Gov. Greg Abbott signed the school voucher bill into law and vetoed the THC ban. Round Rock Republican Caroline Harris Davila voted for both.
Now, Chris Jimenez is hoping those votes cost her a third term in the Texas House.
The Democrat is trying to turn frustration over public school funding, growing household costs and restrictions on hemp products into a referendum on Harris Davila’s record.
Harris Davila’s campaign is emphasizing her record on cutting property taxes, boosting funding for border security and supporting stricter election laws, among other issues.
The election offers voters in House District 52 a pair of candidates with sharply different views and backgrounds.
But Jimenez faces an uphill battle against an incumbent candidate with better funding who has territorial advantage in a district drawn to favor Republicans.
Texas Legislative Council
Texas House District 52 was redrawn in 2021 as part of the redistricting process that takes happens every ten years. The new map cleaved off about two-thirds of Round Rock and added smaller communities including Thrall and Weir.
A major area of disagreement between the candidates is related to school vouchers.
Harris Davila voted for the 2025 law creating education savings accounts that provide public money for private school tuition, homeschooling and other educational expenses. Private school students are eligible for $10,474 this year.
State Comptroller Don Huffines said in August that 101,600 students had signed up in the program’s first year, with over 100,000 others on a waiting list. More than 5.4 million students are enrolled in Texas public schools.
Jimenez wants the state to cancel the voucher program and increase its basic allotment for public schools.
“At its root, we’re just underfunded,” Jimenez said. “We’ve been underfunded for quite some time.”
He argues property taxes could be reduced if the state were to pay for a bigger share of public school costs.
Another clear divide between the candidates is on the issue of hemp, which is a legal term for cannabis with less than 0.3% Delta-9 THC, the plant’s main psychoactive ingredient. Edibles and drinks can remain under that threshold and easily have enough Delta-9 to get people high.
Harris Davila voted for Senate Bill 3, which would have prohibited the retail sale of hemp products containing THC and most other cannabinoids. The bill was a priority for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, but Abbott vetoed it.
Jimenez said he’s seen veterans turn to THC products for sleep and other health problems rather than risk becoming dependent on opioids. He supports regulating the industry but said state leaders have gone too far.
“The party of less regulations is the one regulating this stuff,” Jimenez said. “So I’m just kind of confused on how they plan on moving forward with that.”
Harris Davila did not respond to requests for an interview.
During the 2025 legislative session, she authorized dozens of bills. Fifteen became law, including one that requires more transparent billing for health care services and supplies. Another prohibits HOAs from fining homeowners for brown grass when watering restrictions are in place.
“We even added in the bill .. that you also have 30 days after the restrictions have been lifted to get your yard green again,” she said in a 2025 interview with the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “It doesn’t go from brown to green overnight.”
House District 52 was once represented by James Talarico, the Democrat now running for U.S. Senate. But in 2021, Republican state lawmakers redraw the map to favor their own party, cutting out two-thirds of Round Rock and adding smaller towns like Thrall and Weir.
Using the same votes from the 2020 presidential election, the old district favored Joe Biden by almost 10 percentage points. Under the new boundaries, Donald Trump would have carried by about four points, according to the Texas Legislative Council.
Talarico moved to Austin and ran in House District 50.
Harris Davila won the newly open District 52 seat in 2022 at age 28. At the time, she was the youngest Republican woman ever elected to the Texas House, according to her official biography.
In 2024, Harris Davila defeated Democrat Jenni Brikholz by more than 12 points.
Harris Davila is a Round Rock native who worked in the Legislature before running for office. She earned a master’s degree from UT’s LBJ School of Public Affairs and worked as a policy analyst for Republican State Rep. Bryan Hughes.
In 2023, she married Darrell Davila, an Austin lawyer who serves as Lt. Gov. Patrick’s chief of staff.
Jimenez is a Marine Corps veteran and small business owner. He and his wife operate an event space on a pecan orchard in rural Williamson County, hosting small weddings, birthday parties and other gatherings.
In their latest campaign finance reports, Harris Davila reported having raised about $667,581, and still had $453,312 in the bank. Jimenez said he’d raised $354,409 and had a balance of $223,161.
Early voting starts Oct. 19. Election Day is Nov. 3.