Trial Lawyer Wins - Again - in Defense
of Seat in Top Incumbent Performance
Capitol Inside
March 10, 2026
Rookie Republican State Rep. Marc LaHood earned a spot on the Capitol Inside all-star team for the Texas primary election in a race that was the hottest on the state House battlefield in round one until he ran away with it in the final month before the vote.
LaHood, who ousted a popular Republican in his debut as a candidate for the Legislature two years ago, was a cinch for best Texas race by an incumbent in the opening round of the 2026 midterm election when he staved off a challenge from David McArthur in House District 121. The GOP shootout in the district on the northside of San Antonio was ranked as the most competitive fight on the first-round fight card for the contest's first two month before the incumbent made it look easy in the closing weeks that he capped off by scoring 74 percent of the vote on March 3.
But LaHood's blowout win was all the more impressive after emerging as the number one target for the Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC in the primary competition for the House this year. LaHood - for the record - is a lawyer for plaintiffs in civil cases. That makes him a TLR enemy - party affiliation be damned. LaHood arguably did more to sink the TLR agenda at the Capitol in Austin last year than any of the House members on either side of the aisle with the lone exception of GOP Speaker Dustin Burrows. The first-term GOP speaker from Lubbock put LaHood in position to be a wrecking ball for TLR priorities - and he played the part like a maestro despite a lack of experience in the legislative process.
The big-spending group that bankrolled the Republicans rise to power in the Lone Star State sought revenge when it declared LaHood as its number one target on the primary ballot in 2026. TLR had threatened to field a primary opponent for Burrows in his home district. The group also appeared to have its sights on State Rep. Mitch Little - a freshman Lewisville Republican who proved to be major nemesis as well as a successful trial lawyer himself and key LaHood ally in the tort reform fight at the statehouse in 2025. When no viable challengers emerged against Little or Burrows, TLR could afford to pour into McArthur's campaign as the candidate it recruited and rallied behind with campaign with hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations in the early stages of the HD 121 race.
But LaHood was got a big head start before he even had a primary opponent when he raised a jaw-dropping $1.7 million during a 10-day span in June last year after the regular session moratorium on taking donor money expired.
LaHood led all of his fellow House candidates in fundraising heading into the final month before the primary election - with the lion's share of the record-setting pace coming courtesy of other trial lawyers. But McArthur came on like gangbusters at the starting gate when he round up nearly $575,000 in his first four months as a candidate in the final third of 2025. LaHood appeared to have come back to Earth when he raised less than $160,000 during the entire second half last year.
But LaHood was simply taking his foot off the gas after raising more campaign cash than he could possibly spend effectively in no time right after his first session - thanks to a bold and daring performance on the ever-volatile and high stakes issue of civil justice reform - which had been a perennial slam dunk for two entire decades with a GOP majority at the Capitol. TLR could see the handwriting on the wall around the start of the year after appearing to reach some sort of unwritten truce with Burrows the speaker after contributing $100,000 to his campaign late last year. But the six-digit infusion from the tort reform organization didn't stop Burrows from passing the hat for LaHood, who colleagues admired and praised as one of the most effective and likeable lawmakers in the Lone Star State.
He'd compiled a solid conservative record and voted with the Republicans on everything but lawyer stuff. LaHood made one of the House battlefield's most bonehead moves when he fired up an ad that some guy with the same first and last name as his opponent getting accused of stuff in a lawsuit that he attributed to the primary foe. The oops moment didn't seem to hurt LaHood all that much, however, when he beat McArthur by 28 points. LaHood proved to be just as popular with GOP voters in the district that's anchored on the southern end by the wealthy inner-city enclaves of Alamo Heights and Olmos Park as he was with his conservative colleagues including the big group of fellow freshmen class members. But LaHood could face a much tougher challenge in November in a district that will be one of the Democrats' top targets. LaHood received 13,048 votes in the primary election. But Democrat Zach Dunn won 15,768 votes in round one in HD 121 on the lone contender for his party there. So LaHood will have to do even better.
LaHood captured the HD 121 seat in 2024 after unseating Republican Steve Allison, who'd been popular there until Givernor Greg Abbott vowed to take him out in a GOP primary RINO safari that the current incumbent there was able to ride amid the assumption he would never cross the hand that feeds. But LaHood didn't need the governor this time around. The speaker's vigorous support was worth more in this particular primary season.
Coming to Capitol Inside: Best of the Texas primary election all-star selections with installments for incumbents, challengers and candidates in open races and more ...
| 
