Dallas state Rep. John Turner announces he wont seek reelection in 2022 – The Dallas Morning News

Dallas Democratic state Rep. John Turner announced Monday he will not seek reelection in 2022 to the District 114 seat he first won in 2018, flipping a district that had been dominated by Republicans.

This decision is for one reason alone: my conclusion that another campaign and another full legislative session are not compatible with the time I need to devote at this stage in life to being a father and husband, Turner said in a statement on Twitter.

This announcement comes just weeks before the Texas Legislature is scheduled to convene a special session on July 8. Gov. Greg Abbott announced the session after Democrats walked out the House chamber on May 30 to kill a Republican-backed elections bill.

We were able to stop some bad bills from passing in this session. We were unified in our opposition to the restrictive voting bill that you have no doubt read about over the last few days, Turner wrote on Facebook after the end of the regular session on June 1. We will keep fighting against that bill in the special session ahead.

District 114 is a Republican-leaning district, held by former Republican Rep. Jason Villalba until he lost the 2018 primary election to Lisa Luby Ryan. The GOP is expected to target the seat in 2022.

The Texas Legislature will be handling the redistricting process in the coming months and filing begins in September for the 2022 primary election, said Will Busby, director of development and communications for the Dallas County Republican Party. We look forward to seeing who files to run for Texas House District 114 and the work ahead to take back that seat in 2022.

Turner authored and co-authored 48 bills this legislative session, many concerning public health and voting issues. He pushed through a bill that will give law enforcement more resources to combat street racing, which is set to take effect Sept. 1.

In April, Turner voted against the hotly contested permitless carry bill, which lets Texans carry handguns in public without a license. Abbott signed the bill into law in June.

I was disappointed that the Texas House this week approved removing our longstanding requirement to have a license in order to carry a handgun in public, Turner tweeted after the House passed the legislation. I was one of the 58 votes against abolishing the requirement.

Turner is a centrist Democrat like his father, Jim Turner, who served in Texas politics for 24 years: He was mayor of Crockett, a state representative, a state senator and a congressman. His fathers career sparked Turners interest in politics.

Turner is also a practicing lawyer his regular job, as he calls it in addition to his Texas House duties. Turner cited the difficulties involved in this balancing act as one of the reasons hes not going to run again.

Republican Luisa del Rosal, who lost to Turner in the 2020 general election by a 53.6-46.4% margin, said in a tweet that shes weighing her options and will make an announcement soon.

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Dallas state Rep. John Turner announces he wont seek reelection in 2022 - The Dallas Morning News