| Ed. note: The following is one of twenty races we are featuring in the Texas Political Report. Candidate Pages: John Wellik website, on Facebook, on Twitter
Candidate Pages: Rep. Will Hartnett website, on Facebook District Overview: The Numbers, The Issues, and the Candidates
Rep. Will Hartnett went unchallenged in 2008, and John Wellik's campaign is certainly facing an uphill battle against the long-time Republican incumbent. The district occupies north Dallas, just below Farmer's Branch, and though it is a Republican district, it is trending towards Democrats. As Elise Hu wrote in her Texas Tribune feature on State House races: Hartnett is in a district gradually becoming more of a swing area, and Wellik, an accountant, is expected to get enough money in the fall to run a decent challenge against the 10-term incumbent. Democrats hang their hopes on the fact Hartnett hasn't been tested for a long time, but privately they concede this district will be tough to take.
Rep. Hartnett was one of Speaker Tom Craddick's top lieutenants for most of the past decade, defending his dictatorial rules process all the way until the end when Craddick was ousted. Suspicions surround Hartnett's business practices as well, as he often authors legislation concerning his own probate law practices. The biggest question regarding this race will be: how much of an in-road can Wellik make in his first run? To date, the campaign has reported strong fundraising totals which show that Wellik has the resources to make the race competitive, and his field team reported dozens of supporters coming out to phonebank on a Tuesday -- a strong response, to be sure. He'll have to maintain an aggressive ground game to beat Rep. Hartnett, but his campaign has shown strong signs of mounting a formidable challenge. Definitely a race to keep on the radar going into Election Day. June 30 Campaign Finance Report: HD 114: Wellik vs. Hartnett
| Contributions
| Expenditures
| Cash on Hand
| Loans
| John Wellik (D)
| $106,953 | $52,346 | $50,360
| $5,000
| Rep. Will Hartnett (R)
| $7,450
| $14,131 | $304,254
| $287,000
| Advantage
| $99,503 - Wellik | - | $253,894 - Hartnett
| -
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