Q&A: Meet the Democratic candidates running for Texas House District 49 in May's runoff election

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.

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.

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?

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