Carl Isett Carl Hawkins Isett ( born March 7 , 1957 ) is a Certified Public Accountant from Lubbock , Texas , and a Republican former member of the Texas House of Representatives . First elected in 1996 , Isett announced on December 18 , 2009 , that he would not be a candidate for an eighth two - year term in the Republican primary held on March 2 , 2010 . He indicated that he would instead focus on his United States Navy career . He resigned his seat in the summer of 2010 , and it remained vacant until a special election was held in conjunction with the November 2 , 2010 , general election . Both contests were won by Isett ' s fellow Republican John Frullo , who is also a Lubbock accountant . Background and family . Isett was born in Breckenridge , the seat of Stephens County in north central Texas , and was reared in Massachusetts and El Paso . His father , Dr . Philip E . Isett ( born April 24 , 1934 ) , resides in Edmond , Oklahoma . His mother , the former Lu Nell Hawkins ( 1934 – 2006 ) , a native of Wichita Falls , Texas , and a Lutheran authored two Christian books , " Jonathan Oh Jonathan " and " Color Me Legitimate " . At the time of her death Lu Nell Isett , who had worked in the field of health administration , was residing with her husband in Edmond . She is interred at Resthaven Cemetery in Lubbock . Isett has three brothers : James Lyndsey Isett ( born 1956 ) and wife , Cathy , of Moorpark , California , Bruce Edward Isett ( born 1961 ) and wife , Julie Panter Isett , of Lewisville , Texas , and Daniel Mark Isett ( born 1973 ) and wife , Christine Rosenthal Isett , of Alexandria , Virginia . A sister , Roxanne Evelyn Matlock ( born 1964 ) and her husband , Brent Dale Matlock , reside in Amarillo . A second sister , Lourdes Isett ( 1955 – 2008 ) , born in Mineral Wells , Texas , graduated in nursing from Texas Tech University in Lubbock and died at Baylor All Saints Medical Center in Fort Worth , where she had been employed in the care of transplant recipients . Isett and his former wife ( Cheri ) have seven children : Joan , Alexander , Nicholas , Victoria , Mary Elizabeth , Michael , and Sarah , and , as of 2009 , two grandchildren . Received his bachelor ' s degree in accounting and finance and his Master of Science degree in finance from Texas Tech . Legislative issues . Isett was initially elected in House District 84 in 1996 to succeed Robert L . Duncan of Lubbock , who was elected to the Texas State Senate . Isett defeated the Democrat Don Richards in what has become a strongly Republican district . At the time , the conservative Isett was the only practicing tax accountant in the Texas House . He has placed lower taxes , reduced government , and greater personal freedom and responsibility at the core of his stated legislative goals . He has been foremost among lawmakers opposed to cities maintaining cameras at traffic lights as a means to catch traffic violations . As a freshman , his colleagues elected him to serve on the Policy Committee of the House Republican Caucus . Isett serves on the House Appropriations Committee and chairs Budget Oversight for the Insurance Committee , headed by his Republican colleague John T . Smithee of Amarillo . He was also named to the Select Committee on School Finance and served as the chairman of the subcommittee on school finance cost adjustment . He has been president of the bipartisan Texas Conservative Coalition . Legislative colleagues elected him to the Steering Committee for the House Research Organization . He was selected in 2007 by the Speaker of the House , Tom Craddick of Midland to serve on the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission , a panel which reviews state agencies over a 12 - year period and recommends the elimination of useless bureaucracies . He co - chairs the Sportsman Caucus and is a board member of the Tower Institute , and a member of the Lubbock Lions Club . Isett has successfully championed bills such as HB 1516 which increased efficiency and improved the management of information technology in state government . This legislation was the first of its kind in the nation . Isett received the " Friend of the Taxpayer " Award from the Citizens for a Sound Economy and the " Champion of Free Enterprise " Award by the Texas Public Policy Foundation . Early in 2007 , Isett again introduced what he calls his " Taxpayer Protection Act . " It would provide for a recall election if local property taxes increase by more than 5 percent a year , similar to a new limit proposed by the Texas Task Force on Appraisal Reform and endorsed by Governor Rick Perry . The measure failed to win passage in the regular legislative session . Ethics violations . In 2008 , Isett was fined $ 6 , 400 by the Texas Ethics Commission . He was required to refund his campaign more than $ 25 , 000 for paying his wife $ 36 , 000 for " accounting services . " The Texas Election Code specifically prohibits an officeholder from paying his or her spouse for personal services . After being investigated and fined , he paid over $ 39 , 000 to " Lubbock Bookkeeping Services " for the same services in the following year . It was later found that LBS was owned by his wife and had the same address as Representative Isett ' s home address . The Texas Ethics Commission declined to take action on the matter . See Sworn Complaint 2707158 2003 congressional bid . In 2003 , Isett ran in a special election for the United States House of Representatives from District 19 . The opening developed when longtime Republican U . S . Representative Larry Combest of Lubbock suddenly retired . Isett , who carried the backing of Right to Life , polled some 19 percent of the vote , nearly enough to garner a runoff berth . The position ultimately went to his fellow Lubbock Republican Randy Neugebauer , also a conservative , who still holds the seat . Texas Tech chancellor Kent Hance held this congressional seat as a Democrat from 1979 to 1985 , but he vacated it in an unsuccessful bid in 1984 for the United States Senate . Thereafter , Hance switched parties , served briefly on the Texas Railroad Commission , and made unsuccessful bids for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 1986 and 1990 . Deployment to the Middle East . Isett is a commissioned officer in the United States Naval Reserve : a commander attached to Commander Logistics Western Pacific . In October 2006 , he returned home from deployment in Kuwait and Iraq . His former wife Cherie served as his legislative proxy while he was away , a procedure allowed in Texas . Similarly , a colleague , Frank Corte , Jr . , a Republican from San Antonio , also designated his wife , Valerie Ryder Corte , as his legislative proxy while Corte served in 2006 in the Iraq War . A month after returning from the Middle East , Isett in 2006 won his sixth term in the state House . He received 15 , 751 votes ( 66 . 1 percent ) to 8 , 068 ( 33 . 9 percent ) for his Democratic opponent , the Lubbock educator Pearlie Mayfield ( born August 24 , 1952 ) . Isett was unopposed in 2008 , as Republicans again prevailed in Lubbock County . Former Speaker Tom Craddick said that Isett ' s sudden retirement is " a real loss for West Texas , and more so for the Legislature . " Isett ' s expertise regarding finance and spending will be missed , Craddick added . Though Isett rarely spoke on the House floor , Craddick explained : " When he did get up to say something , people listened , because they knew he was informed on the issues . . . . A lot of people really listened to what he had to say . That ' s what you need when you ' re a legislator ; you need a following by the other members if you ' re ever going to accomplish anything . " In the 2010 primary , two Republicans were headed to a runoff election on April 13 , 2010 , to fill Isett ' s seat . Mark Griffin ( born July 27 , 1954 ) led the three - candidate field with 5 , 652 votes ( 48 . 7 percent ) and faced John Frullo ( born August 1 , 1962 ) , who received 4 , 992 votes ( 43 percent ) . The third candidate , Ysidro Gutierrez , a former Democratic member of the Lubbock County commissoner ' s court , polled the remaining but critical 952 votes ( 8 percent ) . Turnout on primary day was so small that the majority of the ballots were cast during early voting . In the runoff election , Frullo , endorsed by Gutierrez , defeated Griffin , a former Texas Tech regent who carried the backing of State Senator Robert L . Duncan . Frullo then handily defeated Democrat Carol Morgan , a retired Lubbock educator , in the special election and general election .