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Don McLaughlin
Don McLaughlin (Republican Party) is a member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing District 80. He assumed office on January 14, 2025. His current term ends on January 12, 2027.
McLaughlin (Republican Party) is running for re-election to the Texas House of Representatives to represent District 80. He declared candidacy for the Republican primary scheduled on March 3, 2026.[source]
Biography
Don McLaughlin's career experience includes owning a business and serving as mayor of Uvalde, Texas. He has served as a founding member of the Cactus Jack Foundation.[1]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2026
See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2026
General election
The primary will occur on March 3, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 80
Cecilia Castellano (D) and Julie Hilberg (D) are running in the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 80 on March 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
| Cecilia Castellano | ||
| Julie Hilberg | ||
| ||||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary
Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 80
Incumbent Don McLaughlin (R) is running in the Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 80 on March 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Don McLaughlin | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
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2024
See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Texas House of Representatives District 80
Don McLaughlin defeated Cecilia Castellano in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 80 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Don McLaughlin (R) | 59.5 | 31,182 |
| Cecilia Castellano (D) | 40.5 | 21,231 | ||
| Total votes: 52,413 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary runoff election
Democratic primary runoff for Texas House of Representatives District 80
Cecilia Castellano defeated Rosie Cuellar in the Democratic primary runoff for Texas House of Representatives District 80 on May 28, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Cecilia Castellano | 57.9 | 4,347 | |
 | Rosie Cuellar | 42.1 | 3,162 | |
| Total votes: 7,509 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 80
Cecilia Castellano and Rosie Cuellar advanced to a runoff. They defeated Carlos Lopez, Teresa Johnson-Hernandez, and Graciela Villarreal in the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 80 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Cecilia Castellano | 27.1 | 3,425 | |
| ✔ | | Rosie Cuellar | 25.5 | 3,226 |
 | Carlos Lopez | 23.2 | 2,932 | |
 | Teresa Johnson-Hernandez | 18.1 | 2,286 | |
| Graciela Villarreal | 6.2 | 787 | ||
| Total votes: 12,656 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 80
Don McLaughlin defeated JR Ramirez and Clint Powell in the Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 80 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Don McLaughlin | 58.0 | 6,371 |
| JR Ramirez | 25.8 | 2,837 | ||
| Clint Powell | 16.2 | 1,785 | ||
| Total votes: 10,993 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
Endorsements
McLaughlin received the following endorsements.
- Attorney General Ken Paxton (R)
- Former President Donald Trump (R)
Pledges
McLaughlin signed the following pledges.
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
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2024
Don McLaughlin did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Texas scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Tracy King (D) |
Texas House of Representatives District 80 2025-Present |
Succeeded by - |
