10 Years of Doing What He Loves: Rep. Phil King

Weatherford Democrat

Austin Ries

On a weekday afternoon, the first floor of the Texas Capitol is anything but peaceful. Tour guides wave their hands in a thousand directions like traffic cops at rush hour, groups of third-grade students gaze up at the never-ending staircase spiraling the center dome, and tourists armed with brochures crowd the majority of the walking areas.

Inside Phil King’s office, the chaos does not subside.

“We actually can’t find Phil right now, so just have a seat for a second,” his receptionist says, returning to her computer screen where she is sorting King’s emails from the morning — all 1,500 of them. Before long, Rep. King turns up.

“Honestly, there is nothing special about Phil King,” he says between bites of a Life Saver mint. “I am just a family man who wants to make a difference in his community. This is my way of doing it.”

Special or not, King has represented the 61st District and the people of Parker and Wise counties for the past 10 years, where he has authored and voted on many key legislative bills. He is a self-described “Reagan guy,” who is like any other family man or small business owner concerned about his community.