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First-term Republican State Rep. Marc LaHood has once again prevailed in the GOP primary following a heated and expensive race to represent House District 121 in the Texas House of Representatives.
LaHood will face Democrat Zack Dunn in the general election in November. Dunn, a Bexar County assistant district attorney, ran unopposed in the Democratic Primary.
The Republican Primary for HD 121, which stretches from Alamo Heights north Bulverde, was one of the most expensive primaries for state representative in Texas this year.
In 2024 the HD 121 Republican Primary was largely about private school vouchers. With the endorsement of Gov. Greg Abbott, LaHood defeated the then-incumbent Steve Allison as part of Abbott’s push to oust anti-voucher Republicans from the Texas Legislature.
Now the primary is wrapped up in a battle between two powerful and well-monied lobbies. LaHood, who is a personal injury attorney, is backed by the Texas Trial Lawyers Association. McArthur, who is a former oil and gas executive, is backed by Texans for Lawsuit Reform, which represents big business interests.
A package of bills sponsored by TLR failed at the end of the 2025 Legislative Session. The bills would have reduced the amount of damages businesses pay to plaintiffs in lawsuits, often called tort reform. LaHood and the Texas Trial Lawyers Association opposed the bills.
Spending in the GOP HD 121 Primary had already topped $3 million by early February.
Trial lawyers and the business lobby TLR have also spent big in three other GOP primaries in what political analysts call a bid for control over the Texas Republican Party between old-school business-minded politicians and the more modern culture warriors.
Three of those four key races, HD 118, HD 121, and HD 122, are in Bexar County.
