Barry Wernick Is Challenging Incumbent Morgan Meyer in House District 108 Race

A former Dallas City Council candidate has thrown his hat in the ring for a state representative job in Austin. Barry Wernick, 53, told CandysDirt.com last week that he’s running because “for too long, we haven’t had any true conservative representation in Austin.” Wernick will face incumbent Morgan Meyer in the March 5 primary. The District 108 seat represents Highland Park and Northwest Dallas.

Wernick, an attorney, touts himself as the only true conservative in the race. 

Meyer did not respond to a request for an interview. Meyer chairs the Ways and Means Committee and is running as a fiscal conservative and a champion for protecting children against human trafficking and sex crimes. 

“He has authored and led to pass Texas’ most comprehensive laws on trafficking, including expanding the definition of trafficking and making it easier to charge and prosecute human traffickers,” his online biography states.  

Wernick ran for Dallas City Council’s District 11 in 2021 and was defeated by Jaynie Schultz. CandysDirt.com publisher Candy Evans also was a candidate in that race. 

Wernick said the experience gave him some name recognition in the area covered by House District 108, which he says is one of the most affluent and educated districts in the state.

“I’ll just say it; we’re the best,” he said. “In Austin, we need to have a face down there that represents the best. You can’t be rated dead last on the fiscal index. You can’t be voting for things that are the antithesis of everything we believe in and our conservative values. We’ve got to fight for our children and fight to close the border.” 

Early voting continues through Friday. The Republican primary election is March 5. 

Wernick Says Voters Should Fire Morgan Meyer

Wernick points to the incumbent’s voting record as a reason why District 108 residents should choose new representation. 

A series of mailers supporting Wernick and trashing Meyer was heavily criticized by the Dallas Morning News editorial board. Wernick said he doesn’t read the local newspaper but if his return address isn’t on those campaign pieces, he didn’t send them.

Wernick and his wife Alyssa built a website, hd108facts.com, that they say outlines “the facts” about Meyer’s voting record. 

“They say it’s full of lies and misinformation,” Wernick said. “There’s a summary of the ramifications of every bill that he voted for that I’m citing. If you don’t believe the summary, you can click and it will take you right to the legislative record. That’s published and that’s true. It’s public record. This isn’t a lie. I’m not putting anything out there that’s a lie.” 

Wernick supports term limits and notes that Meyer, who has been in office since 2014, has never had a challenger in the primaries while an incumbent. Challengers who fail in the primaries haven’t done a good job of giving voters a reason to fire the incumbent, he said. 

“People either like you or they don’t. The question is why do they need to get rid of the current thing, and the only way they’ll get rid of the current thing is if it’s a bad thing,” Wernick said. “The bad thing is not the person himself. I’d never make a campaign about the person. It’s about his voting record. I started putting together a list of why I would fire Meyer. The low-information voter is going to vote for him if they’ve already been voting for him. An informed voter will vote for me.” 

Meyer often votes with Democrats and has voted against Republican initiatives, Wernick said. 

For example, he added, Meyer supported a federally-issued Transportation Workers Identification Card to be used as a valid form of voter ID. The problem with that, Wernick said, is that “non-citizens” hold TWIC cards. 

“If you’re taking the border seriously and you’re taking election integrity seriously … that’s something we need to be focused on, just shutting down the border for the criminal elements,” he said. 

‘On The Side of Right’

Wernick’s pledge to be “on the side of right” goes back to his days as Student Council president at St. Mark’s School of Texas in 1988-89. The school was planning its prom at an exclusionary club where Jewish and Black people were not allowed to be members. 

School administrators at the time, Wernick said, didn’t want to change the location because it was embarrassing and would “make waves.” 

“Even Jewish leaders were telling me not to make waves because we’d come so far and made so much progress,” Wernick said. “I said no. We voted to not go unless they changed it. They changed it and ever since then, that was part of the deal. St. Mark’s would never have a Marksmen Ball, a prom, at an exclusionary institution ever again.”

It’s important for people to admit when they’re wrong even if it’s embarrassing, Wernick said. He’s implying that Republicans who voted for Meyer can change their minds. 

“Just do what’s right,” he said. 

If elected, he says he’ll be the only Jewish legislator in the Texas House.  

He acknowledges that not all conservatives agree on all the issues and wants to listen to constituents and facilitate discussions on how to resolve disputes and propose solutions. 

“That’s what I do for a living,” he said. 

Stay tuned to CandysDirt.com for primary election results.