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Austin voters have a slate of Democratic candidates on their ballots in this year's Texas House District 49 primary election.
The big picture
The state House district runs through portions of South, Central and North Austin, and residents will elect their next representative to a two-year term.
The seat is currently occupied by state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, who's now running for Texas governor. No Republicans are running in that party's primary.
Community Impact asked candidates seeking the House District 49 seat to complete a questionnaire ahead of the election, with responses of up to 50 words that directly answer questions and avoid attacking opponents. Answers may have been edited or cut to adhere to those editorial guidelines, or for style and clarity.
For more information about local, state and federal elections, visit www.communityimpact.com/voter-guide.
Nurse practitioner/Clinical Program Director (still working); former Peace Corps Volunteer
What would your top priorities be if elected?
Expanding Medicaid: People are dying because the healthcare system is rigged. I see this everyday at work. Texas has more folks without insurance than any other state. We waste billions (between three and five billion) dollars a year on uncompensated hospital costs. Medicaid expansion (even under the new budget reconciliation ...
What would your goals be for the future of Texas education?
Fully fund education to increase the basic allotment so that we can invest in teacher pay, teacher training and mentorship, job training, universal full day pre-k, and community college for everyone. Move away from STARR testing. Roll back the voucher program. Continue to reformulate recapture in a way that ultimately ...
How will you ensure your district is prepared for extreme weather and flooding?
Grid stability - We need to ensure we have enough energy supply to meet demand during peak use (winter storms, extreme heat). We need to invest in wind/solar/battery storage but also recognize that dispatchable sources (eg natural gas) will still play a vital role in meeting our increased energy ...
What projects are most important for the legislature to focus on for the future of Texas?
Medicaid expansion. Funding education in a way that is effective. Prioritizing legislation that protects individual rights and allows folks to simply lead peaceful/productive lives.
How do you plan to involve residents in the decision-making process?
Frequent, public town halls. Engage in frequent dialogue with county and municipal leaders. Ensure staff is responsive/takes ownership of constituent calls. Return to my work as an NP in between sessions (I'm not running to be a politician, I'm running to make life easier for the people I promised ...
Former AISD Pre-K teacher, labor leader, Assistant Deputy Secretary at the Department of Education
What would your top priorities be if elected?
My top priorities are increasing affordability, supporting our public schools, and improving access to high-quality healthcare. Addressing housing, childcare, and cutting costs are essential. We must expand job opportunities and protect workers’ rights. Texas deserves modern, connected, and resilient communities so I would also prioritize clean energy, infrastructure, and transit.
What would your goals be for the future of Texas education?
We must dramatically increase education funding. We should guarantee full-day Pre-K, free and healthy school meals, multilingual programs, and more funding for special education. Our teachers and staff need living wages and respect, not book bans, censorship, and partisan attacks. I also support lower tuition, academic freedom, and free speech.
How will you ensure your district is prepared for extreme weather and flooding?
Austin faces serious wildfire, flooding, and winter-storm risks. I will work with local, state, and federal partners to strengthen early warning and real-time alert systems, modernize flood-control infrastructure, and weatherize the power grid and critical infrastructure. Strong community outreach and multilingual communications are essential so life-saving information reaches every resident.
Former legislative director and staffer for two sessions and six special sessions.
What would your top priorities be if elected?
My first priority is to transform the House Democrats from a minority party to a RESISTANCE party so that we can effectively defend the rights of Texans from GOP attacks and also strategically fight for progressive policies that better the lives of working Texans.
What would your goals be for the future of Texas education?
While lawmakers celebrate incremental “progress,” Texas students are losing teachers, resources, and neighborhood schools. We must fully fund public education, pay teachers competitively, and reform recapture so every district can support students equitably. Additionally, we need to squash the voucher program, dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline, and teach the truth.
How will you ensure your district is prepared for extreme weather and flooding?
I’ll prioritize resilient infrastructure, modern drainage, and flood mitigation funding while holding the state accountable for emergency preparedness. That means investing in local flood control projects, climate-resilient planning, and rapid disaster response so families aren’t left behind when extreme weather hits.
What projects are most important for the legislature to focus on for the future of Texas?
Fully funding our public schools. However, House Democrats need strategic, accountable caucus leadership: strong union protections for staffers, member governance, full caucus commitment, and adequate resources in order to focus on the future of Texas.
