Voters will decide in November to elect Democrat Detrick DeBurr or Republican Mitch Little to represent District 65 in the Texas House of Representatives. Located in the southern part of Denton County, state House District 65 spans from Justin and far north Fort Worth to Bartonville to the northern parts of Lewisville and Carrollton.
Little, who has been endorsed by Sen. Ted Cruz and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, defeated incumbent Kronda Timesch for the Republican nomination, while DeBurr ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination in the March primaries.
The following candidate profiles, compiled by the Denton Record-Chronicle and completed by the candidates, have been edited lightly for clarity and length.
Early voting begins Oct. 21 and ends Nov. 1. Election Day is Nov. 5, with polling sites open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. To find your polling place, sample ballots and more information about Election Day, visit VoteDenton.gov.
Detrick DeBurr
Pronounced “DET-trick de-BER”
Age: 54
Birthplace: Monroe, Louisiana
Years lived in Denton County: 12 years
Education: DeVry University, 1997, Bachelor of Science in computer information systems; Irving Citizens Police Academy, 1998; Leadership Southwest, 1999
Professional experience: Senior software engineer for Mainstream Nonprofit Solutions. Previously, Planning and Zoning commissioner, The Colony; Planning and Zoning Commission chair, Cedar Hill; St. Philip’s School and Community Center, board member; Dallas Blueprint for Leadership program, chair
Website: www.deburrfortexas.com
What do you believe should be the top priorities of the Texas House of Representatives, and, if elected, how would you advance those priorities for Denton County residents?
First things first, I would work to fully fund our public schools in Texas. I would advance this priority by (1) linking the basic allotment amount per student to inflation, and (2) basing funding allocations on enrollment versus attendance.
During a time when there is a lot of partisan division, both nationally and locally, what is your plan for working collaboratively with all members of the House?
I am 100 percent committed to working with all members of the Legislature to simply “do the work.” I have no political allegiance that supersedes the collective good of the people in District 65.
District 65 covers a very demographically diverse group of citizens. How do you plan to represent all of them?
I will focus on the basics. The basics are funding our schools, reducing the property tax burden on property owners, and representing the people in a way that is respectful to all citizens regardless of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation.
Mitch Little
Age: 45
Birthplace: Houston
Years lived in Denton County: Almost 13 years
Education: Harvard University, 2001, Bachelor of Arts in government; University of Texas School of Law, 2003, juris doctorate
Professional experience: Attorney, partner and owner, Scheef & Stone LLP, 20 years
Website: www.mitchlittlefortexas.com
What do you believe should be the top priorities of the Texas House of Representatives, and, if elected, how would you advance those priorities for Denton County residents?
The purpose of the Texas House is to ensure the economic, educational, familial and religious liberties and freedoms of all Texans and to ensure their safety. The goal is to accomplish all of these things while keeping taxes and government regulation low and keeping government small.
Right now, we are in the middle of a border crisis that may or not abate after the November election. The problems downstream from this are obvious: increased crime; strain on government resources (including our health care and criminal justice systems); and strain on our housing market. We must plan as a state to secure our border on our own, which means deploying more resources in South Texas.
The crisis more immediately facing North Texans is affordability, which is a product of governmental failure. The printing of money caused by increased federal spending has brought inflation to outrageous levels, and the people bearing the brunt of it in our district are the young and the poor. We must rein in the growth of government on the state level to keep the miracle of the Texas economy alive and to give everyone the chance to live the American dream of homeownership.
During a time when there is a lot of partisan division, both nationally and locally, what is your plan for working collaboratively with all members of the House of Representatives?
Collaboration itself is not a social good. It makes sense to collaborate when the group is actually right about a topic, rather than just for collaboration’s sake. Usually when I’m asked this question, the subtext is, “How are you going to help the Democrats get what they want occasionally?” The answer is: I’m not.
If the opposing party wants to work with me to provide educational choices for our district, I’m in.
If the opposing party wants to work with me to reduce property taxes so that our people can live their dreams, I’m in.
If the opposing party wants to work with me to ensure that the Chinese Communist Party cannot own real estate in the state of Texas, I’m in.
If the opposing party wants to work with me to protect the Second Amendment and guarantee our liberties for future generations, I’m in.
If the opposing party wants to work with me to undermine corporate censorship and protect our First Amendment rights from the scourge of big tech, I’m in.
If they don’t want to work with me on these things, we will get them done without them.
District 65 covers a very demographically diverse group of citizens. How do you plan to represent all of them?
I don’t look at the world through the lens of demography, race or socioeconomics. There are over 200,000 people in my district from all different backgrounds and walks of life. We are all facing the same societal challenges at the moment: Our money doesn’t stretch as far as it used to. Our public schools don’t work as well as they used to. Our government is bigger than it used to be. We are getting taxed more than ever before. Our border is more open than it has ever been.
Crises require leaders. Leaders take on the painful responsibility of making tough choices so that the group can flourish. If we want to help our people, we need to get the government out of their lives to the greatest extent possible and make every single effort to put money back into their pockets so they can live their dreams. Representing our district well means returning fiscal discipline to our state government and putting the power of self-determination back into the hands of the people rather than politicians. Government never solves problems better than the people of Texas do.