Collin County has several races on the ballot in the Republican and Democratic primaries, including an open county commissioner’s court seat.
Early voting is scheduled for February 17 through February 27. Election Day is March 3.
County Races
Collin County Judge
Republican Primary
Collin County Judge Chris Hill was first elected to the position in 2018. Before that, Hill was the Precinct 3 county commissioner. He faces Rick Grady, a former Plano city council member, in the GOP primary.
Hill is known for being conservative — he voted against the property tax rate for the county multiple years in a row, citing the burden on taxpayers. Collin County has mostly maintained its property tax rate, but appraisal values have gone up, increasing many homeowners’ property tax bills.
At a recent Collin County Conservative Republicans candidate forum, the county judge warned property taxes in the county will likely go up again.
“And if we do, I'm going to vote no,” he said.
Grady criticized Hill’s vote on previous budgets and tax rates at the Conservative Republicans forum, calling it poor management.
“I don't wait for everyone to vote yes on the budget and then vote no,” he said. “I don't do that, because it's my budget. It's my responsibility. Leadership means that you take the leadership role and that responsibility stops at the top.”
Hill responded that the county staff brings forward the budget, not the county judge. He said the staff is aware how the commissioners’ court will vote before they present the proposed budget.
The candidates also discussed the proposed housing development formerly known as EPIC City, which has faced controversy. The 402-acre project, now known as The Meadow, is associated with a local mosque, the East Plano Islamic Center, and would include a new mosque and more than 1,000 single and multi-family homes.
Top state officials, including Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, have accused the development of violating Fair Housing laws by excluding non-Muslims, something the developer, Community Capital Partners, has denied. The U.S. Department of Justice ended its probe of the project and potential religious discrimination in June, saying the developer planned to revise and develop marketing materials that affirm that all are welcome in the community.
Hill said building a development exclusive to a specific community doesn’t align with Collin County’s values.
“This is about a group of folks who very specifically said we want to build an enclave unto ourselves,” he said. “We want to design it in a way that violates the law to keep anyone else out. That goes against the very spirit, and the very grain and the very laws of our community.”
The county judge said at the Conservative Republican candidate forum he and Grady have different values on the issue, pointing out that Grady attended an event at EPIC instead of the Collin County Conservative Republican Christmas dinner last December.
Grady, a member of the Collin County Coalition on Homelessness, said he went to speak about helping people experiencing homelessness.
“I've spent time in the street, in the gutter, working with these people to make a better life for them,” he said. “And if that's what it takes is to go to an institution that is willing to open their doors so that people do not freeze on the pavement like they did two years ago, I will absolutely do that.”
Democratic Primary
John R. “Buster” Brown is running unopposed in the Collin County Judge Democratic primary election.
Brown is an attorney in Plano, according to the Texas State Bar website. His practice areas include business, consumer, creditor-debtor, environmental, ethics and malpractice law.
Commission Precinct 2
Republican Primary
Cheryl Williams, the Republican incumbent, isn’t running for reelection. Michael Slaughter is running unopposed in the Republican primary for this seat. Slaughter was previously elected to the Parker City Council, where he was mayor pro-tem, and served as a planning and zoning commissioner in Parker.
At the Conservative Republican candidate forum, Slaughter said he wants to make the budget process for Collin County more collaborative. The county commissioners and the Sheriff have had tension during previous budget talks over the Sheriff’s budget.
“Our county is growing, and what I want to do is take this from an adversarial aspect every August to a long drawn-out conversation that we have all year long, so the elected officials work together, and we can come up to provide the services that the residents of Collin County deserve,” he said.
Regarding growth, Slaughter said the county needs to have a long-term infrastructure plan to ensure the county is prepared.
“It would be like getting on a bus and having no idea where the end destination is,” he said. “I don't ever advise that. You probably need to know in the beginning, and everybody should know.”
Democratic Primary
No Democrats filed to run for Precinct 2 commissioner.
Commissioner Precinct 4
Republican Primary
Duncan Webb, the Republican incumbent, is not running for reelection. Woody Huffines and Shelby Williams are running in the GOP primary for this county commissioner seat.
Huffines, who has a background in financial and project management, and Williams, a former Plano City Council member who also works in the financial realm, discussed Collin County’s growing pains at a recent Collin County Conservative Republicans candidate forum. Collin County is one of the fastest growing areas in the nation according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
As the population continues to boom, Williams said the county needs to prepare its infrastructure for future growth to prevent further strain on resources.
