based political action committee that supports progressive women seeking elected office at the state and local levels.