He delivered the House seat to the Republicans in both a special election to finish former representative Dianne White Delisi’s unexpired term and the full two-year term, which begins in January.
According to unofficial election results, Sheffield won 54 percent of the vote over his Democratic opponent Sam Murphey, who garnered 43 percent. Libertarian Chris Lane got about 2.7 percent.
Sheffield built a grassroots campaign by knocking on doors across Bell County for several months, going back to the spring primary.
“I said from the very beginning, no one was going to outwork me,” Sheffield said from his Las Casas restaurant in Temple. “When I go to Austin, we’re going to have someone who works very hard on a daily basis. Not be tired. Not give up, and not worry about what other people are saying.”
Murphey took 16 years experience working for Democratic Congressman Chet Edwards of Waco into the race. But his was an uphill climb, trying to wrest a seat from Republican Party dominance that has lasted more than two decades.
“We should have lost by 30 points in this district,” Murphey said. “We lost by about eight or nine. We’re very proud of that.”
Murphey said it was too early to comment on future political plans. In retrospect, he said he wouldn’t change anything.
“Sheffield ran a tough campaign. We left everything on the field. Everybody gave 100 percent. We had the money to run the campaign. We had the volunteers. It’s just a tough district,” Murphey said.
Toward the end of the campaign, things heated up between the two, with Murphey coming after Sheffield in debates, press conferences, TV ads and mailers. Sheffield fired back, saying his old friend had gone back on a pledge to keep his campaign positive. But the campaign ended on a cordial note, when Murphey called and congratulated Sheffield.
On election day, Sheffield said he beat the streets the way he had for months. He covered about 15 precincts, he said, from Salado to Harker Heights to Temple.
That work ethic, which he learned as a teenager working in the restaurant business, he said will help him get things done in Austin. He also said an important part of his campaign - that he always answers his cell phone - would not change.
“I want to be a very accessible individual for the district. And I think having a business in the district, people can easily access me. That number’s not going to change.”
The third candidate in the special election, Danny Daniel, said although he only got about 5 percent of the vote he gained the ear of both men on his issue - child abuse in Bell County. He said he expected the winner to work on that issue.