“We're going more than double in size in the next few decades,” he said. “We have to prepare for all those people before they get here, not after they're here and try to retrofit.”
The way to do that without raising property taxes, Williams said, is with bond funds. Since bonds are still funded by taxpayers, he said elected officials need to ensure they get the maximum value for their communities.
In response to the same question about growth, Huffines pointed out that more residents in Collin County increase the tax base, bringing in more money. He also said he would prioritize being fiscally conservative to avoid raising property taxes.
“How can we use the money that we have effectively, string every bit of it out that we can before we default to the idea that we are going to raise to get to where we want to go,” he said.
Democratic Primary
Julie Holmer gave up her seat on the Plano City Council to run for Collin County Precinct four commissioner. Holmer has no primary opponents.
A small business owner and marketing professional, Holmer said at a recent Collin County League of Women Voters candidate forum the region’s growth calls for collaboration among local governments.
“We want to make sure we're not duplicating efforts with our cities so that we can maximize our tax dollars at the city level and at the county level as well,” she said.
The county also needs to look at services that aren’t being offered by the county or cities, Holmer said. Collin County doesn’t have a 24-hour emergency homeless shelter for the general population or a public hospital for the county’s uninsured and underinsured residents.
“It's a very large county to not have any kind of health care or county hospital,” she said. “And so, I think a lot of other counties may look to Collin County and ask the same question about us, is what are we doing about serving our own community when we've got other communities that are taking care of their indigent population with a county hospital, which we don't have.”
Some Collin County residents can see a doctor through the county’s indigent care program. They have to be at 100% of or below the federal poverty level to qualify, which is $15,960 annually for individuals.
State House Races
Texas House District 33
Republican Primary
Katrina Pierson was elected to this seat in 2024, defeating Justin Holland in a GOP primary runoff. Holland was one of the Republicans who voted against education savings accounts, what opponents refer to as school vouchers, during the 2023 legislative session, a top priority for Governor Greg Abbott.
Abbott targeted Republicans who voted against what he calls “school choice” during primary races in 2024, endorsing their opponents. He endorsed Pierson in the primary runoff election that year.
Pierson is running unopposed in the Republican primary race.
Democratic Primary
Orlando Lopez is running unopposed in the Democratic primary to run against Pierson in the general election.
At a recent Collin County League of Women Voters candidate forum, Lopez emphasized his support for public education, saying he doesn’t support school vouchers.
“A lot of low-income people that may want to take advantage of these vouchers end up not being able to do so mostly because of the remaining balance that they still cannot afford,” he said. “So, in my opinion, I believe the state should be focusing on rerouting those dollars back to our public schools.”
Public schools in Texas get most of their funding from local property taxes. Abbott recently proposed allowing voters to decide on a constitutional amendment that would eliminate school property taxes. At the candidate forum, Lopez said public schools shouldn’t be responsible for providing property tax relief.
“Texas has its fair share of wealthy, and I think it's about time that we go back and have a lot of these billionaires really pay their fair share in taxes,” he said.
Texas House District 61
Republican Primary
Keresa Richardson is running for reelection in the Republican primary against Frederick Frazier, who she defeated in the GOP primary runoff for the seat in 2024.
Frazier was elected to the seat in 2022. He defeated Paul Chabot in the Republican primary that year, who alleged that Frazier impersonated a McKinney city code enforcement officer to have Chabot’s campaign signs removed during the 2022 primary runoff. A Collin County district court judge dismissed the charges against Frazier in April 2024 and discharged him from the deferred adjudication plea he had accepted.
Frazier is suing Chabot for defamation. Chabot created a political action committee called “Collin County Citizens for Integrity” in December 2023 to defeat Frazier in the 2024 primary according to court documents. Frazier’s attorney sent Chabot a cease-and-desist letter on May 9, 2024, saying that Chabot had published statements claiming Frazier had been convicted of the charges against him and received a dishonorable discharge from the Dallas Police Department. Frazier had already appealed his discharge to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, which changed it to a general discharge.
The cease-and-desist letter told Chabot to retract and remove all materials containing defamatory statements according to court records. Frazier filed the defamation suit in June 2024 when Chabot didn’t remove his statements from the website.
Richardson and Frazier were both at the Collin County Conservative Republicans candidate forum, where they discussed property taxes. Texans pay some of the highest property taxes in the country. The legislature passed an increase in the homestead exemption, but Richardson said it’s not enough.
