The Issues

Strong schools create strong communities.

As the husband of a former public school teacher and father to a young daughter, I understand why our public schools must be fully funded and why our educators deserve livable salaries with strong benefits. Our schools are being asked to do more with less, while funding continues to fall behind the real needs of students and teachers. These challenges were made even worse after Republicans passed the 2025 school voucher program.

We need to dismantle the voucher scam and redirect funding back into our public schools. Teachers deserve competitive salaries of $100,000 or more so we can recruit and retain the best educators possible. I also support auditing the Texas Land Commissioner and the Commissioner of Education’s distribution of funds from 2024 to the present to ensure taxpayer dollars are being allocated appropriately and transparently.

In the meantime, students already enrolled in private schools should not qualify for voucher funding, and income caps should be placed on eligibility. Texans were told vouchers would expand school choice, but school choice means very little if working families still cannot afford access to better opportunities. If voucher funds remain at all, they should stay within the state of Texas and directly benefit Texas students.

Immigrants strengthen our economy and our communities.

Immigrant workers are essential to Texas’ growth, contributing billions to our economy and powering industries that keep our state moving forward. From construction and agriculture to technology and healthcare, many industries are already feeling the impact of labor shortages caused by fear and discrimination tied to current immigration enforcement practices.

These policies are hurting both our economy and our communities. Families are living in fear while hardworking people are detained and placed into overcrowded detention facilities across Texas. This does not reflect our values as Texans, nor does it improve public safety.

I support abolishing ICE, pursuing humane immigration reform, and increasing accountability within DHS to ensure detained individuals have access to legal counsel, translators, phone calls, and communication with their families. Texas can uphold border security while still treating people with fairness, humanity, and dignity.

Families should not be forced to choose between today’s bills and tomorrow’s goals.

Texans work hard and deserve an economy that rewards them for doing so. My focus is on lowering the everyday costs that hit families hardest, from housing and taxes to utilities, healthcare, and childcare. I support empowering local communities to make decisions that best fit their needs, because there is no one-size-fits-all solution for every part of Texas.

Too many of our current leaders live disconnected from the realities facing working families. While everyday Texans struggle to afford basic necessities, reckless policies continue increasing our cost of living and shifting the burden onto the middle and working class. Closing loopholes and reducing unfair tax advantages for billionaires and large corporations can help ease that burden and create a fairer economy for everyone.

By investing in affordable childcare and expanding access to healthcare, we can better support families who are forced to choose between earning a paycheck and caring for loved ones.

Innovation can strengthen Texas, but it should not drain the resources Texans depend on.

Thanks to corporate tax incentives and policies passed in recent legislative sessions, Texas has become the epicenter for technology companies looking to build the next generation of data centers. While these centers have been sold as job-creators and economic drivers, they have proven to come at the expense of the people who already call Texas home. Our water, land, and electrical grid are public resources, and they should be prioritized for Texas families, small businesses, farmers, and ranchers before corporate profits.

Rural communities are expected to bear the environmental and infrastructure burdens of massive developments while seeing few to no benefits. The rural Texas way of life is built on open land, thriving farms and ranches, and communities that have protected our natural resources for generations. We should not allow unrestricted development to permanently change our communities without local input and strong environmental safeguards.

I support requiring ALL new data centers to provide their own infrastructure, such as on-site solar generation, battery storage, or other technologies that reduce reliance on our electrical grid. These developers should be responsible for managing their own water needs, protecting local ecosystems, and covering the infrastructure costs created by their projects rather than passing those costs on to Texans. No more property tax abatements for billion-dollar corporations while Texas families are asked to pay more for essential utilities! If a corporation stands to access Texas resources, it should also be responsible for protecting them and its people.

Texas can still lead the nation in innovation while preserving the land, water, and rural communities that define our state. Progress needs to benefit everyday Texans, not ask them to sacrifice their environment or their way of life.

Texans deserve safe, clear, compassionate healthcare. And above all, Texans deserve a choice.

Texas leads the nation in maternal mortality, and restrictive laws have forced doctors into impossible situations. Healthcare decisions should be made between a patient and their doctor, not dictated by political agendas. Women and physicians must be trusted to make these deeply personal medical decisions without government influence or interference.

We must restore and expand statewide research into maternal morbidity and mortality affecting women from all backgrounds. Physicians also deserve clear medical guidelines so they can provide care without fear of legal consequences. Waiting until a mother’s condition becomes life-threatening before doctors can intervene is unacceptable.

True compassion means allowing women and their families to make these life-altering decisions with dignity, privacy, and proper medical guidance.

Dignity is not negotiable.

Growing up with LGBTQ+ friends and family members taught me that equality is personal. Recent laws have increasingly targeted LGBTQ+ Texans, especially young people who deserve support, understanding, and protection, not political attacks.

The transgender community has become a political target for extremists seeking to divide Texans rather than solve real problems. Trans Texans are not responsible for rising costs, struggling schools, or failing infrastructure. Yet our leaders spend valuable time focusing on cultural fear and division instead of addressing the issues that actually impact working families.

Every Texan deserves to live safely, freely, and equally under the law.

Protecting our communities while respecting responsible gun owners.

As Texans, we understand firearms are part of our culture and our history. As a gun owner myself, I strongly support the right to responsibly own firearms and protect one’s family.

At the same time, keeping our communities safe requires responsibility, training, and common-sense safeguards. Every parent, teacher, and first responder in our district deserves meaningful action, not just political theatrics.

I support universal background checks, red flag laws with due process protections, safe firearm storage practices, and increased investment in mental health programs. My goal is not to take away anyone’s guns, it’s to reduce preventable violence and keep our children, schools, and communities safe.