The Lone Star Project has confirmed that State Representative Kirk England (HD106 – Grand Prairie/Irving) will announce tomorrow morning that he will seek re-election to the Texas State House as a Democrat. Political observers had been speculating for weeks that England’s centrist voting record and dissatisfaction with the Texas Republican Party’s extreme partisan agenda may lead him to leave the Republican Party and run as a Democrat.
Representative England was first elected to the State House in a Special Election in 2006 when Republican incumbent Ray Allen resigned the seat. England then won reelection in the 2006 General Election as a Republican. Kirk England is well known and has deep roots within the House District 106 community. His father, Charles England, is the popular long-time Mayor of Grand Prairie. England is strongly favored to win reelection running as a Democrat or a Republican.
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House District 106 is located on the western edge of Dallas County and includes most of the city of Grand Prairie and parts of South Irving. It is a working-class, middle income suburban community with growing Hispanic and African American populations. Like many other urban/suburban areas in Texas experiencing demographic changes and holding deep dissatisfaction with the narrow partisan agenda of national and state Republican leadership, HD106 is steadily trending more Democratic. It now sits as a Democratic leaning swing district, and a good fit for a centrist with deep local roots like Kirk England.
England has the courage to oppose Craddick and vote the interests of his District
A review of England’s position on key legislation shows that he has focused on representing his District rather than carrying out a partisan political agenda. In fact, his record on a number of key votes shows a clear break with Tom Craddick and the partisan Republican leadership and is similar to the record of many moderate Democrats elected in 2006.
During the 80th Legislative Session Representative England:
- Stood Up to Craddick: In an extraordinary display of courage, England broke with GOP freshmen and voted with centrist Democrats against Tom Craddick on the defacto “Vote of No Confidence” against the Speaker
(Source: H- 1047 Motion to Sustain the Ruling of the Chair) - Strongly Supported Educators: Showing the courage to stand with children and educators over partisan party leaders, England voted with centrist Democrats to raise teachers salaries by $6,000 to reach the national average
(Source: H- 1157 Motion to Table Amendment #3 by Dunnam) - Protected Our Ballot: To protect the sanctity of the ballot and senior voters in HD106, England voted with centrist Democrats to exempt elderly voters from Voter ID requirements
(Source: H- 604 Motion to Table Dunnam Amendment to B Brown Amendment #1) - Acted to Stop Child Abuse: Breaking with Republicans who refused to aggressively investigate child sexual abuse at Texas youth facilities, England voted with centrist Democrats for a special prosecutor to investigate the TYC
(Source: H- 147 Motion to Table Amendment by Dunnam) - Fought for Clean Air: Taking action to improve air quality and promote energy conservation, England voted with centrist Democrats to provide taxpayer-funded incentives to build clean energy projects.
(Source: H- 706 Motion to Table Amendment #2 by Vaught)
England Strongly Favored to Win Reelection
A review of HD 106 shows that the district is steadily trending Democratic and should reelect Kirk England running as the Democratic nominee. As the chart below shows, Democratic down-ballot candidate performance in HD106 has improved each election since 2002, with relatively unknown and under-funded Democratic Supreme Court candidate Bill Moody garnering 49.6% of the vote. With an aggressive campaign, Kirk England should be able to secure most of the Democratic vote while keeping many of the moderate Republicans and Independents who have supported him in the past.
| Down Ballot Democratic Candidates – HD106 | |||
| Year | Race | Candidate | Percentage |
| 2002 | Attorney General | Watson | 41.7% |
| 2004 | Railroad Comm. | Scarborough | 43.5% |
| 2006 | Supreme Court | Moody | 49.60% |
District 106 is more Democratic than several districts captured by Democrats that voted for Democratic Representatives in 2006, including District 107 in Dallas County where Democrat Allen Vaught defeated the incumbent Republican Bill Keffer.
| District | State representative | Party | 2000 Dem President | 2002 Dem Attorney General | 2004 Dem RR Comm. | 2006 Dem Supreme Court 2 |
| 32 | Juan M. Garcia | DEM | 37.5% | 41.6% | 42.6% | 46.3% |
| 85 | Joe Heflin | DEM | 28.4% | 37.1% | 40.2% | 42.3% |
| 107 | Allen Vaught | DEM | 38.4% | 37.0% | 42.2% | 50.3% |
| 106 | Kirk England (1) | DEM | 40.0% | 41.7% | 43.5% | 49.6% |
