Donna Campbell

Campbell is conservative.[9] Campbell is also pro-life. Texas Governor Rick Perry and Campbell support a proposed 2013 law, one that would restrict abortions after the twentieth week of pregnancy, place abortion clinics in the same regulatory category as other ambulatory surgery centers, and require doctors who perform abortions have admitting privileges at a hospital within thirty miles of the facility where they perform abortions.[10]

On the last day of the regular legislative session in 2017, Democrat Jose Menendez of San Antonio used a filibuster to kill Campbell's bill which would have made it more difficult for municipalities to annex surrounding territory.[11]

In 2019, Campbell expressed opposition to expanding medical marijuana to cover post-traumatic stress.[12] She claimed that a study had shown that 70% of veterans who committed suicide had cannabis in their system; PolitiFact rated her assertion false and said it could find no such study.[12]

In 2021, Campbell responded to the rise in mass shootings in Texas with a bill to furnish families with fingerprint and DNA kits, which could be used to identify their dead children. After the 2022 Robb Elementary School mass shooting, the Texas Education Agency began to furnish school districts with these kits.[13]

Campbell, running as the "Tea Party favorite", lost to U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett by an eight percent margin in the 2010 Congressional election for the 25th District Congressional seat.[15]

Republican primary, Texas Senate District 25, May 29, 2012

In the Republican primary on May 29, 2012, for Texas Senate District 25, Campbell came in second, advancing to the runoff. Elizabeth Ames Jones, the former Railroad Commissioner was eliminated from the runoff. The incumbent, Jeff Wentworth, who was in the Texas Senate for more than two decades, led the voting with 27,040 votes; Campbell followed with 25,458 primary votes. With 23,075 votes, Jones finished in a strong third place in the primary.[16]

In the Republican primary, Wentworth spent $727,568. Campbell spent about $175,000. And Jones, who had the backing of Texans for Lawsuit Reform's political action committee, spent $1,754,310.[17]

Republican primary runoff, Texas Senate District 25, July 31, 2012

Republican political strategist Allen Blakemore[18] joined Campbell's team and helped Campbell defeat incumbent Jeff Wentworth, who was in the Texas Senate for over two decades, by a two-to-one margin in the state Senate primary runoff on July 31, 2012.[19] Campbell defeated Wentworth in every county in the 25th District except the portion of the district in southern Travis County.[20] She built upon the base of support she gathered during the 2010 run for Congress to create the numbers that she needed to finish second in the Republican primary on May 29 and to win the July 31 Republican primary runoff against Wentworth.[21] After the results were announced Campbell stated, "People were tired of the status quo government – that's the folks who came out and voted for us. We have a large grass-roots movement. People identified with our message: smaller government, lower taxes and a vision for having a strong economy with job creation in the private sector."[22] Campbell also stated that she believed that she benefited from the endorsement of Ted Cruz.[22] Others saw her win as a victory for the Tea Party over the establishment Republicans.[23]

General election, Texas Senate District 25, November 6, 2012

In the general election for the Texas Senate District 25 of November 6, 2012, Campbell won a victory over John Courage, a high school teacher from San Antonio.[24] Campbell easily out-spent Courage and took two-thirds of the votes.[24]

In the Republican primary on March 4, 2014, Campbell won re-nomination to her first four-year term in the state Senate. She received 40,767 votes (55.4 percent). Her two opponents, Elisa Chan and Mike Novak, received 17,887 votes (24.3 percent) and 14,942 (20.3 percent), respectively.[26]