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Lyle Larson
Lyle Larson (Republican Party) was a member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing District 122. He assumed office in 2011. He left office on January 10, 2023.
Larson (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Texas House of Representatives to represent District 122. He won in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Larson ran in one of 48 contested Texas state legislative Republican primaries in 2018. To read more about the conflict between Republican factions in the primaries, including who the factions were, which races were competitive and who key influencers lined up behind, click here.
Biography
Larson graduated from McArthur High School and earned a BBA in Marketing from Texas A&M University in 1981. His professional experience includes owning and operating a small business.
Larson has served as a Bexar County Commissioner from Precinct 3. He served as a San Antonio City Councilman from District 10 between 1991 and 1995. He was a candidate for the United States House of Representatives District 23 in 2008. He has served as the chairman of the San Antonio Military Transformation Task Force, the San Antonio-Bezar County Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Alamo Area Council of Governments, and the Greater San Antonio Crime Commission
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2021-2022
Larson was assigned to the following committees:
2019-2020
Larson was assigned to the following committees:
- Natural Resources Committee, Chair
- Redistricting Committee
- International Relations & Economic Development Committee
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Texas committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Elections |
| • Natural Resources, Chair |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Larson served on the following committees:
| Texas committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Calendars |
| • Culture, Recreation, & Tourism |
| • General Investigating & Ethics |
| • Natural Resources |
2013-2014
In the 2013-2014 legislative session, Larson served on the following committees:
| Texas committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Culture, Recreation, & Tourism |
| • Local & Consent Calendars, Vice chair |
| • Natural Resources |
| • Transparency in State Agency Operations (Select) |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Larson served on the following Texas House of Representatives committees:
| Texas committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Culture, Recreation, & Tourism |
| • Local & Consent Calendars |
| • Natural Resources |
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
2022
Lyle Larson did not file to run for re-election in 2022.
2020
See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Texas House of Representatives District 122
Incumbent Lyle Larson defeated Claire Barnett in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 122 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Lyle Larson (R) | 59.6 | 74,149 |
 | Claire Barnett (D) | 40.4 | 50,195 | |
| Total votes: 124,344 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 122
Claire Barnett advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 122 on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Claire Barnett | 100.0 | 18,361 |
| Total votes: 18,361 | |||
| = 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 122
Incumbent Lyle Larson advanced from the Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 122 on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Lyle Larson | 100.0 | 18,606 |
| Total votes: 18,606 | |||
| = 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
2018
General election
General election for Texas House of Representatives District 122
Incumbent Lyle Larson defeated Claire Barnett in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 122 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Lyle Larson (R) | 61.9 | 58,311 |
| Claire Barnett (D) | 38.1 | 35,851 | |
| Total votes: 94,162 | |||
| = 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 election
Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 122
Claire Barnett advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 122 on March 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Claire Barnett | 100.0 | 8,547 |
| Total votes: 8,547 | |||
| = 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 122
Incumbent Lyle Larson defeated Chris Fails in the Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 122 on March 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Lyle Larson | 59.6 | 10,913 |
 | Chris Fails | 40.4 | 7,393 | |
| Total votes: 18,306 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Overview of 2018 Republican primaries
The 2018 Texas state legislative Republican primaries featured conflict between two factions. One group was opposed to House Speaker Joe Straus (R) and his preferred policies on issues like education financing and property taxes. The anti-Straus wing included members of the Texas Freedom Caucus and organizations such as Empower Texans and Texas Right to Life. The other group was supportive of Straus and his policy priorities. The pro-Straus wing included incumbent legislators allied with Straus and organizations such as the Associated Republicans of Texas and the Texas Association of Business. To learn more about these factions and the conflict between them, visit our page on factional conflict among Texas Republicans.
The primaries occurred on March 6, 2018, with runoffs on May 22, 2018. There were 48 contested state legislative Republican primaries, outnumbering contested primaries in 2016 (43) and 2014 (44). To see our full coverage of the state legislative Republican primaries, including who key influencers were backing and what the primaries meant for the 2019 House speaker's race, visit our primary coverage page.
The charts below outline the March 6 primary races for the state Senate and the state House. They show how the factions performed on election night.
| Texas Senate Republicans | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Before March 6 primaries | After March 6 primaries | |
| Pro-Straus | 2 | 1 | |
| Anti-Straus | 1 | 3 | |
| Unknown | 3 | 3 | |
| Open seats | 1 | - | |
| Runoffs | - | - | |
| Too close to call | - | - | |
| Total | 7 | 7 | |
| Texas House Republicans | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Before March 6 primaries | After March 6 primaries | |
| Pro-Straus | 20 | 20 | |
| Anti-Straus | 4 | 9 | |
| Unknown | 2 | 5 | |
| Open seats | 15 | - | |
| Runoffs | - | 7 | |
| Too close to call | - | - | |
| Total | 41 | 41 | |
Primary we watched
This primary was one of 48 we tracked for the March 6 elections.
