In the upcoming March 3 primary, voters will select the Democratic candidate in the race for Texas governor. Nine Democrats are seeking the nomination.
Patricia Abrego, Chris Bell, Bobby Cole, Carlton Hart, Gina Hinojosa, Jose Navarro Balbuena, Faizan Syed, Zach Vance and Angela “Tia Angie” Villescaz will appear on the Democratic primary ballot for Texas governor. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes in the Democratic primary, a runoff election will be held between the two top vote-getters May 26.
The winning Democratic candidate will face the Republican nominee in November, and the winner of that election will be sworn in for a four-year term in January 2027.
Early voting begins Feb. 17 for March primary races across Texas, including 18 statewide races and various local races. Registered voters may cast ballots in either Texas’ Republican or Democratic primary, but not both. Third-party candidates will appear on the ballot in November.
Community Impact gave all candidates running for contested statewide offices more than three weeks to complete the primary election questionnaire and communicated with their campaigns periodically. Community Impact’s goal with election Q&As is to provide a side-by-side, equitable resource for Texas voters to review candidates’ perspectives as they prepare to head to the polls.
To ensure that candidates are the ones defining their positions in Community Impact’s voter guide, if candidates did not complete the questionnaire after multiple attempts to contact them, the website reads “candidate did not respond to questionnaire before press time.” Candidates were informed of this policy.
Candidates were asked to keep responses under 50 words, answer the questions provided and avoid attacking opponents. Answers may have been minimally edited or cut to adhere to those guidelines, or for style and clarity.
What would your top priorities be if elected?
Candidate did not provide contact information before press time.
What will your priorities be regarding property taxes and housing affordability?
Candidate did not provide contact information before press time.
How will you ensure Texans are able to receive the appropriate aid after natural disasters?
Candidate did not provide contact information before press time.
What will your priorities be for the future of Texas education?
Candidate did not provide contact information before press time.
What do you see as the greatest challenge for Texas in the next 5 years?
Candidate did not provide contact information before press time.
What would your top priorities be if elected?
Candidate did not respond to questionnaire before press time.
What will your priorities be regarding property taxes and housing affordability?
Candidate did not respond to questionnaire before press time.
How will you ensure Texans are able to receive the appropriate aid after natural disasters?
Candidate did not respond to questionnaire before press time.
What will your priorities be for the future of Texas education?
Candidate did not respond to questionnaire before press time.
What do you see as the greatest challenge for Texas in the next 5 years?
Candidate did not respond to questionnaire before press time.
What would your top priorities be if elected?
Rebuilding the middle class, fighting for good jobs with good pay and protecting them from AI replacement. Fully funding public education. Expanding Medicaid to improve access and affordability. Making homeownership a reality once again.
What will your priorities be regarding property taxes and housing affordability?
Rezone commercial properties to allow for residential buildings and allow ADUs. Advocate for higher wages and raise minimum wage. Cap property taxes on individual homeowners for the first 10 years of ownership. Legalize marijuana and use revenues to reduce property tax pressure and reform how we appraise property in Texas.
How will you ensure Texans are able to receive the appropriate aid after natural disasters?
Identify local and state agencies involved to help and assess victims after disasters. Streamline procedures and qualifications to get people the initial funds needed for recovery. Fund first and verify later. Coordinate with FEMA when a national emergency is declared to streamline state and federal efforts for recovery.
What will your priorities be for the future of Texas education?
To bring the allotment per student to the national average. Declare teacher pay to be an emergency and hire more teachers with competitive salaries. Strictly block the expansion of any school vouchers while pursuing voucher repeal.
What do you see as the greatest challenge for Texas in the next 5 years?
The greatest challenge facing Texas is protecting and restoring the foundations of what Texans need to be able to build a life. (Public education, healthcare, homeownership). A close second would be to figure out how to regulate AI and AI data centers, including utility overload and protecting our water.
What would your top priorities be if elected?
Candidate did not respond to questionnaire before press time.
What will your priorities be regarding property taxes and housing affordability?
Candidate did not respond to questionnaire before press time.
How will you ensure Texans are able to receive the appropriate aid after natural disasters?
Candidate did not respond to questionnaire before press time.
What will your priorities be for the future of Texas education?
Candidate did not respond to questionnaire before press time.
What do you see as the greatest challenge for Texas in the next 5 years?
Candidate did not respond to questionnaire before press time.
What would your top priorities be if elected?
Families are struggling with rising costs often because of state policies driven by corporate interests like vendor contracts to well-connected profiteers. Hinojosa will take a clean slate, fresh start approach to spending: to lower the cost of housing, healthcare, and electricity, while saving neighborhood schools.
What will your priorities be regarding property taxes and housing affordability?
Texans are working more and getting less. We need a clean slate and fresh start by eliminating wasteful spending from vendor contracts. Hinojosa also supports cash back for renters because renters pay property taxes too.
How will you ensure Texans are able to receive the appropriate aid after natural disasters?
Hinojosa will always put people over politics and work with all leaders to secure the relief that Texans need. Natural disasters have been used as an opportunity to line the pockets of wealthy donors for too long. As governor, Hinojosa will put an end to corruption and price gouging.
What will your priorities be for the future of Texas education?