Obama State Department Appointee. Ann Richards SF Board. ACLU Attorney. CEO, TIEC. USGLC Board.
What would your top priorities be if elected?
I will make Texas a global leader in education, workforce, and innovation. I will introduce legislation to fully fund public schools, including pre-K-3, restore reproductive freedoms, and mitigate climate change and water insecurity. No more small-minded state leadership. It’s time to move forward with big, dynamic solutions for every Texan.
What would your goals be for the future of Texas education?
To remain an economic power, we must lead in education. I’ll champion Universal Pre-K3 and "Teach for Texas," providing debt-free degrees for students who teach locally for four years. I fully oppose vouchers and will instead invest in a robust K-16 pipeline statewide that empowers our workforce and communities.
How will you ensure your district is prepared for extreme weather and flooding?
We must harden our energy grid and invest in green infrastructure to manage Austin’s flooding. I will partner with UT Austin’s climate labs and cooperatives, such as Planet Texas 2050, to implement data-driven resiliency. Restoring local control is vital so Austin can enforce the safety protections our residents deserve.
What projects are most important for the legislature to focus on for the future of Texas?
What would your top priorities be if elected?
My top priorities are lowering the cost of living, protecting healthcare access, fully funding public schools, and delivering real results for working families. Austin residents are being squeezed by rising housing, healthcare, and utility costs while the Legislature focuses on political distractions. Fighting extreme Republicans is the bare minimum—I’m ...
What would your goals be for the future of Texas education?
Texas needs to recommit to strong, fully funded public schools. That means increasing per- student funding, raising teacher pay, expanding mental health supports, and protecting neighborhood schools from voucher schemes that drain resources. Investing in public education keeps families in our communities and gives every child a fair shot at ...
How will you ensure your district is prepared for extreme weather and flooding?
Central Texas needs serious, long-term planning — not reactive politics. I will fight for investments in flood mitigation, drainage systems, climate-resilient infrastructure, and emergency response resources so our community is protected before the next storm hits.
What projects are most important for the legislature to focus on for the future of Texas?
Texas should be focused on affordability, infrastructure, and healthcare. That means expanding Medicaid, strengthening the power grid, investing in housing and transit, and protecting workers and consumers. These are the kinds of projects that improve daily life and strengthen our economy.
Obama '08 '12, Field Director. Julian Castro Presidential Campaign. Precinct Chair, Travis County
What would your top priorities be if elected?
Ban billionaire handouts and corporate tax loopholes. Modernize electrical grid. Empower Educators Act, tax on top earners to increase salaries. Ban predatory evictions and rent increases. Expand Federal funding for the expansion of Medicaid. Protect marijuana industry. Halt on new data centers to protect water supply and Texas economy.
What would your goals be for the future of Texas education?
Universal Pre-K. Free breakfast and lunch for public school student. Ban state funding for private education or homeschool. Cost-free tuition for trade schools and public colleges, not means-tested. Decoupling public school funding from property taxes. Arts and Music Education Act, daily arts in elementary schools.
How will you ensure your district is prepared for extreme weather and flooding?
Accept Federal subsidies for extreme weather warning prediction systems and readiness. State subsidy for local municipalities to distribute for emergency generators.
What projects are most important for the legislature to focus on for the future of Texas?
Revise the funding structure for Public Education. Increase the minimum wage to a living wage. Pass Texas Dream Act, provide assistance for language literacy, and ensure access to education. Allow city municipalities to regulate firearms. Make childcare universally affordable and accessible.
Mayor Pro Tem, 2015-19. City Council Member, 2011-23. UT lecturer, 2023-24; 2001-02; asst. instructor, 1993-99
What would your top priorities be if elected?
Stopping Republicans from continuing to pass legislation destroying our public schools, suppressing free speech and academic freedom at public universities, and attacking the personal rights of Texans. Passing policy on public education; disaster preparedness and climate change mitigation; and affordability (investing in affordable housing, food security, childcare, and Medicaid expansion).
What would your goals be for the future of Texas education?
To fully fund public schools by increasing the per-student allotment and fixing the broken recapture system that requires AISD to send more money to the state than it can keep to meet student needs. We should implement a rational school accountability system, stop banning books, and curb TEA takeovers.
How will you ensure your district is prepared for extreme weather and flooding?
The Legislature must ensure safe, sufficient, sustainable water supplies; reliable, clean energy; and adequate flood and wildfire preparedness and prevention for the entire state. As a former Austin Council Member, I’m uniquely qualified to monitor preparations at the city and county levels and identify needs the state can help meet.