Did the incumbent file to run for re-election?
| Yes. |
What made this a race to watch?
| Chris Fails, the mayor of Hollywood Park, Texas, challenged state Rep. Lyle Larson, an ally of Joe Straus, in his primary. As of January 31, 2018, only Fails had signed the form committing to vote for the Republican caucus' choice for speaker on the House floor. Fails said he might join the Texas Freedom Caucus if elected.[1] On February 15, the Texas Tribune reported that Abbott, who endorsed Fails, would campaign for him before the primary election.[2] On February 20, Abbott's campaign released an ad that opposed Larson called "Liberal Lyle."[3] In response to the ad, Larson said, "I voted for 100% of the governor’s legislative priorities and yet he’s calling me a liberal. What does that make the governor? It’s unbecoming of a governor to attack members of his own party in a primary. Let’s be clear: he’s attacking me because I passed legislation saying we should eliminate pay-to-play for gubernatorial appointments. Is that liberal or conservative? Voters will see through this. People in this district are fed up with my opponents and the Governors negative ads.""[4] Abbott spent $136,000 on advertising for Fail's campaign, according to The Texas Tribune.[5] Endorsements for Fails
Endorsements for Larson |
Campaign advertisements
Lyle Larson -oppose
| "Liberal Lyle," released February 20, 2018 |
Campaign finance
2016
Elections for the Texas House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election was held on March 1, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was December 14, 2015.[9]
Incumbent Lyle Larson ran unopposed in the Texas House of Representatives District 122 general election.[10]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 122 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Lyle Larson Incumbent (unopposed) |
100.00% | 73,957 | |
| Total Votes | 73,957 | |||
| Source: Texas Secretary of State | ||||
Incumbent Lyle Larson ran unopposed in the Texas House of Representatives District 122 Republican Primary.[11][12]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 122 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | Lyle Larson Incumbent (unopposed) | |
2014
Elections for all 150 seats in the Texas House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on March 4, 2014. Those candidates who did not receive 50 percent or more of the vote in their party primary on March 4 faced an additional May 27 primary runoff. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in these elections was December 9, 2013. Incumbent Lyle Larson was unopposed in the Republican primary. Larson defeated James Holland (L) in the general election.[13][14][15]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Lyle Larson Incumbent |
85% | 42,473 | |
| Libertarian | James Holland | 15% | 7,489 | |
| Total Votes | 49,962 | |||
2012
Larson won re-election in the 2012 election for Texas House of Representatives, District 122. Larson was unopposed in the May 29 Republican primary and was unopposed in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[16]
2010
Larson won election to Texas House of Representatives District 122. He defeated Danis Barnhill in the March 2 Republican primary and then defeated Democratic candidate Masarrat Ali in the November 2 general election.[16]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 122 2010 General election results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Lyle Larson (R)
|
56,702 | 77.37% | ||
| Masarrat Ali (D) | 16,576 | 22.62% | ||
2008
On November 4, 2008, Larson lost election to the United States House of Representatives from Texas' 23rd District, to incumbent Ciro Rodriguez (D).[16]
| United States House of Representatives, Texas, District 23 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Ciro Rodriguez (D)
|
134,090 | |||
| Lyle Larson (R) | 100,799 | |||
| Lani Connolly (L) | 5,581 | |||
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Lyle Larson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
2012
Larson's website highlighted the following campaign themes: {{scrollbox Truth in budgeting
- Supports legislation to end diversions from the state gas tax fund and other dedicated funds.
Cut spending and balance the budget
- Supports use of retro-budgeting – a process that rolls back state agency spending to previous budget years – to address the state’s $18 billion shortfall.
Hold foreign countries accountable for illegal immigration
- Supports legislation to collect citizenship information before rendering state funded services to undocumented immigrants and demand reimbursement from their countries of origin.
End government waste
- Supports consolidating Bexar County and the City of San Antonio to form a metro government.
Make government accountable
- Supports legislation to allow Texans to elect their transportation and energy leaders.}}
Noteworthy events
 |
University of Texas regent investigation
- See also: Wallace Hall impeachment trial
Larson was one of the eight members of the Committee on Transparency in State Agency Operations when it oversaw the investigation into a possible impeachment of University of Texas Regent Wallace Hall in 2013 and 2014. On August 11, 2014, the transparency committee voted 6-1 to censure Hall as opposed to impeaching him.[17][18] He was the first regent to have been censured by a committee of the Texas State Legislature.[19]
After he was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry (R) in 2011, Hall began looking into what he believed to be clout abuses within the University of Texas system. Hall investigated the university's forgivable-loans program, admissions policies, and preferential treatment to politically-connected individuals.[20] Hall, as an individual citizen and a regent, filed public information requests with the University system. In June 2013, the transparency committee began investigating whether Hall revealed protected information about students and exceeded his role as a regent in requesting large amounts of information.
