Tom Glass seeks GOP nomination for state House District 17, will face four others in primary

Tom Glass, a retired ExxonMobil executive, is seeking the Republican nomination for state House District 17, which includes Bastrop County.

Glass, 65, said he’s seeking state office because Texas’ freedoms and way of life are under assault.

“Everything Texans hold dear — from our ag and oil and gas industries, to our medical freedom, to our financial freedom, to our election integrity, to our freedom of speech, to our guns — is under assault by those who hold power in D.C.,” he said. I want to unite Texans to protect our constitutions, our values, and our way of life from those attacks.”

Glass said rapid growth is stressing District 17, which is rural and made up by small towns, and his priorities in office will include securing the area’s groundwater from being depleted, protecting the state electricity grid against all hazards, and stopping inflation and the property appraisal system from driving residents from their homes.

He said he wants to implement Republican priorities in government despite opposition by the establishment and Democrats. “We want representation of us to Austin — not representation of the special interests in Austin to us,” he said.

He also is committed to enforcing “our constitutions against all overreach.” He said the constitutions and fundamental values are being violated by both the federal government and “too many in Texas government.”

“There is a perennial war for the actions and loyalties of those in the Texas legislature and statewide office between the establishment and the grassroots,” Glass said. “I am solidly on the grassroots side of that war. I believe that representatives should represent the district to Austin, not the money men in Austin to the district.

“I believe in citizen-directed government, not government-directed citizens. These are not usual times. We don’t need politics as usual. I am applying to be the champion of the citizens of HD 17 and I am the most qualified and committed in this race to champion our values.”

Glass has worked both on and offshore in oil service, in gas plants, in a steel mill and spent the bulk of his career at ExxonMobil, where he evaluated new technology, supervised employees, developed corporate policy and worked in cybersecurity. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University in chemical engineering, a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School, and a law degree from the University of Houston Law Center.

Since retiring eight years ago, he said he has spent his time and money crafting and working to get conservative legislation introduced and passed in the Texas Legislature. He has created several organizations to work those issues, including Texas Constitutional Enforcement, Protect the Texas Grid, and Texas Legislative Priorities.

He first purchased property in House District 17 in 2009 along the Bastrop and Lee county line. He said he was waiting to close on his home there when the 2011 Bastrop County Complex Fire broke out about six miles south of his ranch.

District 17 is made up by Bastrop, Burleson, Caldwell, Lee and Milam counties.

Glass will battle it out against Jen Bezner, Smithville Council Member Stan Gerdes, Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape and Trey Rutledge for the GOP nomination in the March primary. The winner in that race will face off against Madeline Eden, the lone Democrat running for state House District 17, in the November general election.

Incumbent John Cyrier, a Republican who has served in District 17 since 2015, announced in November he was not seeking reelection to a fifth term.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Election: Tom Glass files GOP primary bid for Texas House District 17