# Faircloth Gets Potential Primary Challenger in Middleton | USLege

> Wallisville oil company president David Mayes Middleton files paperwork for potential primary challenge against Rep. Wayne Faircloth in Texas HD-23.

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# Faircloth Gets Potential Primary Challenger in Middleton

TXElects June 3, 2017

This article is preserved from the TXElects archive. For current coverage, read [The Political Spotlight](/newsletters).

Wallisville oil company president and conservative activist David “Mayes” Middleton has filed paperwork establishing a campaign committee for a potential primary challenge of two-term Rep. Wayne Faircloth (R-Dickinson). Middleton, a board member of the Texas Public Policy Foundation\* and the Empower Texans Foundation, contributed more than $50K to conservative Republican candidates in 2016.

Faircloth did not have a primary opponent in 2016. He defeated Texas City insurance agent Bob Senter, 66%-34%, in the 2014 primary and went on to win an open-seat race in the general election. In 2012, Faircloth came in first in a three-way primary and won the runoff over former Chambers Co. Comm. Bill Wallace, 56%-44%. He went on to lose the general election to then-Rep. Craig Eiland (D-Galveston).

Empower Texans [endorsed Faircloth](https://web.archive.org/web/20141129022515/http://www.empowertexans.com:80/around-texas/faircloth-endorsed-for-hd23/) in his 2012 general election, calling him “the kind of principled citizen-leader Texans want and need in the Legislature.” The group endorsed him again for the 2014 primary. Faircloth received a “C-minus” on the 2015 Fiscal Responsibility Index, the scorecard produced by Empower Texans. The group has not yet released its 2017 scorecard.

HD23 includes all of Chambers Co. and about 40% of Galveston Co. Middleton is from Chambers Co., and Faircloth is from Galveston Co. Growth in Chambers Co. has [given it increasing clout](https://web.archive.org/web/20240617161830/https://txelects.wpengine.com/straight-ticket-voting-trends-in-hd23/) in the determining the district’s representative, but its electorate is still smaller than the Galveston Co. portion of the district. Faircloth received 42% of the vote in Chambers Co. in his 2012 runoff against one of its former county commissioners and 66% in Galveston Co.

_\* MIddleton is no longer on TPPF’s board. The group’s bylaws dictate that board members automatically relinquish their seats as soon as they announce or file for state/federal office._

![Rep. Wayne Faircloth](/assets/news/5b028723ca5c_hd23_faircloth.jpg)

Rep. Wayne Faircloth

![Mayes Middleton](/assets/news/580532e34f35_hd23_middleton.jpg)

Mayes Middleton

_©2017 Texas Election Source LLC_

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