Every two years, voters elect – or re-elect – an individual to serve in the Texas House of Representatives. This year, for House District 56, there is no incumbent running.
Looking to replace the empty seat are both Pat Curry, a republican, and Erin Shank, a democrat. Both seek election for the district in both the general election and a special election – which appears on the same ballot.
For Republican candidate Pat Curry, the threat of legislation making it easier for upstream dairies to pollute McLennan County’s water supply spurred him to action.
"We use 70,000 acre-feet of water from Lake Waco a year and it is the life-blood of our community. So We have to protect that at all costs," he said. "Now that doesn’t mean that the dairy farms can’t grow, that just means that we need them to process the poop from their farms properly so that it doesn’t contaminate our water supply."
Curry is a family man and business owner, describing himself as a lifelong entrepreneur.
Endorsed by Governor Greg Abbott, Curry said he is also pro school-choice, more commonly known as vouchers.
"If you’re sentenced to go to school in the school district in which you live and you really can’t afford to move, is that a choice? No. You should be able to have a choice," Curry said.
But he wants to see some career and technical education, or C-T-E, additions to a school choice bill before he would vote to approve it. He suggested a program that would allow students to stay at their current school but pursue career-specific courses, like welding, at McLennan Community College and Texas State Technical College.
"If it doesn’t have what I want from a CTE standpoint, I’m probably not gonna support that," Curry said.
He is also an advocate for increasing teacher pay and including more vocational training options in schools.
Curry believes in a strong border and says Texas should continue its efforts towards border security, including Operation Lone Star. He also said that the country needs immigration, but that it’s a Federal issue.
"Immigration is when someone comes and knocks on the front door and you decide if you want to let them in or not let them in. Border security is when someone comes crashing through your side window," he said. "Now we have millions of people that are coming into this country that we don’t know who they are. And they’re not coming in through the front door. That has got to stop."
Curry describes himself as a strong family man and supports Texas’ abortion ban.
"It appears that the republican party itself and the leadership is leaning more towards being pro-life with exceptions," he said. "I tend to focus on trying to kill as few babies as possible."
He also says he wants to lower property taxes and work towards diversifying Waco’s water sources.
His full interview is available above.
Democratic candidate Erin Shank is hoping to upset the 20-year republican seat in her second run for the position. Shank ran two years ago against then-incumbent Doc Anderson, and lost.
This year, she says, she is more prepared for the fight and that the Texas House needs more moms.
"A lot of things that are affecting mothers, like childbirth, and how we educate our children, which is of course a guy thing too. And I think it’s real important that we get more women in the Texas house," Shank said.
She is a bankruptcy lawyer and mom to three adult children, including a disabled child, Rachel.
She said this experience makes improving healthcare in McLennan County and across Texas a main goal for her if elected. Specifically, she wants to focus on expanding medicaid.
"The Bible says what you do to the least of me, you do to me. And Rach is one of those least of mes, and theres a lot of least of mes out there. We need to pay attention to them in expanding Medicaid," Shank said.
She also said we need to look at other ways to generate revenue for the state so property taxes aren’t paying for everything. One idea she has is making Casinos legal, but heavily taxing and restricting them.
"That is a billion dollar industry. When you go to Winstar in Oklahoma, they got more Texas plates then they got Oklahoma plates up there," Shank said. "We could just tax the bejeebies out of it."
She supports teacher pay increases and worries about the proposed voucher program, also known as school choice. She says the economic effect on Texas would be too high, among other issues.
"Going against the vouchers is so important – fiscally conservative, you just don’t give away that kind of money. But the voucher scare is a lot more than just giving money to kids that are already attending Vanguard and Reiker and whatever other private school," she said.
When it comes to abortion, Shank says she disagrees with a ban, but for now wants to see some exceptions added to Texas’ law.
"The government has no place in this decision," she said. "We cannot get a reinstitution of Roe v Wade. But I think we could get life of the mother, health of the mother and I will push strong for disabled girls, and I will push strong for rape."
Shank also discussed a need for strong protections for McLennan County’s water supply and bipartisan cooperation.
You can find her full interview above.
Early voting is October 21-November 1 in Texas and Election Day is November 5.
