Introduction
Drew Darby (born February 22, 1947) is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from his native San Angelo, Texas. He represents District 72, which comprises the West Texas counties of Coke, Concho, Glasscock, Howard, Irion, Reagan, Runnels, Sterling, and Tom Green.
Darby is chairman of the House Redistricting Committee and also sits on the Appropriations (as chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Natural Resources, Business and Economic Development and Regulatory Agencies) and Higher Education committees.
Career
Darby is a former member of the San Angelo City Council. He is a past chairman of the San Angelo Water Advisory Board and the Lake Nasworthy Advisory Board. He is a member of the Texas Farm Bureau, the National Rifle Association, the Texas Sheep and Goat Raisers' Association, the Tom Green County Bar Association, the State Bar of Texas, and the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce.
The Texas Association of Counties honored Darby as a "Friend of County Government" in 2009 and 2011.
Darby was renominated for a fifth term in House District 72 in the Republican primary held on March 4, 2014. He received 11,697 votes (79.5%) to his challenger Shannon Thomason's 3,022 (20.5%).
Personal
A native of San Angelo, Darby was arrested in November 2013, for having brought a gun in his carry-on bag through a security checkpoint at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. On January 3, 2014, Travis County 147th Criminal District Court Judge Cliff Brown granted the Travis County District Attorney's office request to dismiss the case when the investigation found no intent by Darby to violate the law.