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Leach defeats Cole in District 67 race
By Conner Hammett, chammett@starlocalnews.com
Jeff Leach has defeated opponent Jon Cole in the Texas House District 67 Republican primary runoff.
Leach finished the election with 53 percent of the vote, while Cole garnered 47 percent of votes. With no Democratic challengers, Leach will run unopposed in the November election.
The victory marks an end to the long and drawn-out primary season. When Cole and Leach announced their intentions to run in fall 2011, the primary date was set for March 6. In November, a federal court struck down the 82nd Legislature's redistricting maps, citing minority voter disenfranchisement.
During the election, Cole and Leach generally mirrored each other on the issues, supporting lowered taxes, reduced spending and the easing of government business regulations.
Instead of drawing lines over those issues, they emphasized their respective backgrounds and accomplishments. Cole, a finance attorney, drove home his experience working as an aide for state Rep. Jim Pitts and his extensive volunteer work with Drug Free America Foundation. Leach, a business attorney, detailed his position as a member of the TEXO Construction Industry Association and as a member of a steering committee for Dallas Baptist University.
The election was also a battle of endorsements. Cole had the support of former Plano Mayor James Muns and Collin County Commissioner Cheryl Williams, but Leach secured not only former District 67 Rep. Jerry Madden, who left the seat empty in November 2011, but all three former opponents from the general election.
A total of 11,215 voters, or 11.4 percent of those registered in the district, cast votes in the runoff. In 2008, the last time the Republican nomination was contested for the seat, 12.4 percent of voters in the district turned out to vote.
District 67 comprises the eastern half of Plano and the west side of Allen. District 66, which comprises the western half of Plano, was won during the June 5 general election by Van Taylor, who ran unopposed. District 89, which takes up the eastern side of Allen, was also won by an unopposed candidate, Jodie Laubenberg, during the general election.
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