The House chamber below a mostly empty gallery during the final days of the special session on June 27, 2011.
The House chamber below a mostly empty gallery during the final days of the special session on June 27, 2011. Bob Daemmrich

Bennett Ratliff is jumping into the race to replace state Rep. Jim Jackson, R-Carrollton, in the Texas House.

Ratliff, an engineer, has been on the Coppell school board for eight years. He’ll run as a Republican, in keeping with his political DNA. His brother, Thomas Ratliff, is a Republican member of the State Board of Education, and their father, Bill Ratliff, was a Republican lieutenant governor and state senator from Mount Pleasant.

Jackson announced this week that he won’t seek re-election after eight years in the House and 30 on the Dallas County Commissioner’s Court.

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Ross Ramsey co-founded The Texas Tribune in 2009 and served as its executive editor until his retirement in 2022. He wrote regular columns on politics, government and public policy. Before joining the...