Why I’m Running for Texas Senate

I’ve lived in this district since I was 8 years old. My parents moved to Plano because they saw promise in its great public schools, strong job opportunities, and community-minded citizens.

I am the beneficiary of that promise — I graduated from Plano Senior High School, and I work for a great company right here in the area. Today, my wife Rachel and I send our two young children to our district’s public schools.

But over the last year, as I’ve listened to friends, neighbors, and co-workers express their frustration and dissatisfaction with the rhetoric and partisan polarization they see in the Texas Senate — and across the nation — I realized that our representatives no longer speak for the real constituents of our district.

I see our legislators openly ignoring the pleas of the people they are supposed to represent. I see them treating fellow legislators not as fellow Texans working toward a solution for all our citizens, but as political enemies they can treat without respect or civility. I see partisan point-scoring when what we need is practical problem solving.

The dysfunction in Austin threatens the promise of our district, and our great state of Texas.

That’s why I decided to run for this seat: to bring the voice of real people from this district to Austin — real people who want legislators to work together to solve the complex problems we face today in Texas, not impose extreme ideologies on our state.

Once I made the decision to run, I made it my mission to listen: to understand the issues that affect you, and what changes you want to see. I’ve spent months listening to everyone I can from all over this area — parents, educators, business leaders, small-business owners, students, and more — hearing their complaints, their frustrations, and most importantly, their ideas for what we need to do better. My legislative priorities are rooted in those conversations, and are the priorities of the people I hope to represent.

If I haven’t heard what matters to you yet, please let me know — come to a Listening Party, send me an email, or leave a message on my campaign voicemail, 972-379-7881. However you reach out, I’m always listening.

Because we don’t need more of the same in Austin.

We need a new voice in the State Capitol: ours.