Tracy King

Tracy Ogden King (born November 9, 1960) is an American politician and hearing aid specialist from Uvalde, who has been a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 80th district since 2005. Beginning in January 2023, the revised District 80 includes the counties of Dimmit, Frio, Uvalde, Atascosa, Zavala, and some of Webb County outside Laredo. He is the only Anglo Democrat from a heavily rural district. By contrast, there were eighty-five Anglo Democrats in the House in 1985, eighty-three in 1987, with fifty-six of those from primarily rural areas. King was initially elected to Texas House of Representatives as a representative of the 43rd district on November 8, 1994, when he unseated the one-term Democrat-turned-Republican incumbent Pedro G. Nieto. King received 15,072 votes (61.8 percent) to Nieto's 9,321 (38.2 percent). With his 2023 victory, King has been elected to a total of fifteen two-year terms.

Background
King graduated from Carrizo Springs High School in Carrizo Springs, the county seat of Dimmit County, Texas. He then attended Southwest Texas Junior College, and Texas A&M University at College Station, from which he received his Bachelor of Science in agricultural engineering. In 1983, King was employed by the Beltone Hearing Aid Center in San Antonio, which served sixteen counties in southwestern Texas. King purchased the Beltone center in 1987 and sold it in 2008. King and his wife, the former Cheryl Baker, originally from Hondo, the county seat of Medina County, have two children, Katelyn Marie King and Clayton Baker King. King is a former trustee of the First United Methodist Church. He is a past president of the Uvalde Kiwanis Club. He is a former president of the Texas Hearing Aid Association. In the house, King currently serves as the Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, member of the Energy Resources Committee, and is Chairman of the House Water Caucus.

Election of 2012
King won renomination in the Democratic primary election held on May 29, 2012. King said that he opposes state tax increases and will pursue ways to improve the business climate in south Texas. In the primary, King faced Jerry Garza (born 1976), a former two-term member from District 3 of the Webb County Commissioner's Court, also a former television reporter for KGNS-TV, the NBC affiliate in Laredo, and a former faculty member at Laredo Community College. Garza had sought to become the second Democrat from Laredo in the state House. Through April 18, 2012, King amassed $74,350 in campaign contributions, compared to $4,800 for Garza. Only 15 percent of King's contributions came from within District 80, but he did receive a contribution from wealthy Laredo businessman Steve LaMantia. Garza said that most of King's contributions came from lobbyists and political action committees beyond the district. After he defeated Garza in the primary, King ran unopposed in the November 6, 2012, general election.