Grayson Times

Shelly Luther came to national attention for refusing to close her hair salon in Texas despite orders from a Dallas County judge, which first led her to jail and now to a race for a state Senate seat.

Luther filed as a candidate for the seat being vacated by state Sen. Pat Fallon (R-Prosper), who is seeking a Congressional seat, Community Impact reported.

Before deciding to join the race for state Senate District 30, Luther took $100,000 of the money gifted to her through a GoFundMe account to start the Courage to Stand Foundation, she told the Mark Davis Show.

“Basically, we're using that money to help either other businesses stand up if they want to help individuals that are trying to get back on their feet after the government shutdown,” Luther said on the podcast. “We'll just go leave a $1,000 tip or something on, you know, a food bill or something like that just to brighten people's day and kind of get them back on their feet.”

Luther and the foundation stood up for some women who were raided for doing eyelashes and nails in their home, giving them some money and helping them with their own GoFundMe account. 

“They were, you know, actually heroes for just standing up and trying to, you know, take care of their families,” Luther said on the Mark Davis Show.

She said the inconsistency of the pandemic rules have hurt, with about 7,000 restaurants closing for good. And Texas bars that have a license that allows them to have alcohol sales be 51% of their revenue must stay closed, but those with 50% can stay open when the businesses look exactly the same inside.

Her business, Salon a la Mode, has remained open since April 24. Luther had to hire a manager, but she said it will stay open.

“The government will not shut that salon down again,” she told the Mark Davis Show.

Luther wants the legislature to make sure this kind of uncertainty doesn’t happen in the future.

“If something like this were to happen again, Heaven forbid, we need to make sure that there's exact laws that everybody understands on the local government, to state governments, to where, you know, there's not inconsistencies are fighting between each other,” Luther told the Mark Davis Show. “And the people know exactly what to expect if there is something like this that happens again.

The special election for the District 30 seat will be held Sept. 29.