Changes

==Political life==

==Political life==

From 2000 until his election to the state House, Stephenson was an elected member of the nonpartisan board of trustees of Wharton County Junior College. From 1997 to 2000, he was the chairman of the Wharton County Republican Party.<ref name=votesmart/> In 2000, Stephenson ran for the District 28 seat in the Texas House but was defeated by the [[incumbent]] Democrat, Robert L. "Robby" Cook, III, 29,937 (63.3 percent) to 17,321 (36.7 percent).<ref>Texas Secretary of State, General election returns (House District 28), November 2000.</ref> District 28 then included Bastrop, Colorado, Fayette, and Wharton counties, east and south of the capital city of [[Austin]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/legeLeaders/members/memberDisplay.cfm?memberID=166&searchparams=chamber=H~city=~countyID=0~RcountyID=~district=~first=Robert~gender=~last=Cook~leaderNote=~leg=~party=Democrat~roleDesc=~Committee=|title=Robert L. "Robby" Cook, III|publisher=Texas Legislative Reference Library|accessdate=June 24, 2020}}</ref>

From 2000 until his election to the state House, Stephenson was an elected member of the nonpartisan board of trustees of Wharton County Junior College. From 1997 to 2000, he was the chairman of the Wharton County Republican Party.<ref name=votesmart/> In 2000, Stephenson ran for the District 28 seat in the Texas House but was defeated by the [[incumbent]] Democrat, Robert L. "Robby" Cook, III, 29,937 (63.3 percent) to 17,321 (36.7 percent).<ref>Texas Secretary of State, General election returns (House District 28), November 7, 2000.</ref> District 28 then included Bastrop, Colorado, Fayette, and Wharton counties, east and south of the capital city of [[Austin]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/legeLeaders/members/memberDisplay.cfm?memberID=166&searchparams=chamber=H~city=~countyID=0~RcountyID=~district=~first=Robert~gender=~last=Cook~leaderNote=~leg=~party=Democrat~roleDesc=~Committee=|title=Robert L. "Robby" Cook, III|publisher=Texas Legislative Reference Library|accessdate=June 24, 2020}}</ref>

In 2012, House District 85 was fully reconfigured through [[redistricting]] under the 2010 census. Previously represented in West Texas by Republican [[Jim Landtroop]] of Plainview, where Stephenson had graduated from high school, the district was relocated to Ford Bend, Jackson, and Wharton counties west of [[Houston, Texas|Houston]]. Landtroop was moved to District 88 and unseated after one term in the 2012 Republican primary by the [[Moderate Republican]] Ken King  of Canadian in Hemphill County in the Texas Panhandle.<ref name=genelection/>

In 2012, House District 85 was fully reconfigured through [[redistricting]] under the 2010 census. Previously represented in West Texas by Republican [[Jim Landtroop]] of Plainview, where Stephenson had graduated from high school, the district was relocated to Ford Bend, Jackson, and Wharton counties west of [[Houston, Texas|Houston]]. Landtroop was moved to District 88 and unseated after one term in the 2012 Republican primary by the [[Moderate Republican]] Ken King  of Canadian in Hemphill County in the Texas Panhandle.<ref name=genelection/>