Dan Flynn (politician)

Flynn was born on February 23, 1943.^[3] He was one of House Speaker Joe Straus's loyal supporters.^[2]

In December 2008, Flynn authored a bill requiring public documents to be in English only as a means of encouraging non-English speakers to learn English.^[4]

In his 2018 primary election, Flynn defeated Bryan Slaton, an intra-party rival from Hunt County, 11,803 (51.7 percent) to 11,013 (48.3 percent). After his reelection, Flynn called once again to permit public school teachers in the state the option of displaying the Ten Commandments in their classrooms. He has been unsuccessful in previous attempts to pass such legislation. Flynn said that he did not understand why his proposal is controversial — liberals viewed it as "unconstitutional" and certain to be challenged in federal court. Flynn said the proposal merely allowed teachers "to put something in their room that is about good values."^[5]

On July 14, 2020, Flynn was defeated in his re-election attempt by Bryan Slaton by a 22-point margin in the Republican primary runoff.^[1][2] Slaton ran to Flynn's right.^[6] He died on October 28, 2022, at the age of 79.^[7]

Republican primary results^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Flynn	3,046	56.5
	Republican	Sue Ann Harting	1,900	35.2
	Republican	Mickey Cooper	447	8.3
Total votes			5,393	100

General election results^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Flynn	18,872	58.5
	Democratic	Danny Duncan	13,384	41.5
Total votes			32,256	100
	Republican gain from Democratic

Republican primary results^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Flynn (incumbent)	4,040	100
Total votes			4,040	100

General election results^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Flynn (incumbent)	36,888	100
Total votes			36,888	100

Republican primary results^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Flynn (incumbent)	5,221	73.3
	Republican	Chuck Tull	1,899	26.7
Total votes			7,120	100

General election results^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Flynn (incumbent)	18,783	58.5
	Democratic	Scott Cornuaud	11,926	37.1
	Libertarian	Dawn M. Childs	1,404	4.4
Total votes			32,113	100

Republican primary results^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Flynn (incumbent)	11,136	100
Total votes			11,136	100

General election results^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Flynn (incumbent)	39,258	85.0
	Libertarian	Michael A. French	6,906	15.0
Total votes			46,164	100

Republican primary results^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Flynn (incumbent)	10,841	65.3
	Republican	Richard "Link" Linkenauger	5,754	34.7
Total votes			16,595	100

General election results^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Flynn (incumbent)	26,604	100
Total votes			26,604	100

Republican primary results^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Flynn (incumbent)	11,070	59.5
	Republican	George Alexander	7,532	40.5
Total votes			18,602	100

General election results^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Flynn (incumbent)	46,025	100
Total votes			46,025	100

Republican primary results^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Flynn (incumbent)	13,903	100
Total votes			13,903	100

General election results^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Flynn (incumbent)	28,847	100
Total votes			28,847	100

Republican primary results^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Flynn (incumbent)	14,918	51.0
	Republican	Bryan Slaton	14,337	49.0
Total votes			29,255	100

General election results^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Flynn (incumbent)	54,605	100
Total votes			54,605	100

Republican primary results^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Flynn (incumbent)	11,696	51.7
	Republican	Bryan Slaton	10,921	48.3
Total votes			22,617	100

General election results^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Flynn (incumbent)	45,843	80.0
	Democratic	Bill Brannon	11,432	20.0
Total votes			57,275	100

Republican primary results^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Flynn (incumbent)	12,246	44.8
	Republican	Bryan Slaton	9,889	36.1
	Republican	Dwayne "Doc" Collins	5,223	19.1
Total votes			27,358	100

Republican primary runoff results^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bryan Slaton	9,757	61.07
	Republican	Dan Flynn (incumbent)	6,221	38.93
Total votes			15,978	100

Late in 2010, Representative Bryan Hughes of Mineola in Wood County, claimed that Larry Phillips, a lawmaker from Sherman, told Hughes that Dan Flynn and Erwin Cain, the newly elected conservative representative from Sulphur Springs, would be adversely redistricted for the 2012 elections because they had declined to commit to the second-term reelection of Speaker Joe Straus, a Moderate Republican from San Antonio. In a hearing before the House Ethics Committee, chaired by another East Texas representative, Chuck Hopson of Jacksonville, an ally of Speaker Straus, Phillips denied having made such a claim to Hughes. Neither Hughes nor Phillips taped the conversation. No judgment was made by the committee because of the lack of corroborating witnesses.^[28]

Flynn survived the redistricting. On March 1, 2016, Flynn narrowly won re-nomination in the Republican primary. He polled 14,917 votes (51 percent) to intraparty rival Bryan Slaton's 14,336 (49 percent).^[29]