| Ed. note: The following is one of twenty races we are featuring in the Texas Political Report. Candidate Pages: Rep. Allen Vaught website, on Facebook, on Twitter
Candidate Pages: Kenneth Sheets website, on Facebook District Overview: The Numbers, The Issues, and the Candidates
Rep. Allen Vaught first won election to the State House in 2006. Though this race did not even make Elise Hu's "21 races to watch" feature on the Texas Tribune, it is one that Republicans have pointed to repeatedly. However, given its location in Dallas County and the relative weakness of the Republican opponent, it appears more that this is a seat where Republicans may simply try to run a "Republican wave" across the county. Rep. Allen Vaught, however, is not a typical Democrat. He served in Iraqi Freedom, and served as the "de facto mayor" of Fallujah -- helping start their government years ago. His record on the economy, children's health care, and small business investment is directly in line with his district, and Democratic principles. Most recently, he led an effort among many Democrats to take a stance on improving Texas' border security: Eighteen Democratic members of the Texas House have formally requested that 2 manned surveillance aircrafts be transferred from Iraq to the Texas Air National Guard to be used to conduct air surveillance along the border.
The request, submitted in a letter signed by the representatives, states that "the level of violence and bloodshed on the Mexican side of the border is tragic. Texas does not have the resources needed to address this public safety and humanitarian crisis."
After many months of heated Republican immigration rhetoric aimed at Washington, the action taken by the Democrats, led by State Rep. Allen Vaught, an Iraqi war veteran, presents an interesting contrast.
Why Rep. Allen Vaught Returns Next Year The Republican challenger, Kenneth Sheets, is very unknown -- and so far, he's received no real money from traditional major donors. Either Republicans are trying to play possum with this seat, or they plan on swooping in with a county-wide effort and beating Vaught that way. Whatever the case, Vaught's campaign has already knocked on over 10,000 doors in the district before Labor Day, and his record is very strong. In a month, once we see the 30-day out reports, this may be one we take off the board altogether. Time will tell. June 30 Campaign Finance Report: HD 107: Vaught vs. Sheets
| Contributions
| Expenditures
| Cash on Hand
| Rep. Allen Vaught (D)
| $74,334 | $62,891 | $81,247 | Kenneth Sheets (R)
| $35,645
| $14,264 | $16,535 | Vaught's Advantage
| $38,689 | - | $64,712 | |
