Know the candidates: State Representative for district 69

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - The 2022 midterm elections are right around the corner, so it is time to learn a little more about the candidates you will be voting for. We’re turning our attention to the state representative for district 69 race, which has three candidates.

Republican Incumbent James Frank will be taking on challengers Democrat Walter Coppage and Libertarian Michael Neumann.

Frank has held this position for the last 10 years and has run unopposed every election since 2014. All three candidates bring different ideas to the table, but they all believe they have the qualifications to do the best job in office

“Been a long time Wichita resident, business owner and part of the community,” Frank said. “I think in the 10 years I have represented the city fairly well, not just the city but the six-county area pretty well.”

“I am a CPA with 40 years of experience,” Coppage said. “I graduated from Rider High School and Midwestern State University.”

“Been deployed alongside the military as a contractor for five years in Iraq, spent three years in Afghanistan and six years in Europe,” Neumann said. “One of the biggest problems I noticed was the lack of representation. Given my experience and the length of time I have been chasing this, it was time to move forward.”

READ: Where to vote early for the November 2022 election

Each candidate has a plan of what they would want to do for the community first if elected

“Job number one is public education,” Coppage said. “Fund your great schools, get teachers raises, do something about the retired teachers who haven’t had a cost of living raise in 20 years.”

“It feels like their voices are not being heard at the state level,” Neumann said. “The small towns throughout Texas is the heartbeat of Texas, so without their voices being heard at the state level, what are we doing.”

“One of the big areas I am working on right now and have for the last couple years is healthcare cost,” Frank said. “We are about double the rest of the first world in terms of cost of healthcare. We are just so expensive for virtually the same thing.”

Each candidate believes they have what it takes to make a difference for the residents in district 69, and they gave one reason on why you should vote for them.

“I am going to bring your concerns to the state,” Neumann said. “I am going to ensure Greg Abbott knows what you are worried about.”

“I have enjoyed it, I think I have learned a lot,” Frank said. “I think some of the things that I have learned is the people that I have worked with allow me to represent and have more influence. I think our area has more influence because of the people I have worked with and the people that I know.”

“Because I will work, I will work for everybody,” Coppage said. “My goals are public education as job number one, voting rights is number two and healthcare is number three.”

Early voting begins Monday Oct. 24. Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 8.

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