Some supporters of the investigations into Hall, including state Rep. Lyle Larson (R), a member of the transparency committee, argued that Hall's actions were politically motivated. Others, such as University of Texas, Austin Public Information Office attorney Carol Longoria, said that his records requests were unreasonable and may have violated students' privacy.[21][22][23]
Critics of the proceedings, including Gov. Rick Perry and Hall, argued that legislators' efforts to remove Hall from office were politically motivated and that Hall acted in the best interest of the state in his efforts to investigate potential abuses. Several legislators were named in investigations into possible political favoritism in the University of Texas admissions process.[24][25]
In February 2015, an independent report by Kroll Associates, commissioned by the Regents Board, stated that there was a "pattern of special treatment for well-connected applicants to UT." While the report did not show evidence of any quid pro quo, it said that "extra acceptances were extended every year to accommodate special cases" and that the "President’s Office ordered applicants admitted over the objection of the Admissions Office."[26]
In March 2015, the Travis County Grand Jury concluded a six-month investigation into Hall, deciding not to pursue criminal charges against him but recommending that the state remove him from office. The jury stated that Hall's open records request deadlines were unreasonable and that he released confidential student information to the attorney general's office and his lawyer.[27] The state did not remove Hall from office; his term expired in February 2017.
Read more about the investigations into Hall's information requests and Hall's investigations into alleged clout abuses here.
Pig advertisement
During his 2008 run for the United States House of Representatives, Larson put out an advertisement featuring him comparing members of Congress to pigs at a trough, in which he did not include a written disclaimer indicating that he approved of the advertisement.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission and the advertisement was removed.
"Apparently we hit a nerve," Larson said at the time.
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.
2022
In 2022, the Texas State Legislature was not in session.
2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Texas State Legislature was in session from January 12 to May 31.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Texas State Legislature was not in session. |
2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Texas State Legislature was in its 86th legislative session from January 8 through May 27.
|
2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Texas State Legislature did not hold a regular session. |
2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Texas State Legislature was in its 85th legislative session from January 10 through May 29. A special session was held from July 18 to August 15.
|
2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Texas State Legislature did not hold a regular session. |
2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the Texas State Legislature was in its 84th legislative session from January 13 through June 1.
|
2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the Texas State Legislature did not hold a regular session. |
2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the Texas State Legislature was in its 83rd legislative session from January 8 through May 27. Thirty minutes after the regular session ended, Governor Rick Perry called legislators back for a special session starting that evening.[28] Two additional called sessions were held from July 1 through July 30 and July 30 through August 5.[29]
|
2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, the Texas State Legislature did not hold a regular session. |
2011
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2011, click [show]. |
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In 2011, the Texas State Legislature was in its 82nd legislative session from January 11 through May 30. A special session was called for May 31 through June 29.[29]
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See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedFreedomC - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedBlastf15 - ↑ Texas Tribune, "The Blast," February 20, 2018
- ↑ Twitter, Patrick Svitek on February 21," February 21, 2018
- ↑ Texas Tribune, "The Blast," February 23, 2018
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedBlastj31 - ↑ My San Antonio, "Larson deserves GOP nomination," February 11, 2018
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedNFIB - ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "Important 2016 Election Dates," accessed December 14, 2015
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "2016 General Election," accessed December 2, 2016
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "2016 March Primary Election Candidate Filings by County," accessed August 22, 2016
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "1992 - Current Election History results," accessed August 22, 2016
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "1992 - Current ELECTION HISTORY," accessed December 2, 2014
- ↑ The Libertarian Party of Texas, "2014 Texas Representative Candidate List," accessed July 30, 2014
- ↑ Green Party of Texas, "Greens Release Candidate List," accessed July 30, 2014
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Texas Secretary of State, "1992 - Current Election History," accessed February 17, 2014
- ↑ Dallas Morning News, "Panel censures but doesn’t impeach UT Regent Wallace Hall," August 11, 2014
- ↑ Austin American-Statesman, "Panel censures UT Regent Wallace L. Hall Jr.," August 11, 2014
- ↑ Austin Business Journal, "A first: UT regent censured," August 11, 2014
- ↑ American Spectator, "Transparency for Thee," October 25, 2013
- ↑ Dallas Morning News, "UT regent sought 800,000 documents, official says in impeachment hearing," October 22, 2013
- ↑ Houston Chronicle, "Pitts denounces UT regent’s document requests," October 22, 2013
- ↑ Alcalde, "Legislator urges Regent to resign," November 8, 2013
- ↑ Statesman, "Grand jury won’t indict UT Regent Wallace Hall but condemns his actions," updated September 25, 2018
- ↑ Texas Tribune, "Transparency Committee Votes to Censure UT Regent Hall," August 11, 2014
- ↑ Wall Street Journal, "Texas Admissions Rumble," February 12, 2015
- ↑ Statesman, "Grand jury won’t indict UT Regent Wallace Hall but condemns his actions," updated September 25, 2018
- ↑ kten.com, "Texas Lawmakers To Tackle Redistricting In Special Session," May 29, 2013
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 Legislative reference Library of Texas, "Texas Legislative Sessions and Years," accessed June 13, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Texas House of Representatives District 122 2011-2023 |
Succeeded by Mark Dorazio (R) |
| |||||||||||||||||||
