Brandon Huckabee officially announced his candidacy for County Judge after filing on Nov. 18.
Huckabee has been serving on the Stephenville City Council since 2018, is currently Mayor Pro-Tem and has served on several committees including planning and development and finance.
This experience has served him well, but Huckabee thought it was time for a change.
“Served for 4 years on council and think it’s time for somebody else to have the opportunity to serve [there],” Huckabee said. “As all communities in Erath County are growing, I believe we’re in a point where need strong leadership to help in collaboration as the county grows.”
Although Huckabee wasn’t always interested in politics, he feels his background makes him an ideal candidate for that role.
Huckabee is an Erath County native who attended Buff Dale until the fifth grade, before transferring and graduating from Stephenville High School and attending Tarleton state University.
He left the university to enter the retail world where he led up to 100-150 people as HR operations and store managers at chains like Mervyn’s, Kohl’s and Old Navy.
He met his wife, Alyssa, while living and working in the metroplex, and decided to return to Erath in 2015 because they wanted to raise their children in a community with the traditional rural values Brandon had growing up.
They found Erath ideal to raise their daughters, Brinley (7) and Ella (3).
Upon returning to Erath, they started Huckabee Inspection Group (which handles residential and commercial inspections for real estate sales) and Pro Lighting Solutions. (Alyssa currently serves as the head of Project Management at Prime.)
“Working in the corporate world and starting two businesses from the ground up has given me a good perspective of how to come into government and work to make it more efficient and effective, said Huckabee. “Sometimes, we have to think outside the box from the ways we’ve done things in the past and think about how to do things best in the future.”
“I really believe one of the things I bring is the ability for collaboration for the county, City of Dublin, City of Stephenville and outlying communities,” said Huckabee. “How we can work together to be more efficient and effective at providing services for the citizens.”
“Unfortunately, there has been some conflict within the county offices,” he continued. “A big part [of the judge’s role] will be uniting county offices with municipalities to work together. We all serve the same people, and that’s what the tax payers deserve.”
Huckabee said chief concerns facing the county include items like improving infrastructure, better serving our first responder agencies and finding innovative ways to accommodate the county’s senior citizens in matters like property taxes. He also wants to bring in more transparency to the county.
Huckabee said growth is key to providing for Erath’s citizenry, but stresses that the county needs to preserve its identity and values while doing so, saying it’s what drew him back and it’s what has brought many of the customers he’s worked with to the county.
Huckabee said he’s willing to talk with voters on any concerns or questions they have and is planning meet and greets for Dublin prior to the March 1 primary election. For more information, find ‘Brandon Huckabee for Erath County Judge’ on Facebook.