Two years after her first-ever run for public office resulted in the defeat of a nine-term Republican incumbent, Democratic U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher faces re-election with a solid record of accomplishment and a reputation for working across the aisle and serving constituents.
She has kept her promises.
We recommend that voters in Texas’ 7th Congressional District let her continue the job she has started.
Fletcher is challenged by Republican Wesley Hunt, a West Point graduate who served as a helicopter pilot in Iraq and as a diplomatic liaison officer in Saudi Arabia. He now works in real estate.
Libertarian candidate Shawn Kelly, a drafter-designer in the oil and gas industry, is also on the ballot.
Although a political novice, Fletcher, 45, hit the ground running in her first term, authoring a bill to cut federal red tape and speed disaster recovery funding that was much needed in the Houston area.
The measure passed the House with just seven votes against as Fletcher teamed with Fort Bend Republican Rep. Pete Olson and even pulled in conservative North Carolina Republican Mark Meadows as a co-sponsor. Meadows is now President Donald Trump’s chief of staff.
Fletcher also smartly sought spots on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, where she is chair of the energy subcommittee. Other panels might be more glamorous or attention-grabbing but they are not as crucial to the interests of the region NASA calls home and where the oil and gas industry and the Houston Ship Channel mean jobs, commerce and development.
While some members of the progressive wing of her party have grabbed headlines, Fletcher has made her mark through hard work and coalition building.
“I don’t know how many other people,” Fletcher told the editorial board, “have been endorsed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce with a 100 percent rating from the AFL-CIO.”
That is an approach and an attitude the voters should reward on Nov. 3.