“In this last legislative session, we gave $51 billion back to try and buy down your property tax,” she said. “That's not sustainable. We can't keep doing that.”
Abbott has released a five-point plan to overhaul the state’s property tax system, including requiring that two-thirds of voters approve any property tax increase. Richardson said she supports the governor’s plan.
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has proposed lowering the age for homestead exemption for property taxes, something Frazier pointed to as an option for property tax relief at the Conservative Republican candidate forum. But switching from property taxes to a consumption tax or sales tax, he said, wouldn’t be sustainable.
“We need make sure that what we're funding is getting funded,” he said. “Our public schools are in major danger right now, and you're seeing that. So, if you just eliminate a property tax, okay, how are you going to pay for those?”
Democratic Primary
Jackie Bescherer and Brittany Black are running in the Texas House District 61 Democratic primary. Bescherer is a realtor and former Dallas police officer according to her website. Black is a senior software engineer and business owner according to her website.
Texas House District 61 includes parts of McKinney ISD, which had to close three campuses due to declining enrollment and budget woes. Black said the state’s school voucher program are taking funds away from public schools at the Collin County League of Women voters candidate forum.
“Texas is failing our kids for school funding and it's time for accountability,” she said.
Black said education funds should be invested in teachers and students, not school vouchers.
Bescherer said during the forum that Texas spends less per student than the national average. Texas ranks 38th among other states in per-pupil spending according to a 2024 report from the National Center for Education Statistics.
“Greg Abbott and his cronies down there, they set a per student, which we know this has been way too low,” she said. “We are way at the bottom.”
Texas House District 66
Republican Primary
Matt Shaheen has represented this statehouse district since 2015. Before that, he was a Collin County commissioner.
Shaheen authored and co-authored several bills in the 2025 legislative session, including a bill that increased the criminal penalty for election fraud that went into effect September 1. He also wrote the state’s age verification law that which requires pornographic websites to verify users’ ages to protect minors from being exposed to sexually explicit material.
Free speech advocates challenged the law in court, arguing it was vague and imposed burdens on adults’ access to constitutionally protected expression. The Supreme Court upheld the law last year in a 6-3 ruling that the law "only incidentally burdens the protected speech of adults."
Democratic Primary
Sandeep Srivastava is the only Democrat running in the primary for Texas House District 66. Srivastava ran twice as a Democrat for Texas Congressional District 3, losing to Rep. Keith Self both times.
The Dallas Morning News editorial board endorsed Srivastava in the 2024 race, citing Self’s stance on immigration and refusal to vote on the continuing resolution as reasons for supporting his challenger.
“This is obstructionism at its worst,” the board said. “The 3rd Congressional District needs a representative who will show up to legislate, not grandstand.”
When asked about immigration at the Collin County League of Women Voters candidate forum, Srivastava said the country needs immigration reform.
“We have to prioritize the serious criminal threats,” he said. “We have to see the due process and human treatment. The strong oversight and transparency and accountability should be there.”
Srivastava immigrated to the United States from India more than 20 years ago.
Texas House District 67
Republican Primary
Republican Rep. Jeff Leach has held this seat for seven terms. He faces Matt Thorsen in the GOP primary.
In the last legislative session, Leach authored a bill that prohibits organ transplant discrimination based on vaccination status. The bill became state law September 1. He was also the primary author on House Bill 7, which allows private citizens to sue out-of-state providers of abortion pills for $100,000 or more. The bill went into effect December 4.
Thorsen lives in Melissa and owns The Dallas Shutter Company, which sells shutters, shades and blinds according to his website. He lists endorsements from Allen West, the chair of the Dallas County GOP, and Matt Rinaldi, the former Texas GOP party chair, on his website.
Democratic Primary
Jordan Wheatley and Emeka Eluka are both on the ballot the Democratic nomination for this seat – but Eluka announced on Facebook that he is stepping back from campaigning to let Wheatley be the front runner.
“He started this journey in 2024, and I started in December 2025, so he has a bigger name and more money than me,” Eluka said. “I trust he will do a better job and get can start getting ready for 2028.”
Wheatley is a 4th grade teacher in South Dallas according to his website. He said at the Collin County League of Women Voters candidate forum that education is one of his top priorities.
