Voters will choose their state representative Nov. 3 when Republican incumbent Matt Shaheen faces Democratic challenger Sandeep Srivastava for the Texas House District 66 seat.

The district covers west Plano and far north Dallas, according to the Texas House of Representatives. Community Impact Newspaper published a candidate Q&A for the race Sept. 1.

Shaheen: Elections Committee chair, first elected in 2014

Shaheen, a Plano resident, chairs the House Committee on Elections and sits on the Higher Education Committee and the Sunset Advisory Commission. Before joining the Legislature, he served five years on the Collin County Commissioners Court. His official biography lists him as a technology executive with 30 years of experience.

Shaheen founded the Texas Freedom Caucus and was among the Collin County Republicans who voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton, according to Wikipedia.

During the 2025 legislative session, Shaheen filed a bill to let the attorney general independently prosecute election crimes. He also filed House Bill 3187 to redirect 25% of Dallas Area Rapid Transit's sales tax revenue to member cities. "Because of DART's unwillingness to address these overpayments, I have filed HB 3187 that provides a legislative fix to these imbalances DART refuses to fix," Shaheen said at an April 2025 House Transportation Committee hearing, according to Community Impact. That bill was left pending in committee.

Shaheen won re-election in 2024 with 61.1% of the vote, according to Ballotpedia. His closest race came in 2018, when he beat Democrat Sharon Hirsch by less than one percentage point.

Srivastava: small business owner, first-time state candidate

Srivastava, a Plano resident and first-generation immigrant, owns a small business in the Plano-Frisco area. His career includes work as a real estate broker and consultant with RE/MAX, a data architect at Xerox and a principal architect at Fidelity Investments, according to Ballotpedia. He ran for U.S. House District 3 in 2024, losing to Republican Keith Self 62.5% to 37.5%.

His campaign focuses on public schools, healthcare access and affordability, according to a TX3DNews candidate profilepublished June 8. That profile listed his priorities as repealing the state's school voucher program and fully funding neighborhood schools, expanding Medicaid and exploring insurance rate caps.

Both candidates ran unopposed in their March 3 primaries.

How to vote

Early voting begins Oct. 19. Election Day is Nov. 3. Prosper residents can vote at Prosper Town Hall, 250 W. First St. Celina residents can vote at Collin College Celina Campus, 2505 Kinship Pkwy. Mail ballot applications must reach the Collin County elections office by Oct. 23.