The state GOP is mid-schism, and the race to represent House District 65, a narrow strip of southern Denton and Collin counties, signifies that split like few places.
The seat is now occupied by Kronda Thimesch, a longtime Lewisville community servant who rose from high school booster club to school board to Legislature.
But Thimesch was defeated in the GOP primary by her one-time campaign treasurer Mitch Little.
Little, for those who don’t recall, was the most effective lawyer representing Attorney General Ken Paxton in what turned out to be a rigged impeachment trial.
Thimesch’s sin was looking at the facts and voting to impeach Paxton.
We don’t fault Little for representing a client. Our problem is that he parlayed that into politics against a friend and fellow conservative while embracing the sort of absolutist worldview common now of the far right.
A Harvard and University of Texas-educated lawyer, Little, 45, is too smart for the brand of Republicanism he’s adopted, which sees every speck in the eyes of opponents but is blind to the plank in its own.
The current GOP power structure brooks no dissent and, from all we can see, Little has fallen in line in exchange for a seat at the table of power.
On the other hand, we found ourselves pleasantly engaged with the Democrat running. Detrick DeBurr, a cheerful onetime planning and zoning commissioner in The Colony, described himself as a MATH candidate, not a MAGA candidate. He said he likes to add things up and that he’s ready to work with anyone to reach solutions. He’s got the record in local government to prove it.
A software engineer, DeBurr, 54, is a former board member of St. Philip’s School and Community Center in Dallas. He strongly favors increasing funding for public schools as his primary concern.
This is a conservative district, and DeBurr has an uphill campaign. Were Thimesch the candidate, we would recommend her. But she isn’t.
In this case, DeBurr is the better choice.
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