Looking Ahead to the Race between Andrew Morris and Lynn Stucky
Andrew Morris walked the streets of Denton on a late May afternoon, wearing a light blue button-up under a tan vest, knocking on doors and encouraging people to vote. He walked up to a front door and knocked but no one answered, so he moved on to the next house.
He started block-walking at 11:00 a.m. that morning and continued until 6:30 p.m. He wanted people to know election day was here. He had been block-walking five times a week, trying to reach every part of district 64.
“It's a very humbling and rewarding experience to meet people from all different walks of life and discuss issues that impact all of us,” Morris said.
That night he sat at his home and watched the election results roll in for the Democratic Texas House District 64 primary runoff. He beat his opponent, Mat Pruneda, with 54.02 percent of the vote on an election night where 2,867 ballots were cast, which dropped from 7,404 ballots on the March primary.
Morris felt relief but also a growing anticipation for what is to come.
“This was just a milestone on a far longer journey,” Morris said. “It's going to take more than just making the case for Democrats but making the case for everyone in the district.”
Now Morris faces the Republican incumbent, Lynn Stucky, who was elected into office in 2016, for the Nov. 6, 2018 general election. A Democrat hoping to unseat a Republican in a red county housed in a red state.
“I’ve met [Morris] on a couple occasions and he is a fine young man,” Stucky said. “We look forward to running a clean race and letting the best person to represent district 64 win.”
District 64 has a third libertarian candidate, Nick Dietrich, who did not respond to an interview request.
Morris said that in order to win he will have to gain the support of as many voters as possible, which means winning over Pruneda supporters and Republicans. He lists the challenges going forward and knows an uphill battle awaits.
The Democratic candidate said voter suppression with voter identification laws, a gerrymandered district and an organized opponent with tons of money supporting him are all challenges for his campaign.
“It is going to be a challenge, but I know my team and I are dedicated, hardworking, and believe in what we are doing so much that we are going to give them (being Republicans) a huge shock.”
Morris looks to make public education his number one priority and sees it being a driving factor behind his campaign.
“Without a strong education foundation all of our hopes, dreams, and potential gets diminished,” Morris said.
Other issues include health care (in which Morris wants to expand Medicaid), women’s reproductive rights, and supporting the LGBTQ community, pushing to make them a protected class.
“You can still be fired if you’re gay and you can get kicked out of housing if you’re transgender and that isn’t appropriate in a 21st-century society,” Morris said.
He also looks to fight for clean air and water by attacking fracking and looking for alternatives like wind and solar as well as promoting public transportation.
Stucky says he should win because he did what's right for District 64 in his first session. He said he took legislation to the state that came from his constituents, and he had the highest passage rate of any state legislator in the house. He continued to say he has given back to the community by volunteering time and resources for 35 years.
“That’s how the system is supposed to work,” Stucky said. “That you represent the people and the people keep you accountable as a representative. They’ve done that and I’ve done that in my first session and I would like to go back and build on that in the next session.”
Stucky said he will focus on property taxes and figure out how to keep people from being taxed out of their homes. He will also be fighting for education, saying he is a product of the public school system.
“I believe education is extremely important and I am a product of a public school system where I went on through state schools and got my two degrees,” Stucky said.
Another priority for Stucky is safety, mentioning terrorism and individuals with mental health issues who are killing other people. He said there has to be more legislation that helps those with mental health issues get the aid they need.
“We have to work together to reduce the number of instances we have seen in the school and other places where people are killing other innocent people,” Stucky said.
Pruneda who lost to Morris in the district 64 runoff election said a majority of his supporters–students–were out of town. Pruneda had the most votes during the primary election but did not have absolute majority, which lead to the runoff.
“It was a problem that the majority of people who supported us are not here right now because we did really huge with young students and young voters and they're gone,” Pruneda said in a Facebook live video on election night.
In the video, he also discussed demanding respect from candidates during this election cycle.
“Make sure the people you are putting through are respectful and responsible towards you,” Pruneda said.
The general elections will take place on November 6, 2018.