We recommend in the race for Texas House District 67

Texas House District 67 stretches from Plano through parts of Allen and McKinney and into a large swath of rural Collin County. Its Republican representative, Jeff Leach, deserves another term over Democratic newcomer Makala Washington.
A longtime state legislator, Leach distinguished himself last year when he led fellow House Republicans in impeaching Attorney General Ken Paxton, his one-time friend and political mentor. Leach delivered the closing argument for the House managers in Paxton’s impeachment trial, calling on senators to do the right thing after a group of the attorney general’s closest advisers came forward with credible allegations of corruption.
A majority of the Senate shamefully rejected all of the charges. Leach paid a political price, as Paxton marshaled primary opponents against him and other House Republicans. Leach prevailed on the strength of his conservative credentials and the halfhearted opposition of his primary challenger.
Leach, 42, told us in an interview that he expects Republican lawmakers to move past previous disagreements to focus on conservative priorities such as making Texas more affordable, cutting taxes and making the border safer.
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A lawyer, Leach is chair of the Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee and a member of the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee. He highlighted as successes recent legislation that created new courts and that established new training requirements for judges.
Leach, whose children attend public schools, supports increased public school funding. He said the basic student allotment of $6,160 should go up by at least $1,000. At the same time, Leach supports a voucher-like program for Texas students, casting it as a matter of parental choice and empowerment. We have serious concerns about a universal program with no enrollment caps like the one Gov. Greg Abbott prefers.
We disagree with Leach’s resistance to expanding Medicaid, a move that would cover at least an additional 1 million low-income Texans. We also have reservations about legalizing online sports betting. Leach authored a bill that would have allowed regulated sports gambling in Texas. It passed the House but failed to advance in the Senate.
Despite our policy disagreements with Leach, he is a thoughtful representative with a command of the issues.
Washington, 44, an entrepreneur and substitute teacher, bills herself as a voice for the working class. She can identify important policy areas, such as home affordability, but she lacked specifics about how to address the issue beyond saying Texas should raise the minimum wage and hold landlords accountable. On the border and public school funding, she said she’d have to consult other people with expertise, even though these are key issues for voters today.
Leach is the clear choice, and he gets our nod.
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