E. Sam Harless
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E. Sam Harless (Republican Party) is a member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing District 126. He assumed office on January 8, 2019. His current term ends on January 14, 2025.
Harless (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Texas House of Representatives to represent District 126. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Biography
E. Sam Harless lives in Harris County, Texas. He graduated from Spring High School in 1981. He studied at Sam Houston State University. Harless' career experience includes working as the owner of Fred Fincher Motors.[1]
Committee assignments
2023-2024
Harless was assigned to the following committees:
- Homeland Security & Public Safety Committee
- House Administration Committee
- Licensing & Administrative Procedures Committee
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2021-2022
Harless was assigned to the following committees:
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2019-2020
Harless was assigned to the following committees:
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Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2024
See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Texas House of Representatives District 126
Incumbent E. Sam Harless defeated Sarah Smith in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 126 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | E. Sam Harless (R) | 99.3 | 49,319 |
 | Sarah Smith (Independent) (Write-in)  | 0.7 | 369 | |
| Total votes: 49,688 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Sarah Smith (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 126
Incumbent E. Sam Harless advanced from the Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 126 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | E. Sam Harless | 100.0 | 12,153 |
| Total votes: 12,153 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Campaign finance
Endorsements
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Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Harless in this election.
2022
See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
The general election was canceled. Incumbent E. Sam Harless won election in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 126.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 126
Incumbent E. Sam Harless advanced from the Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 126 on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | E. Sam Harless | 100.0 | 12,718 |
| Total votes: 12,718 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
2020
See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Texas House of Representatives District 126
Incumbent E. Sam Harless defeated Natali Hurtado in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 126 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | E. Sam Harless (R) | 53.3 | 39,457 |
 | Natali Hurtado (D) | 46.7 | 34,538 | |
| Total votes: 73,995 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 126
Natali Hurtado defeated Undrai Fizer in the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 126 on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Natali Hurtado | 78.6 | 7,780 |
 | Undrai Fizer | 21.4 | 2,113 | |
| Total votes: 9,893 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 126
Incumbent E. Sam Harless advanced from the Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 126 on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | E. Sam Harless | 100.0 | 9,867 |
| Total votes: 9,867 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Libertarian convention
Pete Salas and Patrick Gunnels failed to receive enough votes at the convention on March 14, 2020, to make the general election ballot.[2]
Campaign finance
2018
General election
General election for Texas House of Representatives District 126
E. Sam Harless defeated Natali Hurtado in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 126 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | E. Sam Harless (R) | 54.8 | 30,399 |
| Natali Hurtado (D) | 45.2 | 25,035 | |
| Total votes: 55,434 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 126
Natali Hurtado defeated Undrai Fizer in the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 126 on March 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Natali Hurtado | 77.7 | 3,560 |
| Undrai Fizer | 22.3 | 1,023 | |
| Total votes: 4,583 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 126
E. Sam Harless defeated Kevin Fulton and Gail Stanart in the Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 126 on March 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | E. Sam Harless | 50.6 | 5,110 |
 | Kevin Fulton | 35.9 | 3,621 | |
 | Gail Stanart | 13.5 | 1,366 | |
| Total votes: 10,097 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Overview of 2018 Republican primaries
The 2018 Texas state legislative Republican primaries featured conflict between two factions. One group was opposed to House Speaker Joe Straus (R) and his preferred policies on issues like education financing and property taxes. The anti-Straus wing included members of the Texas Freedom Caucus and organizations such as Empower Texans and Texas Right to Life. The other group was supportive of Straus and his policy priorities. The pro-Straus wing included incumbent legislators allied with Straus and organizations such as the Associated Republicans of Texas and the Texas Association of Business. To learn more about these factions and the conflict between them, visit our page on factional conflict among Texas Republicans.
The primaries occurred on March 6, 2018, with runoffs on May 22, 2018. There were 48 contested state legislative Republican primaries, outnumbering contested primaries in 2016 (43) and 2014 (44). To see our full coverage of the state legislative Republican primaries, including who key influencers were backing and what the primaries meant for the 2019 House speaker's race, visit our primary coverage page.
The charts below outline the March 6 primary races for the state Senate and the state House. They show how the factions performed on election night.
| Texas Senate Republicans | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Before March 6 primaries | After March 6 primaries | |
| Pro-Straus | 2 | 1 | |
| Anti-Straus | 1 | 3 | |
| Unknown | 3 | 3 | |
| Open seats | 1 | - | |
| Runoffs | - | - | |
| Too close to call | - | - | |
| Total | 7 | 7 | |
| Texas House Republicans | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Before March 6 primaries | After March 6 primaries | |
| Pro-Straus | 20 | 20 | |
| Anti-Straus | 4 | 9 | |
| Unknown | 2 | 5 | |
| Open seats | 15 | - | |
| Runoffs | - | 7 | |
| Too close to call | - | - | |
| Total | 41 | 41 | |
Primary we watched
This primary was one of 48 we tracked for the March 6 elections.
Did the incumbent file to run for re-election?
| No. |
What made this a race to watch?
| Three Republicans filed to run in the election to replace state Rep. Kevin Roberts (R): Kevin Fulton, E. Sam Harless, and Gail Stanart. Endorsements for Fulton
Endorsements for Harless
|
Campaign finance
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
E. Sam Harless did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
E. Sam Harless did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
E. Sam Harless did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Texas scorecards, email suggestions to [email protected].
2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Texas State Legislature was in session from January 10 to May 29.
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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the Texas State Legislature was not in session. |
2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Texas State Legislature was in session from January 12 to May 31.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Texas State Legislature was not in session. |
2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Texas State Legislature was in its 86th legislative session from January 8 through May 27.
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See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate Texas House of Representatives District 126 |
Officeholder Texas House of Representatives District 126 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Facebook, "Sam Harless," accessed February 16, 2018
- ↑ Texas Free Press, "Texas Libertarian Party Conventions Nominate 100 Candidates Poised to Impact Battleground Races," March 16, 2020
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedBlastf8 - ↑ prnewswire, "Governor Mike Huckabee Endorses Kevin Fulton for State Representative," February 13, 2018
- ↑ Facebook, "Kevin Fulton War Vet & Conservative," February 20, 2018
- ↑ Houston Chronicle, "For House District 126: E. Sam Harless," February 17, 2018
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Kevin Roberts (R) |
Texas House of Representatives District 126 2019-Present |
Succeeded by - |
