Texas salon owner sent to jail for defying COVID lockdown orders wins state House primary: 'God is good'

The Texas woman who went to jail rather than keep her hair salon closed during government-imposed COVID lockdowns may soon have some power to affect government policy now that she has won her local state House primary.

In 2020, Shelley Luther made national headlines after she was arrested and sentenced to spend a week in jail for criminal contempt of court after she reopened her Dallas hair salon in defiance of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's stay-at-home orders. Dallas County Judge Eric Moye offered her the chance to avoid jail time as long as she paid thousands of dollars in fines, shut down her salon once again, and formally apologized for her "selfish" actions.

"I have hairstylists that are going hungry because they would rather feed their kids," she told Judge Moye. "So, sir, if you think the law is more important than kids getting fed, then please go ahead with your decision. But I am not going to shut the salon."

Luther did serve at least one day in jail though she was released early, and Abbott eventually modified his executive orders so that no one else could be imprisoned for disobeying them.

Upon release, Luther almost immediately jumped into politics and announced that she would run for the Texas Senate District 30 seat as a Republican. She ultimately lost in a runoff race against Drew Springer.

In 2022, Luther decided to challenge incumbent state Rep. Reggie Smith in the Texas House District 62 Republican primary, but Smith prevailed and served a third term in office.

It was likely his last.

This year, Luther decided to challenge Smith once again, even after she suffered a brain aneurysm that nearly killed her last April. This time around, she bested Smith by more than 2,000 votes and will now go on to face Democrat candidate Tiffany Drake in the general election.

"I had a scare back in April where I actually almost died," she said after she was projected the winner on Election Night, "and just 11 months later, [I] come back and win this race."

"God is good. That's all I can say," she added.

A Republican has represented Texas District 62 for more than 25 years, so Luther's prospects in November look good. Though Smith toed the party line regarding border security, abortion, and the Second Amendment, he may have run afoul of his constituents when he voted to impeach fellow Republican and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton last May.

Paxton was later acquitted by the state Senate, and many state legislators who tried to oust him were ousted themselves in this year's primary. State Rep. Ernest Bailes (R), who represents the district that includes the notorious Colony Ridge development and who likewise voted to impeach Paxton, similarly lost his primary race, in his case, to challenger Janis Holt.

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