HD97 Is Winnable. This Runoff Will Decide If Democrats Take It.
This seat is in play. What happens next is up to Democrats.
HD97 is one of the few real pickup opportunities Democrats have in Texas this year. The kind of district that, if Democrats are serious about flipping the Texas House, actually has to be on the board in November.
On paper, it leans Republican. In 2024, Trump carried it with 54.6%. Cruz hit 51.7%. The Republican state rep won it with 58.1%. But look a little closer, and the margins start to tell a different story. Harris still pulled 44.1% here. Allred hit 46%. This is not a district where Democrats are getting buried.
That’s the difference between deep red and competitive. It’s a suburban Tarrant County seat, and it behaves like one. Educated. Middle to upper-middle income. Nearly 44% non-Anglo, with growing Hispanic, Black, and Asian communities. Over 40% of residents hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. Poverty sits below the state average. This is exactly the kind of place where elections move.
And when districts move, they flip when the conditions line up. A favorable environment. A candidate who fits the district. A campaign that understands turnout and persuasion, not just one or the other.
Which is why this runoff matters more than most.
Who are the candidates?
Beth Llewellyn McLaughlin comes into this runoff with a long background in public education. She spent more than three decades as a teacher in Fort Worth, the bulk of that time at Southwest High School. Her campaign is focused on fully funding public schools, opposing vouchers, and strengthening local control over education. She also centers healthcare access, reproductive freedom, and broader economic priorities like affordable housing and wages, framing them as issues of basic stability for working families. Her messaging leans into lived experience and ties that into a broader argument about public investment and accountability in state government.
Diane Symons, by contrast, is running on a more unconventional and less traditionally Democratic platform. Her campaign emphasizes economic development, particularly in smaller communities, with a signature proposal to legalize casino gaming to generate revenue, jobs, and funding for schools and infrastructure. She also focuses on property tax relief, especially for seniors, disabled residents, and educators, including a proposal to eliminate property taxes for certain groups. Her messaging leans heavily on economic strain, fixed-income challenges, and the need for structural relief.
The incumbent.
John McQueeney is the Republican incumbent in HD97, and he is exactly the kind of Republican this district does not need more of. He represents a suburban Tarrant County seat, but his politics are straight out of the Greg Abbott culture-war assembly line.
On his own campaign website, McQueeney pitched himself as a conservative Republican focused on border security, property tax cuts, and passing “school choice.”
And that matters, because those priorities do not fit this district. McQueeney publicly backed school vouchers during his campaign, and in the Legislature, he attached himself to some of the session’s ugliest right-wing projects. He was a sponsor of SB17, the foreign land ownership bill, and as a joint author on HB2391, a bill imposing civil liability on anyone who “causes or contributes to the social transitioning of a minor.”
So when Democrats talk about flipping HD97, this is the bigger point. It is not just about swapping one name for another. It is about whether this district wants to keep sending a Republican to Austin whose political instincts line up with Abbott, voucher politics, and the state’s endless obsession with policing other people’s private parts.
So, what happened in the primary?
The first round of this race didn’t settle anything. Diane Simons finished first with 41.5%. Beth Llewellyn McLaughlin followed with 30.3%. Ryan Ray came in close behind at 28.1%.
And that’s the story.
It’s also important to understand that runoffs are not a continuation of the primary. They’re a reset. The question shifts from who had the strongest base to who can build the broadest coalition. What matters now is where the rest of the vote goes, and who can bring it together.
That’s the race we’re in now.
Why this runoff matters.
Because this is the moment where coalitions either form or fall apart.
The question now is who can consolidate the rest of the field. Who can bring together voters who were looking for something different the first time around? Who can win this district in November?
Because that’s how Texas flips. It happens in places like this. Suburban districts. Educated districts. Districts where margins are already within reach.
And when those opportunities come around, they flip when Democrats put forward candidates who can run disciplined campaigns, speak to the district they’re in, and execute both sides of the equation. Turnout and persuasion.
That’s what this runoff is about.
Why I’m backing Llewellyn-McLaughlin in the runoff.
In the primary, I supported Diane Symons. Since then, I’ve had the chance to spend more time engaging with this race, including seeing both candidates in different settings in Tarrant County and hearing more directly from voters in the district.
And with that fuller picture, I’m making a different call in the runoff. That’s why, for this runoff, Lone Star Left is endorsing Beth Llewellyn-McLaughlin.
You can find out more about Beth Llewellyn-McLaughlin on her website and Facebook.
HD97 is winnable. That’s the bottom line.
But winnable does not mean guaranteed. It means Democrats have a real shot, if they take it seriously and make the right choices when it counts.
This runoff is one of those choices.
Because in a district like this, everything matters. The candidate. The message. The campaign. The ability to connect with voters who are not already locked in. The discipline to stay focused on what actually wins in November.
And if Democrats meet it here, HD97 is exactly the kind of seat that can flip. This year.
That’s what’s on the table.
Now it’s just a matter of whether we take it.
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May 15, 2026: Last day to apply to vote by mail (Democratic primary runoff elections)
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