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Mike Lang (Texas)
Mike Lang (Republican Party) was a member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing District 60. He assumed office in 2017. He left office on January 11, 2021.
Lang (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Texas House of Representatives to represent District 60. He won in the general election on November 6, 2018.
On September 25, 2019, Lang announced that he would not seek re-election to the state House in 2020.[1]
Lang 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.
As of June 2017, Lang was a member of the Texas Freedom Caucus, a legislative caucus in the state House. According to the group's website, the caucus aims to support "liberty-minded, grassroots Texans who want bold action to protect life, strengthen families, defend the U.S. and Texas Bills of Rights, restrain government and revitalize personal and economic freedoms in the State of Texas."[2]
Committee assignments
2019-2020
Lang was assigned to the following committees:
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Texas committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Criminal Jurisprudence |
| • Special Purpose Districts |
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
2020
Incumbent Mike Lang did not file to run for re-election.
2018
General election
General election for Texas House of Representatives District 60
Incumbent Mike Lang won election in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 60 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mike Lang (R) | 100.0 | 56,741 |
| Total votes: 56,741 | |||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 60
Incumbent Mike Lang defeated Jim Largent and Gregory Risse in the Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 60 on March 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mike Lang | 58.3 | 15,893 |
 | Jim Largent | 38.5 | 10,485 | |
 | Gregory Risse | 3.2 | 882 | |
| Total votes: 27,260 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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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?
| Jim Largent and Gregory Risse challenged Freedom Caucus member Mike Lang in his primary. In January 2018, Largent, the superintendent of the Granbury Independent School District and an opponent of school choice legislation and bills regulating bathroom usage in Texas, received a vote of no confidence from the Hood County Republican Party. According to Hood County GOP Chairman Jim Logan, "To our knowledge, he has never participated in local or state Republican Party activities. He has said he disagrees with most of the party platform, and openly disparages Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick." Largent said in response that he "[pledged his] allegiance to the Constitution, Jesus Christ and the people who live in House District 60.” At the time of the vote, he had not signed a pledge agreeing to vote for the House Republican caucus' choice for House speaker on the floor.[3] As of January 31, 2018, Risse had not signed the pledge either and Lang had signed it. Support and endorsements for Largent
Endorsements for Lang
|
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.[7] Incumbent Jim Keffer (R) did not seek re-election.
Mike Lang ran unopposed in the Texas House of Representatives District 60 general election.[8]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 60 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Mike Lang (unopposed) |
100.00% | 61,668 | |
| Total Votes | 61,668 | |||
| Source: Texas Secretary of State | ||||
Mike Lang defeated Kevin Downing in the Texas House of Representatives District 60 Republican Primary.[9][10]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 60 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Mike Lang |
53.80% | 20,291 | |
| Republican | Kevin Downing | 46.20% | 17,428 | |
| Total Votes | 37,719 | |||
Primary
- Main article: Notable Texas primaries, 2016
Lang received key endorsements from the following state conservative groups:[11]
- Texans for Fiscal Responsibility
- Texas Right to Life
- Young Conservatives of Texas
- Concerned Women for America
- Texas Values Action
- Texas Home School Coalition
- National Association for Gun Rights
Downing's website did not list any endorsements, though he was endorsed by Texas Parent PAC.[12][13]
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
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2016
Lang's campaign website highlighted the following issues:
| “ |
Role of Government: As your representative, my office represents you, the taxpayer. Therefore, my office is your resource for providing accurate information on important topics and keeping you up to date on pending legislation. States' Rights: Texas needs to protect itself from federal government overreach and regulations. I will represent your interests. Budget & the Economy:
Education: Education of our children is important to the future of Texas. Our children need the best educational system possible to prepare them for higher education, trade schools, and/or for the workplace. The choice of education needs to be in the hands of the parents to insure each child is provided the best educational opportunity available. I will support and protect local control of our public schools. Immigration & Border Security: The federal government has failed to provide the leadership, resources, or resolve to adequately protect our borders. As a consequence, the task falls to Texas. We must provide law enforcement with the staffing and technology necessary to stop crime and the illegal trafficking of drugs and human beings crossing our southern border. The financial cost to Texans from illegal immigration is enormous. I will work to help ensure that our laws protect American citizens.[14] |
” |
| —Mike Lang[15] | ||
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.
2020
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]. |
|---|
|
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]. |
|---|
|
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]. |
|---|
|
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.
|
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The Texas Tribune, "State Rep. Mike Lang announces he won't seek reelection," September 25, 2019
- ↑ Texas Freedom Caucus, "Home," accessed June 7, 2017
- ↑ Texas Monitor, "Republicans spank ‘Big Ed’ candidate with no-confidence vote," January 12, 2018
- ↑ Texas Monitor, "School contractor boosts Granbury ISD superintendent’s House campaign," January 18, 2018
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedBlastf19 - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedBlastf20 - ↑ 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
- ↑ Vote Mike Lang, "Endorsements," accessed February 22, 2016
- ↑ Texas Parent PAC, "Read and Act Today - Friends and Family Campaigning," accessed February 22, 2016
- ↑ Downing for Texas, "Home Page," accessed February 22, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Mike Lang for Texas House, "Issues," accessed February 23, 2016
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jim Keffer (R) |
Texas House District 60 2017-2021 |
Succeeded by Glenn Rogers (R) |
