Prior to his legislative term, Ratliff was a nine-year elected member and vice president of the board of trustees of the Coppell Independent School District, had twice served as a delegate to the State Republican Party Convention and had been involved in a number of local and state Republican campaigns.
[3] In October 2021, the Plano City Council appointed Ratliff to serve on the Planning & Zoning Commission.
[8] Rinaldi, an Irving lawyer and one of Ratliff's opponents two years before, had extensive support from a special interest PAC, Empower Texans.
Ratliff proved to be correct in his support, as Johnson went on to win the seat with a double-digit margin[11] over Matt Rinaldi, and became the first Democratic representative to co-author House Bill 3 [12] 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.
[citation needed] Ratliff received an 'A' Rating from the NRA Political Victory Fund and Texas State Rifle Association (TSRA) for his defense of Second Amendment Rights.