The Texas House of Representatives has 150 members, each representing about 190,000 Texans in the Legislature. A part of Arlington is included in the district of five state representatives: Jeff Cason, Matt Krause, Tony Tinderholt, Chris Turner and David Cook. If you don’t know who represents you, you can CLICK HERE, enter your home address and find your representative.
Committee assignments are made by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. There is a new Speaker this session, Dade Phelan from Beaumont. Assignments are not expected until early February.
District 92 in far north Arlington is represented by first term Republican Representative Jeff Cason. Jeff and his wife Wendy have lived in Bedford for 35 years. His district includes most of the cities of Hurst, Euless and Bedford. Representative Cason spent nearly 50 years working in manufacturing and sales in the aviation and energy industries. He served on the Bedford City Council for one term. He supports classic conservative issues. His website says he is pro-life and supports reducing property taxes, the right to keep and carry arms, funding public education and increasing funding for mental health services. You can reach Representative Cason at his Capitol office: (512) 463-0522.
District 93 in North Arlington is represented by Republican Representative Matt Krause who is starting his fifth term in the Texas House. Matt was born in Tyler, TX, and grew up in San Antonio. He is a constitutional attorney, college professor of American history and government, and public speaker on America’s Founding Fathers. He also works in business development for Vista Bank.
Matt and his wife, Jennie, reside in the Fort Worth area with their five children: Jeremiah, Hannah Sue, James, Gracie, and Ruthie. He is pro-life and supports a conservative agenda in the legislature. He has a history of being there for Arlington, UTA and our school districts.
Matt’s official website says he is Chairman of the Texas Legislative Tourism Caucus – a bi-cameral, bi-partisan caucus that seeks to advocate and promote the tourism industry here in the Lone Star State. Clearly an important issue to Arlington. You can reach Matt’s legislative staff at his Capitol office: (512) 463-0562. His District Director, Scott Stier can be reached at 817-847-4900.
District 94 in Central Arlington is represented by Republican Tony Tinderholt. Before his state service, Tinderholt had a decorated military career. He entered active-duty Air Force in 1988 as a Spanish Cryptologic Linguist, taking part in counter drug missions throughout South and Central America. Following 9/11, he re-entered active duty, this time in the Army. Tinderholt worked as a platoon leader, executive officer, detachment commander, and recruiting commander. At one point, he oversaw an $836 million budget and managed a team of over 400.
He is the proud father to his four children (Kayley, Nathan, Tyler, & Brenan) and grandfather to one grandson (Jaxon). He is happily married to his wife, Bethany, a loving mother and former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader.
Representative Tinderholt has a strong, conservative voting record in the Legislature. You can reach his legislative staff at his Capitol office: (512) 463-0624. His District Director, Shannon Kidd, can be reached at 817-478-5000.
District 101 in Southeast Arlington is represented by Democratic Representative Chris Turner. Representative Turner is beginning his sixth term in the Texas House. He was recently elected Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus for the new legislative session.
A lifelong Texan, Chris grew up in Dallas and has lived in Tarrant County for more than 20 years. Chris is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and works as a communications consultant when he is not working in the Legislature. Chris and his wife, Lisa, live in Grand Prairie with their rescue dogs, Cassie and Cora.
In 2019, Chris brokered the deal to end the stalemate on Texas’ major school finance legislation by crafting a statewide teacher pay raise plan that was ultimately supported by both the House and Senate. The final bill, HB3, is seen as a revolutionary improvement in Texas school finance. He consistently supports major parts of the business legislative agenda.
You can reach Representative Turner’s legislative staff at his Capitol office: (512) 463-0574. You can reach Tammy Dubberke, Director of Constituent Services, at 817-459-2800.
District 96 in South Arlington is represented by freshman Republican Representative David Cook. He most recently served as the Mayor of Mansfield where he lives with his wife Tonya. Representative Cook holds a B.A. from Stephen F. Austin State University and a J.D. from the Texas Wesleyan University School of Law.
Representative Cook is the Managing Partner of Harris Cook, LLP with offices in Arlington, Mansfield and Flower Mound. The firm was founded by the late State Senator Chris Harris who earned a reputation as a “Lion of the Senate.” Senator Harris memory is revered by most legislatively knowledgeable folks in Arlington. He was a great supporter of our community.
Representative Cook has already pre-filed 4 bills for the current session dealing with family law matters.
You can reach Representative Cook’s legislative staff at his Capitol office: (512) 463-0374. His District Director is Susan Wright but as of this writing there is no phone number listed for Representative Cook’s district office.