Now that private schools and charter schools are eligible for state funds under the education savings account program, Wheatley said standards for those institutions need to change.
“They all need to be held to the same accountability that I am in my public school, which is super important if we are going to have transparency for our schools,” he said.
Texas House District 70
Republican Primary
Three Republicans are vying for the chance to run against the incumbent Democrat, Rep. Mihaela Plesa, in the Republican primary.
George Flint, a former district judge and Collin County GOP chairman, Jack Ryan Gallagher, an attorney and Michael Hewitt, who’s also an attorney, are running for the seat.
Texas House District 70 includes parts of Plano ISD, which has operated at a budget deficit for years. School districts get most of their funding from local property taxes. Plano ISD is in an area with an abundance of property wealth, but it sends a large chunk of that back to the state. Through a process called recapture, the state takes funds from school districts who collect more property tax revenue than what the state allots for education and redistributes it to districts with less property wealth.
At the Collin County Conservative Republican candidate forum, both Hewitt and Flint said they don’t support the recapture system, also referred to as Robin Hood.
“We need to put Plano schools first,” Hewitt said. “We need to take care of the schools inside of House District 70.”
“It’s stealing from Plano and other school districts to fund other school districts that on the whole probably don't need it,” Flint said.
Gallagher said the new education savings account system will allow for more school choice and that it’s important that Plano isn’t severed from the rural and inner-city districts.
“That's where we want to make a focus on making sure that we get the resources that we paid into the tax system for,” he said.
Flint and Hewitt both expressed support for school choice, something Plesa opposed during the past legislative session.
Democratic Primary
Plesa, the first Democrat elected to the statehouse from Collin County in 30 years, is running for reelection for a third time and has no primary opponents.
She wrote Everly’s Law, which went into effect September 1, during the past legislative session. The law requires certain hospitals to provide perinatal bereavement care for families whose children have a prenatal diagnosis of a life-limiting condition.
Plesa is known for supporting public schools. She previously filed legislation that would’ve reformed the state’s recapture school finance system. At the Collin County League of Women Voter’s forum, she said the state needs to increase the amount it spends per student.
“One dollar increase to the basic allotment is one dollar less to your properties taxes,” she said.
The state increased the basic allotment by $55 in the $8.5 billion school funding bill during the last legislative session. School finance experts and advocates say the basic allotment would need to increase by at least $1,100 to account for the spike in inflation since the last time the basic allotment was increased in 2019. The school funding package the legislature passed created new funding allotments that can only be used as directed in the bill.
Texas House District 89
Republican Primary
Rep. Candy Noble is running for reelection in the Republican primary against Freddie America and Jeffrey Forrester.
Noble wrote House Bill 4211, the law that changes the Texas Fair Housing Act so exemptions that usually allow religious organizations to operate housing developments without violating the act don't apply to developments like The Meadow, formerly known as EPIC City.
The law also requires business entities entering into a residential arrangement to disclose to anyone buying land that they're investing into the interest of the business, not the property. Anyone who wants to buy a lot in EPIC City has to purchase a share with Community Capital Partners, the corporate entity behind EPIC City, according to the project's website.
At a September press conference after Abbott signed the bill into law, Noble cited what she said were quotes from Community Capital Partners that highlighted the development’s unlawfulness: investments in EPIC City are non-refundable, shares can't be easily sold and sales will be limited only to those CCP believes “will contribute to the overall makeup of [the EPIC City] community.”
“That is certainly not the Texas way,” Noble said. “In Texas, home ownership means something, and we want to protect that meaning for every Texan.”
Forrester has a background in business, public policy and community service according to his campaign website. He lists eliminating property taxes, securing the border and government transparency as priorities on his campaign website.
Forrester’s website also outlines his commitment to the Texas First Pledge, a promise to vote in favor of legislation that would make Texas an independent nation. The Texas Nationalist Movement, a group that supports Texas leaving the union, created the pledge.
America said at the Collin County League of Women Voters candidate forum that he’s a rancher and owns an electrical contracting company.
“They're not correct, and they're putting a lot of pressure on property owners,” America said.
Democratic Primary
Angie Carraway is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Carraway has been a public school teacher for 14 years. She said at the Collin County League of Women Voters Candidate Forum the state needs to invest more in education.
“Our government currently has done nothing but try to undermine the system and pointe at us and say, look, it's not working,” Carraway said. “They're expecting us to hit a home run with a toothpick. It's ridiculous.”
