HOUSTON—Democrat Michael Skelly is hoping voters decide it’s time for a change.

That’s because Skelly, a wind power executive, sold his company, rolled up his sleeves and launched his first campaign for Congress.

“I’ve built businesses. I’ve balanced budgets. I’ve created jobs. I know how the economy works. Not because I’ve made speeches about the economy, but I’ve been deeply involved in the economy,” Skelly said.

He calls his approach “new energy.”

“You know, I ran for student government, like, once. I think that was it,” Skelly said.

It’s similar to what happened here eight years ago when Republican John Culberson made his run at a vacant Congressional seat.

“When it comes to voting to protect taxpayer’s pocketbooks, when it comes to keeping government out of our business, out of our lives, that’s something that’s core to my belief as a fiscal conservative,” Culberson said.

Culberson points to the Katy Freeway expansion as an example of a promise kept.

Culberson and Skelly are running in one of the most conservative Congressional districts in the state. 

Culberson is leading in the polls, but not by as much as one might expect.

Now both campaigns have gone into attack mode.

“If you haven’t been in politics, OK, and you run against lifelong politicians, they’ll do anything to keep their jobs and they’ll throw anything out there,” Skelly said.

“And it’s just unfortunate that my opponent is running a false and negative campaign about who I am and the work I’ve done,” Culberson said.