Just give us a quick synopsis of your platform real
quick.
Sure.
So um my campaign mainly well, I focus on many
things, but the top two things is trying to fix
our broken health care system and trying to support our
public schools and our public school teachers.
Uh when I talk about a broken health care system,
I talk about how we have people who are poor
but not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid.
I'm talking about the fact that we have healthcare providers
right now who are uh dropping their Medicaid recipients because
the money's just not there anymore.
The Medicaid race has not been adjusted since long before
uh the pandemic and inflation is killing them in the
sector right now.
When I talk about supporting a public school and a
public school teachers, I've talked about how a decade ago
the state used to directly fund our ISDs a lot
more.
However, over the past decade, that funding strategy has been
refactored a bit where it depends a little bit more
on your property taxes, which is a lopsided way of
funding our ISDs.
There's a school voucher program right now, which is a
scam in my people.
And if that thing passes, it will be the file
nail in the coffin for our public education systems.
We have to, in my opinion, completely reject the school
voucher scam.
Right now, the state house has been rejecting the school
voucher scam.
Thank goodness.
I don't know how long they can hold on to
that, but uh Governor Abbott can't initiate laws by himself.
It has to compete with this the state house, the
state senate, and right now the state senate is the
one that is initiating the school voucher program, uh sometimes
called ESA to sometimes called called school choice, but ultimately
a thing that will defund our public schools.
So I believe that we need Texas State Senators who
will support our public schools and be against the school
voucher program.
And I'm running for uh to be a Texas State
Senator, and so I I hope that I can uh
come up there in the Senate and and block uh
this this horrible thing that will defund our public schools.
Yes, yes, yes.
Well um uh what have you been doing since the
announcement of the runoff?
Have you been, you know, traveling Texoma are the district
areas you know campaigning more, getting your platform and your
message out there of what you stand for.
Yeah, yeah.
So I I've been I've been kind of going around.
I'm I'm gonna be in uh Cook County uh this
Saturday for a barbecue up there with uh a Democratic
Club over there.
I've uh drove out to Waterford uh to meet the
precinct chairs over there.
I've I've traveled around a bit.
I I I wish I had more time.
There's never enough time to travel all around.
I I you know I've been to Wichita Alfalls.
I've been to Wichita Falls multiple times.
Uh so I'm I'm actually a federal contractor with Nella,
and when I need to get my CAF card uh
reinstated, I actually have to go to Shepard Air Force
Base because ever since the pandemic, the deers offices where
we get our CAF cards uh reinstated, uh have not
been as open as they used to be.
So even before campaigning, I've been to Wichita Falls a
couple of times, particularly Shepherd Air Force Base.
Uh getting lost over there, realizing the GPS does not
work on the base all that well.
But anyways, I've uh I've been also to a candidate
forum up there in Wichita, which is very interesting because
it was a mixed forum.
Uh but yeah, I've been I've been getting around.
Uh my main focus so far right now is just
to really make sure that our public school teachers know
that there's a runoff happening.
Hard part with the runoff is making sure that they
even know that there's an election happening because it's not
advertising.
I'm the only candidate in this race that's endorsed by
the uh Texas uh Teachers Classroom Association.
Uh I'm the only candidate uh that's that is endorsed
by the Texas Public Education.
Uh so I'm really trying to advocate for and push
for uh our public school teachers and our ISDs to
understand that there's an election going on right now because
public education is my bread and butter.
Right.
I mean, my first job at a college working at
the headquarters of the Department of Education in Washington, DC.
So this is something that I know that our public
school teachers feel like they're under attack right now with
the school voucher program and with so many other things.
Uh so I I know that they will be uh
a voting block that will show up to the polls,
but they just need to know that this election is
even happening, right?
Because most people don't know the runoff is happening.
So that that that is my my my primary focus
right now, immediately before this runoff is our targeting our
our public education, putting my yard signs out in front
of the public schools to making sure that they know
that uh that uh that they need to get out
to the polls that this coming Monday.