Bennett Ratliff

In the 2018 General Election, Ratliff broke with the Republican Party to endorse Democratic candidate Julie Johnson for Ratliff's former Texas House seat, due to the need for the legislature to address Ratliff's top priority, Texas' Public Education Finance system. Ratliff proved to be correct in his support, as Johnson went on to win the seat with a double-digit margin over Matt Rinaldi, and became the first Democratic representative to co-author House Bill 3 to reform and overhaul the Texas School finance system, a bill that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and was signed into law by Republican Governor Greg Abbott.

In his bid for a second term, Ratliff lost the Republican nomination to a 2012 tea party opponent, Matt Rinaldi, who received 4,167 votes (50.6 percent) to Ratliff's 4,075 votes (49.44 percent) in the March 4, 2014 Republican primary. Rinaldi, an Irving lawyer and one of Ratliff's opponents two years before, had extensive support from a special interest PAC, Empower Texans. On March 1, 2016, Ratliff tried unsuccessfully to regain his seat, but lost again to the Empower Texans backed Rinaldi in the Republican primary 8,804 to 7,668 (53.45% to 46.55%)

The House District 115 position in Dallas County opened in 2011, when the incumbent Republican Jim Jackson declined to seek re-nomination. Bennett Ratliff and four other candidates then entered the Republican primary held on May 29, 2012, nearly three months later than usual. Steve Nguyen led the primary with 3,081 votes (35 percent), followed by Ratliff with 2,644 (30.1 percent), 306 votes more than the third-place candidate, Matt Rinaldi, who polled 2,338 votes (26.6 percent). Two other candidates held the remaining 8.3 percent of the ballots cast. Ratliff then defeated Nguyen in the runoff election, 4,763 (51.9 percent) to 4,409 (48.1 percent). In the November 6 general election, Ratliff prevailed with 29,082 votes (55.3 percent) to 21,784 (41.4 percent) for the Democrat Mary Clare Fabishak (born c. 1949) of Irving and another 1,711 votes (3.3 percent) for the Libertarian Party nominee, Preston Poulter.

Like his father, Ratliff graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Bennett Ratliff received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1983. He founded The Ratliff Group, LLC, an engineering and construction management firm, in Coppell in 2002 and has grown it to be one of the most successful and respected firms in its market segment. In 2013, Ratliff was given the Distinguished Engineering Award from the Texas Engineering Foundation of the Society of Professional Engineers in recognition of his distinguished service to the engineering profession and in 2015 was inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Alumni for the University of Texas Cockrell School of Engineering. In 2016, Ratliff was again recognized by his peers in the Texas Society of Civil Engineers as the Citizen Engineer of the Year, for his service to the State of Texas and his community.

Representative Ratliff served on the House committees of (1) Appropriations and (2) Public Education. He authored eighteen bills and by the end of the session, thirteen of his priority issues had become law, the best record of any freshman in the 83rd Legislative Session.

Bennett Ratliff (born August 18, 1961) is a civil engineer and small business owner in Coppell, Texas, and served as a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 115 in Dallas County.