“Many have asked me to run in the new HD 93, the republican district being vacated by Matt Krause,” Cason said. “My wife and I do not believe chasing a position by moving into a new community is the right thing to do. Our roots are in House District 92. I have always been independent in thought and will always fight for principles over party.”
House District (HD) 92 had been hotly contested in both 2018 and 2020. Cason won his 2020 general election by fewer than 3,000 votes. According to The Texan’s Texas Partisan Index, the current HD 92 boundaries yielded a slight R-53% advantage but when the new maps were approved by the GOP-led House, Cason saw his district become D-60% — a 13 percent shift.
“It doesn’t make sense to run in a dark blue democrat district where GOP leadership and the Tarrant delegation decided to put me and my neighbors,” he added.
“Let me be clear,” Cason said back then, taking aim at a couple of his colleagues. “These maps were created with the approval of Craig Goldman and Stephanie Klick.”
“They are two top chairmen and have the most pull in Tarrant County. We can only surrender a seat to Democrats and punish the most conservative Representative in Tarrant if they allow it.”
On Thursday, Cason again criticized those colleagues, along with Rep. Giovanni Capriglione (R-Southlake) and the rest of GOP leadership, for “giv[ing] Democrats a new seat and [punishing] the voters of House District 92 for sending one of the most conservative members in the Texas House to serve in Austin.”
In Tarrant County, the three Democratic representatives largely preserved their districts and Rep. Matt Krause’s (R-Fort Worth), who is not seeking re-election, seat was strengthened.
Cason replaced former Rep. Jonathan Stickland (R-Bedford) whose tenure in the legislature was marked by his willingness to throw sand in the legislative gears. Cason’s tenure jumped off to an analogous start, being one of only two members to vote against Rep. Dade Phelan’s (R-Beaumont) candidacy for speaker.
But Cason did not follow exactly in his predecessor’s footsteps — opting to openly rock the boat less.
Rated the 11th most conservative member of the Texas House by Rice University’s post-regular session rankings, Cason was placed in the middle of the top quartile of conservative members.
One of Cason’s big issues during the legislature was the Chapter 313 economic development provision that allows school districts to dole out property tax abatements to businesses that move operations to their jurisdiction. He filed a bill to abolish the provision, which didn’t go anywhere, but the goal was ultimately successful as the legislature declined to renew Chapter 313.
Recently, Cason was also among the initial crop of legislators calling for a fourth special session to ban vaccine mandates. He will serve out the rest of his term before his successor takes office in January 2023.
His seat is the 25th open seat in the Texas House and Cason is the 14th member to announce retirement.
“The good news is, I’m not going anywhere. I will continue to stay in the fight. I look forward to completing my current term and connecting with Texans across our great state,” he concluded.
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Brad Johnson
Brad Johnson is a senior reporter for The Texan and an Ohio native who graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2017. He is an avid sports fan who most enjoys watching his favorite teams continue their title drought throughout his cognizant lifetime. In his free time, you may find Brad quoting Monty Python productions and trying to calculate the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow.