As a former Austin ISD board president, Hinojosa balanced budgets and gave teachers a pay raise. By ending useless vendor contracts, we will find money to finally pay Texas teachers their worth and fully fund school safety and special education which is the most underfunded program in our schools.
What do you see as the greatest challenge for Texas in the next 5 years?
We have to work to rein in the corporations and billionaires that have made life too expensive for working Texans. By ending the corruption that has been allowed to flourish in Austin, we can put money back in the pockets of Texas families and give everyone the opportunity to thrive.
What would your top priorities be if elected?
My Executive Blueprint: Pathway to Legislation is published on my website; TX22.net. My priority is to deliver. There were lots of unpopular things that were codified (made law). My Executive Blueprint aims to offer transparency on how we reverse unpopular laws by promoting change through executive action …
What will your priorities be regarding property taxes and housing affordability?
Texas voters approved increased home exemptions and business property tax reductions retroactively to January 2025. I urge voters to now focus on the standard deduction, our common ground. I advocate for $100K standard deduction & 1% fed-tax on income from $150K–$250K, prioritizing permanent tax cuts for working families earning <$250K.
How will you ensure Texans are able to receive the appropriate aid after natural disasters?
I will use executive authority under the Texas Disaster Act of 1975 to provide immediate relief through fund reallocation and regulatory suspensions. I’ll then work with the legislature to codify long-term reforms, including dedicated funds, mandatory reporting, and enhanced preparedness packages. View my full policy at TX22.net.
What will your priorities be for the future of Texas education?
Implement my TSIA Readiness Framework will Early College High School Graduates, HVAC functional, Free hot lunches. My plan increases teacher salaries: $85,000, funds Master’s degrees that support ECHS initiatives statewide. This initiative is voter-approved recreational THC revenue to prioritize funding schools, teachers over superintendent salaries. How? Check my website.
What do you see as the greatest challenge for Texas in the next 5 years?
Firms owning 30% of residential homes and rising evictions. I’ll Use Senate Bill 17 to prevent companies tied to adversary nations from purchasing Texas property. Increase institutional costs until Texas Legislature codifies permanent ban on corporate purchases of single-family homes. Work with local Justice of the Peace for Eviction Avoidance …
What would your top priorities be if elected?
Candidate did not respond to questionnaire before press time.
What will your priorities be regarding property taxes and housing affordability?
Candidate did not respond to questionnaire before press time.
How will you ensure Texans are able to receive the appropriate aid after natural disasters?
Candidate did not respond to questionnaire before press time.
What will your priorities be for the future of Texas education?
Candidate did not respond to questionnaire before press time.
What do you see as the greatest challenge for Texas in the next 5 years?
Candidate did not respond to questionnaire before press time.
What would your top priorities be if elected?
My top priorities would be lowering property taxes, addressing housing affordability, lowering water and utility rates, making public education better, getting more people on an affordable quality healthcare insurance plans, addressing women’s healthcare and reproductive rights, foster care reforms, affordable child care, water infrastructure, and prison reforms.
What will your priorities be regarding property taxes and housing affordability?
The state must increase its share of the portion that it pays for public schools. If the state pays more, homeowners pay less. The state must also rein in out-of-control home insurance premiums and utility rates for electricity and water. And stop Wall Street from buying so many homes.
How will you ensure Texans are able to receive the appropriate aid after natural disasters?
With the near dissolution of FEMA, Texas needs to strengthen the Texas Division of Emergency Management and Health and Human Services Commission. Texas needs to start putting more money aside to help with victims as well as start to streamline those services, financial aid, and special sessions to help.
What will your priorities be for the future of Texas education?
Texas needs to start paying more for public education and start paying our teachers better. Hire more teachers so we can have smaller class sizes. We need to not rely so much on testing. We need to empower teachers to be able to better handle problem and disrespectful students.
What do you see as the greatest challenge for Texas in the next 5 years?
Failing public schools, people being taxed out of their homes, and homes continuing to be more and more unaffordable for average Texans. More people dying due to being uninsured or underinsured. Access to clean water from drought, pollution, and AI data centers combined with energy shortages.
What would your top priorities be if elected?
Children are my top priority, protecting them from harm; school shooters and pedophiles. Ensuring school lunches. Renewing child healthcare. School funding with emphasis on special education. Affordable healthcare for every Texan. Legalize marijuana. Abolish ICE.
What will your priorities be regarding property taxes and housing affordability?
I will push for bipartisan reforms allowing taxpayers over 55 without school-age dependents to be exempt from school taxes, and end the ability of corporations and school districts to purchase residential properties over families.
How will you ensure Texans are able to receive the appropriate aid after natural disasters?
First, I will declare a state of emergency to unlock state resources. Next, I will formally request federal relief. If the President resists, I will work through congressional representatives to press their district’s needs and secure aid, while applying oversight and accountability measures to prevent misuse of aid.
What will your priorities be for the future of Texas education?
The first priority is fully funding public schools by immediately investing $5 billion from the Rainy Day Fund to stop the bleeding. Next, I will revisit the annual $5 billion spent on the inhumane Operation Lone Star and redirect those funds to Texas teachers.
What do you see as the greatest challenge for Texas in the next 5 years?
Building trust between Texans and their government. As Ann Richards said, “Life isn’t fair, but government must be.” As governor, I will act decisively to show Washington that Texas will no longer bow down to the White House’s demands.