My name is Henry Lee Butler, and I am running to be the next County Commissioner in Precinct 2.

I am a native Texan, born and raised in West Texas. I grew up in Crane, Texas, on a working ranch where I also worked roustabout in the oilfield, played football, and raised steers in 4-H. After high school came Baylor University, where I earned a degree in Sociology in 1986, followed by a Master’s degree in Sociology in 1988. I later completed coursework toward a PhD in Sociology at the University of Colorado–Boulder, leaving the program in 1993.

I moved to Weatherford in March of 1999 to serve as Director of IT at Weatherford College. I served that institution—and through it, this community—until my retirement in July of 2021. After more than two decades, Weatherford is home. I have lived here longer than anywhere else in my life, and the people who mean the most to me live here, too.

My approach to public service was shaped not only by education, but by family. My father was a rancher and County Commissioner, and my mother served as a Deputy Sheriff—both in Crane County. I grew up in a rural community where public service meant supporting people while balancing the needs of agriculture and the energy industry. In a desert community, water was always part of the conversation—whether it flowed from the ground or fell from the sky.

My mother’s parents raised five children during the Depression and World War II. My grandfather worked his way up to Field Superintendent with Humble Oil, retiring in 1971. My grandmother was the pillar of faith in our family—a lived faith that needed no words.

These are the people who shaped my vision of politics in everyday life. Real politics are part of living. They happen every day when we make decisions about the security of our families, our livelihoods, our homes, our food, and the future of our children. These were the concerns of my parents and grandparents. These are our concerns. They are not the concerns of Washington or Austin. They are not the concerns of distant boardrooms.

I am running for County Commissioner for Precinct 2 because of a simple but powerful idea: I believe in the common good that grows from our shared decency. Empathy and compassion are not weaknesses, as some claim—they are the qualities that make us who we are. We understand our community better when we listen to one another, knowing that we share the same concerns, the same world, and the same joys and sorrows. Our empathy and compassion are the angels of our better nature.

The primary job of a County Commissioner is the well-being of the people. Our common resources exist to meet our common needs. That makes listening the second job—not promising everyone everything they want, but listening carefully, bringing our stories together, and understanding where the real needs are. We all know what it takes to thrive, and we all know that traffic snarls, water worries, expensive basic needs, and uncontrolled growth do not make it easier. None of these can be solved by one person, alone. Local politics is how we solve them together.

I believe the voices of our better nature have been lost in the noise of Washington, Austin, and distant boardrooms. From so far away, people become abstractions—resources, margins, tools to be used. Media, social and otherwise, pull our attention away from our neighbors and build walls of judgment. If we are going to hear them again, we have to listen here—to one another. We have to lower the volume and recover the richness of the world we’ve lost in all that sound and fury.

I believe in a politics of responsibility. Public office is an act of trust given by your vote. Its only authority comes from the consent of the governed. Politics is an obligation to listen respectfully to everyone you represent, regardless of their vote, and to work together to meet the needs of the community. Governing means maintaining the health of the common good so that the community can thrive.

I believe we are better than we know, but our lives are weighed down by the belief that we must carry the world alone. Divided, we fight the same battles. Divided, we lose. We fight just to reach tomorrow instead of fighting for what truly matters. Time moves on, but the fight remains.

That is why community matters.

Community is how we care for the common good so that it endures. That’s why the most important politics are local. Politics isn’t entertainment—it’s responsibility. It’s how we meet the challenges we face right here at home. We build one another up. We offer a hand up to those who are struggling. This is the common good. This is who we are.

Ultimately, the kind of community we live in isn’t up to me or the other candidates. It’s up to you—not just in how you vote, but in how you live each day. My job as Commissioner will be to work with the community so that, every day, our shared actions strengthen the common good and make it possible for life to be better for everyone.

That is real politics—and with your support, it's the kind of County Commissioner I will be.