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Ron Simmons
Ron Simmons (Republican Party) was a member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing District 65. Simmons assumed office in 2013. Simmons left office on January 8, 2019.
Simmons (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Texas House of Representatives to represent District 65. Simmons lost in the general election on November 6, 2018.
Simmons 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.
Committee assignments
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Texas committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Appropriations |
| • Local & Consent Calendars |
| • Transportation |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Simmons served on the following committees:
| Texas committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Business & Industry, Vice-Chair |
| • Transportation |
2013-2014
In the 2013-2014 legislative session, Simmons served on the following committees:
| Texas committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Elections |
| • Homeland Security & Public Safety |
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
2018
General election
General election for Texas House of Representatives District 65
Michelle Beckley defeated incumbent Ron Simmons in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 65 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Michelle Beckley (D) | 51.2 | 29,972 |
 | Ron Simmons (R) | 48.8 | 28,614 | |
| Total votes: 58,586 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 65
Michelle Beckley advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 65 on March 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Michelle Beckley | 100.0 | 5,687 |
| Total votes: 5,687 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 65
Incumbent Ron Simmons defeated Kevin Simmons in the Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 65 on March 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ron Simmons | 83.3 | 6,608 |
 | Kevin Simmons | 16.7 | 1,325 | |
| Total votes: 7,933 | |||
| = 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?
| Kevin Simmons challenged state Rep. Ron Simmons in his primary. All candidates in this race signed the form committing to vote for the Republican caucus' choice for speaker on the House floor. Endorsements for Ron Simmons
|
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.[3]
Incumbent Ron Simmons defeated Alex Mendoza in the Texas House of Representatives District 65 general election.[4]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 65 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Ron Simmons Incumbent |
56.26% | 34,418 | |
| Democratic | Alex Mendoza | 43.74% | 26,759 | |
| Total Votes | 61,177 | |||
| Source: Texas Secretary of State | ||||
Alex Mendoza ran unopposed in the Texas House of Representatives District 65 Democratic Primary.[5][6]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 65 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Alex Mendoza (unopposed) | |
Incumbent Ron Simmons defeated Ben Kissling in the Texas House of Representatives District 65 Republican Primary.[5][6]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 65 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Ron Simmons Incumbent |
83.23% | 11,526 | |
| Republican | Ben Kissling | 16.77% | 2,323 | |
| Total Votes | 13,849 | |||
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 Ron Simmons was unopposed in the Republican primary. Alex Mendoza was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Simmons defeated Mendoza in the general election.[7][8][9]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Ron Simmons Incumbent |
64.3% | 18,812 | |
| Democratic | Alex Mendoza | 35.7% | 10,440 | |
| Total Votes | 29,252 | |||
2012
Simmons won election in the 2012 election for Texas House of Representatives, District 65. Simmons defeated Mike Hennefer and David Loerwald in the May 29 primary election and won election in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[10]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Ron Simmons |
59.1% | 31,386 | |
| Democratic | Gary Brown | 38.6% | 20,481 | |
| Green | Alex Mendoza | 2.3% | 1,224 | |
| Total Votes | 53,091 | |||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Ron Simmons |
61.6% | 4,844 |
| David Loerwald | 22.3% | 1,754 |
| Mike Hennefer | 16% | 1,260 |
| Total Votes | 7,858 | |
Campaign themes
2012
Simmons' website highlighted the following campaign themes:
Stop Illegal Immigration
- Excerpt: "We must use all means necessary to secure the Texas border, end the incentives which encourage illegal behavior, and pass sanctuary cities legislation."
Oppose ObamaCare and Federal Mandates
- Excerpt: "While I support a system that allows everyone that wants health insurance the right to purchase it, no one should be forced to purchase insurance. ObamaCare is another example of how Washington, D.C. is taking away the right of Texans to govern our own affairs, and it must end."
Cut Government Spending, Promote Efficient Government
- Excerpt: "We must use our revenues for best and be willing to eliminate – not just reduce – those things that are just good. This is how Texas families and businesses manage their finances, and our state government should do the same."
Promote jobs and a strong economy
- Excerpt: "Government should avoid policies that have a negative effect on increased goods and/or services sold by the private sector. Frivolous lawsuits, unnecessary regulations, and government bureaucracy drive up the cost of doing business in the state, increase costs to our citizens, and ultimately are a drag on jobs and our economy."
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.
2018
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.
|
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]. |
|---|
|
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]. |
|---|
|
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.[11] Two additional called sessions were held from July 1 through July 30 and July 30 through August 5.[12]
|
Endorsements
2016
In 2016, Simmons' endorsements included the following:[13]
|
|
See also
- State legislative elections, 2018
- Texas House of Representatives elections, 2018
- State legislative special elections, 2018
- Texas House of Representatives
- Texas State Legislature
- Texas House of Representatives Committees
- Texas Joint Committees
- Texas state legislative districts
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Texas Legislature website
- Official campaign website
- Profile from Open States
- Ron Simmons on Facebook
- Ron Simmons on Twitter
- Campaign contributions: 2012
Footnotes
- ↑ Dallas Morning News, "We recommend Ron Simmons in the GOP primary for state House District 65," February 6, 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
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Texas Secretary of State, "2016 March Primary Election Candidate Filings by County," accessed August 22, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 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
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "1992 - Current Election History," accessed February 17, 2014
- ↑ kten.com, "Texas Lawmakers To Tackle Redistricting In Special Session," May 29, 2013
- ↑ Legislative reference Library of Texas, "Texas Legislative Sessions and Years," accessed June 13, 2014
- ↑ Ron Simmons for Texas House, "Endorsements," accessed February 24, 2016
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Burt Solomons (R) |
Texas House District 65 2013–2019 |
Succeeded by Michelle Beckley (D) |