The state expects local governments to make up the difference for school funding, she said. If the state increased its contribution to education, property taxes would go down, Carraway said.
Congress
Congressional District 3
Congressional District 3 now covers less of Collin County after recent redistricting, covering 57% of the region instead of 64% of Collin County and 86% of Hunt County. The new map also includes all of Delta County, Franklin County, Hopkins County, Morris County and Titus County. It also covers 70% of Hunt County.
Republican Primary
Rep. Keith Self is running for another term. Mark Newgent is challenging Self in the Republican primary.
Self, a military veteran, served as the Collin County Judge before he ran for Congress in 2022.
Rep. Pat Fallon from Texas Congressional District 4 and Self sent Plano ISD a letter earlier this year urging the district to address antisemitism. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is investigating Plano ISD for antisemitism after teachers allegedly let students walk out to protest Israel’s war in Gaza.
At a town hall last July in McKinney, Self said he would vote in favor of releasing files related to convicted sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“I don’t mind pushing back against the leadership,” he said about some other Republican officials, “because as I said, all of y’all have been promised this for a long time. We’ve got to make it happen.”
Newgent is also a military veteran according to his campaign website. He previously ran for city council and school board trustee in Irvine, California. Newgent’s policy priorities include secure borders, lower taxes and supporting veterans according to his campaign website.
Democratic Primary
Evan Hunt is running unopposed in the Democratic primary for this seat. He served in the military and retired as a U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel according to his website.
Hunt, who now works in the defense and aerospace industry according to his campaign website, would prioritize affordable healthcare, including lowering prescription drug costs, if elected.
Other priorities he lists on his campaign website include protecting Social Security benefits and veterans programs.
Congressional District 4
Previously, Texas Congressional District 4 covered 29% of Collin County and all of Rockwall County. Now, the district covers 40% of Collin County, 10% of Denton County, 24% of Bowie County and all of Fannin County, Grayson County, Lamar County and Red River County. Rockwall County is now a part of Congressional District 32.
Republican Primary
Don Horn is challenging the incumbent, Pat Fallon, in the GOP primary for this Congressional seat.
Before he was elected to Congress, Fallon served in the Texas House and the Texas Senate. He was also a member of the Frisco City Council. Fallon’s campaign website lists endorsements from President Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz. His policy priorities include border security, religious liberty and protecting the Second Amendment according to his campaign website.
Horn is a U.S. Navy veteran and has a background in social work, landscaping and welding according to his campaign website. He lists protecting the Second Amendment, requiring proof of citizenship to vote and eradicating foreign influence in Congress according to his campaign website.
Democratic Primary
Jason Pearce and Andrew L. Rubell are both vying for this seat in the Democratic primary.
Pearce, who was born in Plano, has a background in sales and finance according to his campaign website. He lists lowering the cost of living, affordable health care and common-sense gun safety as policy priorities on his campaign website.
At the Collin County League of Women Voters candidate forum, Pearce said the U.S. needs to create better pathways to citizenship for immigrants. He also said the country should abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has faced controversy after the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota.
“We need to unmask and defund and abolish ICE, bring them all before Congress and have them basically have to own up to the consequences of their actions,” Pearce said. “I think that we can rebuild a better program that does not result in having people gunned down in the street or pulled out of their home for no reason.”
Rubell has a doctorate in educational leadership and learning according to his campaign website. His policy priorities include investing in small businesses, term limits in the U.S. House and public education according to his campaign website.
At the Collin County League of Women Voters candidate forum, Rubell said the U.S. immigration system needs to be modernized to reduce backlogs and provide a pathway to citizenship.
“We should treat immigrants with dignity and fairness, recognizing their contributions to our society, to our economy, and to our communities,” he said.
Congressional District 32
Congressional District 32 now includes 7% of Collin County instead of 4%. Julie Johnson, the current representative, is running in Congressional District 33 after redistricting.
The new Congressional District 32 also covers 18% of Dallas County.
Republican Primary
Several Republicans are running in the newly created North Texas District, including Ryan Binkley, Jace Yarbrough, Darrell Day, Paul Bondar, Aimee Carrasco, Gordon Heslop, Monty Montanez, Abteen Vaziri and James Ussery according to reporting from the Texas Tribune.
Democratic Primary
Dan Barrios, a Richardson city council member, and military veteran Anthony Bridges are running for this seat in the Democratic primary.
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