AUSTIN—Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC (TLRPAC) today endorsed James White in his campaign for Texas Agriculture Commissioner.

“The Texas agriculture industry deserves a strong conservative leader who will fight for the best interests of Texas producers, promote Texas agriculture around the country and abroad and protect the industry from burdensome mandates and the consequences of our nation’s failed border security policies. James White is that candidate,” TLRPAC Chairman Richard J. Trabulsi Jr. said. “From his decade of service in the Texas House to his time in the U.S. Army, James has a proven track record of principled leadership, including on some of the most challenging issues facing our state. We are confident he has the discipline, character and experience necessary to lead the Texas Agriculture Commission and help our state’s agriculture industry flourish. TLRPAC is proud to support him.”

Rep. White is a Houston native, who graduated with honors from Prairie View A&M University and received a doctorate from the University of Houston. After serving in the U.S. Army, Rep. White began a career as a public school educator in the Fort Bend, Livingston, and Woodville Independent School districts. He has represented House District 19, which includes Hardin, Jasper, Newton, Polk and Tyler counties, since his election in 2010.

Rep. White has been recognized for his focus on strong families, constitutional government and economic prosperity through various awards, including Texas Monthly Magazine “2019 Best Legislator”; Texas Association of Business “Champions for Free Enterprise”; Texas Eagle Forum “Most Conservative Rating”; American Conservative Union “Award for Conservative Excellence”; Conservative Roundtable of Texas “Lone Star Conservative Leader”; National Federation of Independent Business in Texas “100% Rating”; and Texas Right to Life “Perfect Pro-Life Voting Record.” The Texas Justice of the Peace and Constable Association recognized Rep. White as their 2015 Legislator of the Year. Additionally, Texas Appleseed honored Rep. White in 2015 for authoring landmark legislation that decriminalized truancy for juveniles in Texas.

TLRPAC is the political arm of Texans for Lawsuit Reform (TLR), the largest civil justice reform organization in Texas. TLR is a bipartisan, volunteer-led coalition with 16,300 supporters residing in more than 900 Texas communities and representing 1,255 different businesses, professions and trades. For more information about TLRPAC, please visit www.tlrpac.com.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Lucy Nashed
November 15, 2016
lucy@tortreform.com
Voters in the 2016 Texas General Election delivered a resounding defeat to personal injury trial lawyers and their job-killing agenda.

This election cycle, Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC (TLRPAC) endorsed candidates in 70 state races, including the Texas Railroad Commission, Texas Supreme Court, Texas House and Senate districts and numerous appellate judicial races. TLRPAC was the largest financial supporter of many of the conservative candidates in the most contested campaigns, and won 64 of 70 races – a decisive and impressive accomplishment given the uniquely fluid nature of this election cycle.

Up and down the ballot, we see the return of principled incumbents with a proven track record on tort reform, as well as the election of new candidates who share our commitment to a fair civil justice system as a pillar of our economy. This includes Wayne Christian, a staunch supporter of tort reform who was elected to the Texas Railroad Commission with 53 percent of the vote.

Ground zero in the fight to protect tort reforms was the Texas House of Representatives. TLRPAC endorsed 50 candidates, and 46 won their elections. We are proud to have supported Reps. Kenneth Sheets, Rick Galindo, John Lujan and Gilbert Pena in their difficult races. These candidates lost in very tough districts for Republicans this particular year, and we are deeply grateful for their public service. They have bright futures ahead of them and we fully expect to be supporting them for public office again.

In the Texas Senate, TLRPAC supported four incumbent senators, all of whom won reelection. TLRPAC also supported Dawn Buckingham, who won the only open Senate seat in a resounding victory.

Another target area for trial-lawyer-funded candidates was the critical judicial seats on the ballot, from the Texas Supreme Court to the Court of Criminal Appeals to seats on the 1st, 4th, 5th, 13th and 14th Courts of Appeals. TLRPAC was proud to support principled jurists for these positions, who are committed to applying the plain words of the law. All three TLRPAC-supported candidates were reelected to the Texas Supreme Court. We also supported winners in the contested seats for the Court of Criminal Appeals, and six judges on the 1st, 5th and 14th Courts of Appeals also won their races. Judge Jason Pulliam, who lost his seat on the 4th Court of Appeals, is a wise and impartial jurist, and we are confident he will have the opportunity to serve again in the future. While we had great success at the state level, the results of the Harris County judicial races were a disappointment. We will continue to work to identify principled jurists to retake those seats.

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Pol. Adv. paid for by Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC