# Cole Hefner

Cole Hefner is a Republican member of the Texas House for district 5.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: Texas House, district 5
- Serving since: 2017-01-10
- Current term: TX 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/43bbf34a-6bc4-41f9-9bdc-3e944c5b8495

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/43bbf34a-6bc4-41f9-9bdc-3e944c5b8495 (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

51% of Hefner’s statements claim credit, 4.0 times the State House Republican average of 13%.

## What Hefner says (TX 2025–26 session)

226 classified statements: 226 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State House Republicans average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Hefner | State House Republicans average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 0.4% | 2.9% | 459 of 791 |
| Policy criticism | 5.3% | 9.3% | 440 of 791 |
| Policy discussion | 64.2% | 31.9% | 39 of 791 |
| Bipartisanship | 2.2% | 1.8% | 234 of 791 |
| Credit claiming | 50.9% | 12.7% | 4 of 791 |
| Extreme labels | 2.6% | 1.4% | 144 of 791 |

Most discussed policy areas: Armed Forces and National Security 30% (State House Republicans 4.9%); Government Operations and Politics 18% (State House Republicans 18%); Education 11% (State House Republicans 15%); Crime and Law Enforcement 10% (State House Republicans 11%); Public Lands and Natural Resources 10% (State House Republicans 1.5%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score +0.70 (standard error 0.01), from 592 donors and 875 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 92% of State House Republicans score lower.

## Votes (TX 2025–26 session)

3,724 roll calls. Attendance 94.4% (Texas House 93.1%). Party unity 89% (85%). 297 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2025-09-03 · voted yea · passage · HB 1 Relating to youth camp emergency plans and preparedness; authorizing penalties. · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB1/
- 2025-09-03 · voted yea · passage · SB 1 Relating to campground and youth camp safety. · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/SB1/
- 2025-09-03 · voted yea · passage · HB 8 Relating to public school accountability and transparency, including the implementation of an instructionally supportive assessment program and the… · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB8/
- 2025-09-03 · voted yea · adopt the conference committee report on SB 5. · SB 5 Relating to making supplemental appropriations for disaster relief and preparedness and giving direction and adjustment authority regarding those… · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/SB5/
- 2025-09-03 · voted nay · passage · HB 8 Relating to public school accountability and transparency, including the implementation of an instructionally supportive assessment program and the… · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB8/
- 2025-09-03 · voted yea · concur in the senate amendments to HB 20. · HB 20 Relating to measures to prevent and reduce fraudulent charitable solicitations and theft during declared disasters, including establishing a designation… · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB20/
- 2025-09-03 · voted yea · passage · SB 1 Relating to campground and youth camp safety. · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/SB1/
- 2025-09-03 · voted yea · concur in the senate amendments to HB 1. · HB 1 Relating to youth camp emergency plans and preparedness; authorizing penalties. · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB1/
- 2025-09-02 · voted yea · passage · SB 54 Relating to election procedures regarding accepting a voter with a residence address that is not current and the immediate effect of a voter's… · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/SB54/
- 2025-09-02 · voted yea · passage · HB 18 Relating to a restriction on the acceptance of political contributions and the making of certain political expenditures by a member of the legislature… · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB18/

## Legislation (TX 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 102 bills: 99 reached committee, 59 passed one chamber, 44 passed both, 40 became law. Cosponsored 121. 57.8% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Texas House 48.5%; rank 44 of 145).

Recent sponsored bills:

- HB 27: Relating to a groundwater study of certain aquifers underlying the territory of the Neches and Trinity Valleys Groundwater Conservation District by the Texas… (passed both chambers, 2025-09-03) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB27/
- HB 229: Relating to the use by a political subdivision of public funds for lobbying and certain other activities. (in committee, 2025-08-20) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB229/
- SB 15: Relating to certain files maintained by a law enforcement agency regarding certain employees of the agency. (passed both chambers, 2025-08-25) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/SB15/
- HB 24: Relating to the consideration by a groundwater conservation district of modeled available groundwater when issuing permits. (in committee, 2025-08-21) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB24/
- HB 15: Relating to certain files maintained by a law enforcement agency regarding certain employees of the agency. (passed both chambers, 2025-09-02) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB15/
- HB 162: Relating to the exercise of the power of eminent domain by a political subdivision to acquire property outside the political subdivision's boundaries. (introduced, 2025-08-15) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB162/
- HB 14: Relating to certain files maintained by a law enforcement agency regarding certain employees of the agency. (in committee, 2025-07-30) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/891/HB14/
- HB 36: Relating to the use by a political subdivision of public funds for lobbying and certain other activities. (introduced, 2025-07-14) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/891/HB36/
- HR 1496: Suspending limitations on conference committee jurisdiction, H.B. No. 3642. (passed one chamber, 2025-06-01) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/89R/HR1496/
- HCR 149: Directing the governor of the State of Texas to posthumously award the Texas Legislative Medal of Honor to U.S. Navy SEAL Nathan Gage Ingram of Roanoke. (became law, 2025-06-20) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/89R/HCR149/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $462.3K (State House Republicans median $33.7K). 100% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2026-10-21 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/colehefnertx/status/2112996642810921310
- 2026-06-17 · Post on X · https://x.com/colehefnertx/status/2067388628511158560
- 2026-05-28 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/colehefnertx/status/2060026647009546604
- 2026-05-07 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/colehefnertx/status/2052396374503608375
- 2026-03-13 · Post on X · https://x.com/colehefnertx/status/2032450893367374221
- 2026-03-09 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion, credit claiming · https://x.com/colehefnertx/status/2031096707769872676
- 2026-03-01 · Post on X · https://x.com/colehefnertx/status/2028215281269842321
- 2026-02-20 · Post on X · https://x.com/colehefnertx/status/2024694174423945688
- 2026-02-15 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/colehefnertx/status/2023044203807228121
- 2026-02-03 · Post on X · https://x.com/colehefnertx/status/2018772483206230448

## Links

- Official site: https://www.house.texas.gov/members/member-page/?district=5
- Campaign site: https://www.colehefner.com
- X: https://x.com/colehefnertx
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/votecolehefner

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/43bbf34a-6bc4-41f9-9bdc-3e944c5b8495