In November, voters will decide to elect Republican Andy Hopper or Democrat Angela Brewer to represent District 64 in the Texas House of Representatives.

Hopper defeated incumbent Lynn Stuckey in the Republican runoff, while Brewer ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination in the March primary. This will be her second attempt to win the District 64 seat.

In an interview with the Denton Record-Chronicle, Brewer emphasized her focus on public education and reproductive rights, while Hopper said his priorities are immigration and property taxes.

District 64 covers all of Wise County, as well as most of the city of Denton, as well as Crum and northwest Denton County.

Angela Brewer

Brewer is a Denton native and a graduate of Denton High School and the University of North Texas. Brewer currently teaches at UNT.

Brewer ran for the same seat four years ago, losing to Stuckey. Two years later, after the district was reorganized, she decided not to run again. Brewer told the Denton Record-Chronicle she regrets not running because Stuckey ran unopposed in the general election.

“He was the only name on the ballot—I actually cried,” Brewer said. “I was really upset about not running the race and not giving people a choice.

“Democracy really requires that we have a choice, and to see people run unopposed in a race, whether it’s Republican or Democrat, I think it’s just…it’s heartbreaking.”

Brewer said one of the main reasons she wanted to run again is Gov. Greg Abbott’s current push to create education savings accounts, also called school vouchers.

“The governor will make efforts to promote private school vouchers,” Brewer said. “I am 100% against private school vouchers and keeping all public money in public schools.”

She said she would defend abortion rights in Texas because the state has some of the strictest abortion laws in the country. Brewer said the ban harms women and also affects the medical field, noting that medical students are choosing to leave Texas.

“Beyond protecting women’s autonomy and sort of the right to decide what happens to their bodies, we really need to look at some of these unintended consequences of the abortion ban and make sure we can fix it,” Brewer said. .

Brewer said when she first opposed Stuckey, they both had different ideologies, but he was rational and paid attention to voters throughout the district.

She said Hopper was different from Stuckey.

“(Hopper) intends to go to Austin to represent Wise County, not the entire county,” Brewer said. “And he’s a guy who’s just very ideological and unwilling to work with anyone who doesn’t see the world the way he sees it, and I think that’s a huge problem for our district because at the end of Today we’re going to have to deal with politics to be chosen. But when we get to Austin, when the legislative session starts, it’s all going to be about partnerships, building coalitions and finding out who shares my interests – not my worldview, but my interest in benefiting constituents, benefiting my district.”

Andy Hopper

A former resident of Missouri and Denton, Hopper co-founded the Wise County Conservatives. He joined the Texas State Guard in 2014 and is currently a chief warrant officer.

Hopper received a master’s degree in computer science from UNT, where he taught as an adjunct professor. He has worked in the private sector and defense industry as a software engineer for over two decades.

Hopper was successful in his second primary attempt to fill the seat Stuckey had held since 2016. In 2022, Hopper lost to Stuckey in the GOP primary by less than 100 votes.

Although Hopper lost in 2022, he didn’t back down. He continued to spread the message of his platform in the area and said he began campaigning in early June last year, which ultimately earned him the nomination in May.

“I really think it was just time to get the message out there, get our name out there, spread our ideas and let people evaluate those (ideas),” he said.

During the primaries, Stuckey accused Hopper of accepting donations from a super PAC associated with “known Nazi sympathizer” and white supremacist Nick Fuentes.

Stuckey called on Hopper to denounce the Defend Texas Freedom PAC after Hopper received $55,000 from a previous campaign.

“I didn’t know who he was at the time,” Hopper said. “I think the argument they were trying to make is that if someone met someone and you met someone who met that person, then therefore you are in some way complicit. This is a ridiculous argument.”

Hopper said the border crisis is one of the top issues he will address if elected, noting it is a statewide and national issue.

“The continued flow of fentanyl, sex trafficking and the largest slave trade in American history is an existential threat to the continued existence of our state and our country,” Hopper said. “And that’s what affects people. This is not a distant problem. So, without a doubt, this is the most important question.”

Another issue Hopper hopes to address if elected is property taxes in Denton County.

“(People) have a really hard time understanding why their property taxes and homeowners insurance are often more expensive or as expensive as their mortgage,” Hopper said. “And that’s a real problem with the kitchen table.”

If elected, Hopper intends to introduce an ideology of re-evaluating the work of the Legislative Assembly. He said that although the state has a Republican majority, Democrats are still passing bills at a high rate. Other states with Republican majorities are not doing this, Hopper said.

“People are acutely aware that the problem we face as a state and as a country is the rise of “one-partyism,” which is essentially Republicans colluding with Democrats to advance an agenda that threatens our interests in our country. said Hopper.

Early voting for the November 5 general election runs from October 21 to November 1.