What projects are most important for the legislature to focus on for the future of Texas?
Electricity Attorney (experience with ERCOT, PUC, and Grid Reliability), Democratic Board Member, Volunteer & Donor
What would your top priorities be if elected?
Make Austin more affordable: expand housing supply, cut red tape that drives up rents, and protect working families from rising costs (property taxes, utilities, healthcare). Fully fund public schools: increase per-student funding, raise teacher pay, and reform recapture (“Robin Hood”) so Austin-area students aren’t punished for local property values. Responsible ...
What would your goals be for the future of Texas education?
A Texas where public schools are the gold standard again—academically strong, financially stable, and able to offer arts, career training, special education services, and mental health supports. Fair school finance: modernize the formula so every kid—urban, suburban, rural—gets what they need, and districts aren’t forced into closures because the system ...
How will you ensure your district is prepared for extreme weather and flooding?
Fund flood mitigation and drainage: prioritize creek/culvert upgrades, green infrastructure, and projects that reduce repeat flooding in the neighborhoods that get hit first and worst. Emergency readiness and coordination: better early warning, neighborhood-level communication plans, and stronger coordination with Austin, Travis County, and regional partners—plus transparency on what’s funded ...
What projects are most important for the legislature to focus on for the future of Texas?
Texas’s future depends on investing in people and communities. We must strengthen schools, healthcare, and affordability; expand workforce development; protect reproductive freedom, equality, and voting rights; and build resilient infrastructure—water, broadband, transit, flood and wildfire mitigation, and a modern power grid. Our focus must be solutions, not division.
How do you plan to involve residents in the decision-making process?
Leadership starts with listening. My campaign has hosted town halls, meet and greets, and listening sessions to hear directly from residents about their concerns. As a public servant, I will continue creating accessible, inclusive opportunities for community input and make it easier for constituents to participate meaningfully in government decisions.
How do you plan to involve residents in the decision-making process?
I am a firm believer in the power of co-governance and will implement this structure as an elected official. This is about shifting the power from the elected themselves to the community and upholding the values of transparency, accountability, human dignity, equity, and race and class solidarity.
Texas must invest in creating a strategic pipeline from public education to the workforce, modernizing water and agriculture practices, rehauling data center regulations to reduce environmental impact and cost to energy consumers, prioritizing both nimble and mass transit over highway expansions, and ensuring access to healthcare—especially for women.
How do you plan to involve residents in the decision-making process?
I lead by listening and will continue direct conversations with residents to shape legislation. Creating coalitions and broadening our table is the path to success. As a former Austin Ethics Commissioner, I know the importance of constituent services. HD-49 residents will have a meaningful role in our state’s decisionmaking process.
How do you plan to involve residents in the decision-making process?
My office will be open, accessible, and accountable to the community - not just during election season, but every day. I will hold regular town halls, meet directly with neighborhood leaders, labor groups, students, and small business owners, and make sure residents have clear, real ways to weigh in before major ...
How do you plan to involve residents in the decision-making process?
Open a direct line dedicated for constituent messages and commitment to make 10 personal callbacks every week. Monthly constituent lunch and roundtable discussion.
Republicans in the Legislature should stop eliminating personal rights and instead focus on creating a state where all Texans can thrive—where they have access to good jobs, affordable healthcare, safe and affordable housing, high quality affordable childcare, strong public schools, and clean air and water.
How do you plan to involve residents in the decision-making process?
I will engage with residents out in the district to keep apprised of their thoughts, ideas, and concerns. As I did on the City Council, I will work with the community to craft and pass needed policies—and to organize effective community responses to defeat harmful ones.
What projects are most important for the legislature to focus on for the future of Texas?
Public education finance + teacher pipeline (the foundation of workforce and opportunity). Healthcare access and costs: keep rural hospitals open, expand access to care, and reduce cost burdens on families. Infrastructure and resilience: flood control, water supply, grid reliability, and transportation that actually matches growth. Housing affordability: enabling more homes of ...
How do you plan to involve residents in the decision-making process?
Regular town halls and neighborhood meetings (not just during session)—with clear follow-ups on what I’m doing about what I heard. Constituent advisory groups on key issues like education, housing, and climate resilience, reflecting the diversity of the district. Transparent, two-way communication: simple explainers on votes, online surveys for priorities ...