Press release
Republican attorney and small business owner Ashley McKee kicked off her campaign Thursday for a seat in the Texas House representing Kaufman and Henderson counties. A life-long resident of the district, McKee said she believes that in order for the state to solve the serious challenges it faces, we need to elect experienced advocates and problem solvers with strong records of achievement in the private sector.
“I am a professional problem solver,” said McKee. “That’s what I do for a living. I go to work every day in courtrooms across our district and East Texas advocating and fighting for the people I represent- most of them children. I know exactly how difficult a task it will be to go down to Austin and take on the state bureaucrats in order to advance our conservative agenda, but I have the skills, experience, and energy it takes to fight the bureaucracy on behalf of the citizens of our district.”
McKee owns a successful real estate title company and also practices family law and estate planning throughout East Texas, with a strong focus on adoptions and representing abused and neglected children. In 2015, she was named “Team Member of the Year” by the East Texas Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for her efforts on behalf of abused and neglected children.
As the Vice President of the Eustace ISD Board of Trustees, and the parent of two children in a rural school district, McKee understands the challenges facing public school districts across the state. She believes that empowering parents and teachers and fixing the school finance system are keys to unlocking the potential of our local schools and providing a world-class education to all children.
“Our children thrive when we give control of the learning environment back to parents and teachers,” McKee continued. “But right now, we have an over-reliance on standardized testing, and we have an inordinate amount of unfunded mandates that get handed down from Austin and Washington. The main problem, in my view, is a lack of parental and local control over the decisions that govern the education of our children.”
Beyond her service on the school board, McKee is heavily invested in the district and recognized as a leader and champion for the business community. She is currently on the Henderson County Hospital Authority Board. She is a past President of the Henderson County Bar Association, former Chair of the Athens Chamber of Commerce, and former District Chair of the Boy Scouts of America for the Trinity Woods District. She is also a Kiwanian and a former youth basketball coach.
McKee is a graduate of Malakoff High School, Navarro Junior College, the University of Texas at Arlington, and the Texas Wesleyan School of Law (now Texas A&M School of Law), where she served as an editor of the school’s prestigious Law Review.
McKee also plans to vigorously advocate for veterans in the legislature. As the spouse of a military combat veteran, McKee has a tremendous respect for our military and the sacrifices of military families. McKee’s husband, former long-time Henderson County District Attorney Scott McKee, is a Major and Infantry Officer in the Army Reserves and deployed to Iraq in 2010.
The McKee’s are raising their two sons on a small hay farm between Mabank and Eustace, and attend Athens Life Fellowship Church.
McKee has designated former long-time County Clerk Gwen Moffeit as her campaign treasurer. Moffeit was the first Republican elected to a county-wide office in Henderson County.
To find out more about Ashley McKee and her campaign for state representative, please visit www.McKeeforTexas.com.