This North Texas mayor announces run for Michael Burgess’ seat in U.S. Congress

Elizabeth Campbell
·2 min read
18

Southlake mayor John Huffman announced Thursday morning that he is running in the Republican primary for Michael Burgess’ seat after the longtime Denton County representative announced his retirement from Congress earlier this month.

Huffman said he is running to take back the government from the “failed” Biden administration.

Huffman is the third Republican candidate to announce his campaign for the District 26 seat, which takes in parts of Tarrant, Denton, Wise and Cook counties in rapidly growing North Texas.

Brandon Gill of Flower Mound and Scott Armey of Corinth are also in the running, and are listed as candidates on the Texas GOP site. Gill is also listed on the Texas Secretary of State website as an accepted filing.

Filing continues through Dec. 11. The primary is March 5.

“I’m running for Congress ultimately because of the insanity of what’s going on in our government. I’m afraid that we are losing the nation because of the Biden Administration,” Huffman said.

Huffman’s priorities include securing the U.S.-Mexico border and getting debt and spending under control.

Huffman and Keller mayor Armin Mizani recently traveled to several border cities where they met with mayors and U.S. border patrol officials.

Huffman said human trafficking and fentonyl must be stopped.

“Border crisis sounds too localized; this is a national crisis,” he said.

Huffman said other priorities include cutting taxes and having a balanced budget. He described how the Southlake City Council voted to cut the property tax rate during the past five years, thus giving homeowners and business owners a break.

On his campaign website, Huffman described supporting “conservative school board candidates” in the Carroll school district who “defeated the Leftists and removed radical faculty and administrators.”

Huffman, 40, owns a home renovation business and served on the Southlake City Council for six years before he was elected mayor in 2021.

Huffman and his family moved to Southlake in 2008.

Huffman said his family fully supports his decision to run for Congress.

Burgess, a physician, has represented District 26 since 2003.

Burgess plans to serve out his term, which ends in January of 2025.

He serves on the House Energy Committee, the House Rules Committee and the House Budget Committee.