Editor’s note: We sent out questions to 17 candidates in eight different races on the ballot in the Nov. 3 General Election. We heard back from at least one candidate in each race with the exception of Lubbock County Justice of the Peace Precinct 2. Our invitations went out on October 1, shortly after we launched Lubbock Report in late September. We would have preferred to give candidates more time to respond, so we have extended our deadline if candidates still choose to send us their responses.

What are your top three priorities?

My top three areas of concern are data centers, public education, and control of higher education institutions.

Regarding data centers, Lubbock must conduct thorough research before moving full speed ahead. We must also ensure that East and North Lubbock are not targeted for projects that could negatively affect nearby neighborhoods. Residents in Abilene have raised concerns about noise, property values, and the impact of living near these facilities. Also, our water and its capacity to support these centers is a huge concern.

Public education has been our crown jewel in the past and should be again. We must protect our neighborhood schools, maintain our facilities, and give students the tools they need to succeed.

My opponent’s co-authorship of anti-DEI legislation raises serious concerns, especially regarding colleges and universities. These policies have disrupted diversity initiatives, required changes to building names and titles at the Texas Tech University campus, and risk moving our schools backward rather than forward.

A lot of energy policy is set by the federal government, but what does the West Texas oil and gas industry need from Legislature? What do electric power providers including those who maintain the power grid need?

Our oil and gas industry produces enormous wealth for Texas. The West Texas oil and gas industry centers on the Permian Basin and produced nearly half of the U.S. total in 2025. The Legislature should ensure that prosperity translates into safer roads for those producers, stronger communities, and responsible energy development. That starts with sustained funding for the Permian Promise: improving dangerous corridors, separating heavy truck traffic where practical, and strengthening emergency response to get workers home safely. Producers need predictable regulations, timely permitting, a skilled workforce, and infrastructure that keeps pace with growth. However, we must address the industry and its soaring water use. The state isn’t tracking or aggressively policing this problem. Oil and gas wealth won’t help us if our water resources are gone.

Texas has declined to participate in the federal Summer EBT program. What role, if any, should the state government play in addressing food assistance?

In Texas, more than one in five children struggle with hunger. Many of our schoolchildren are dependent upon free or reduced-cost breakfasts and lunches during the school year.

Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer provides $120 in grocery benefits for each schoolchild. Only 11 states are not participating. Governor Abbott’s veto blocked an estimated 3.75 million low-income Texas children from receiving $120 each in summer food-only benefits and rejected roughly $400 million in matching federal funds. The Texas Dept of Agriculture states that the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) provides summer meals. Free meals are provided to all children at SFSP sites in areas with “significant concentrations of low-income children.” If a site is provided and it is in the area of the school your child normally attends, that is great. Who knows if the meals will be where your child can access them?

State government should support local decision making, respect community voices, and allow local leaders to be accountable to the people they represent. margaret Durham

Has the state taken too much power away from local governments? What is the proper role of local control in cities, counties, schools, water conservation districts and the like?

In Texas, local governments should have meaningful authority over land use, water conservation, infrastructure, public education, and community development, within the boundaries of state and federal law. Statewide standards may be necessary when issues cross local boundaries, but a one-size-fits-all approach does not work for every community. The proper balance is cooperation, not control. State government should support local decision making, respect community voices, and allow local leaders to be accountable to the people they represent.

What restrictions, if any, should Texas place on large-scale or hyperscale data centers? Should cities and counties have more authority to attract and/or regulate them?

Texas offered taxpayer-funded incentives for data centers in 2013 when Republicans controlled both chambers of the state legislature. As a result, Texas now has roughly 590 to 655 data centers and projects. However, recent citizen concern over the development of data centers has resulted in very new restrictions by the state with financial penalties. Whether these penalties are sufficient to force compliance remains to be determined. Texas should immediately end taxpayer-funded incentives for wealthy data centers. Data centers across seven states used around 3.4 trillion gallons of freshwater a year for electricity generation, equivalent to 12 times the annual water use of Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Washington, D.C. combined! Cities and counties, particularly in semi-arid areas like Lubbock, must have more authority to regulate data centers because, according to one analysis, about two-thirds of data centers built or under construction in the U.S. since 2022 are in water-stressed areas.

What changes, including funding, should Texas consider for public schools? How much of the policy for things like teacher compensation and per-student funding should come from Austin instead of local school boards?

Texas allocated $1 billion for the inaugural two-year cycle (2026–2027) of its private school voucher program. State officials have requested an additional $1 billion to $2.3 billion to double or expand the program for the upcoming 2028–2029 cycle. Voucher-using students leaving the system is estimated to cost Texas public school districts about $300 million in lost state funding during the program’s first year. Roughly 30 percent of voucher recipients previously attended public schools. Seventy percent of recipients already had the funds to attend private schools. This takes from middle- and lower-income families and gives to people who already had enough income to pay private tuition. We need to put those billions into public education that serves all Texans, like raising teacher salaries to attract the best available educators.

Political interference in U.S. higher education has reached a frightening level and is reminiscent of previous authoritarian systems. margaret durham

What is the proper oversight of the state’s higher education? What limits should the Legislature put on college-level instruction including Texas Tech?

I have a doctorate in higher education, and I worked at Texas Tech for 30 years, so, this is an extremely important issue for me. Political interference in U.S. higher education has reached a frightening level and is reminiscent of previous authoritarian systems. In a democracy, safeguarding freedom of inquiry in research and teaching is vital. The state Legislature and controlling parties are attempting to withhold information and manipulate public opinion by controlling higher-education curricula. In a democracy, that is not the state and its role in higher education. Our best and brightest educators are leaving states that try to constrain freedom of thought and speech. Legislating curriculum is indoctrination and not education. Texas students deserve quality education that includes freedom of inquiry, difficult truths, and many perspectives. Thomas Jefferson said that higher education in our republic should be based on limitless freedom of the human mind.

What standards should public schools meet in terms of materials that are available to students including school libraries? How much of that should be balanced by parental preferences and First Amendment considerations?

Texas Senate Bill 12 requires the Texas Education Agency to provide districts with a form to be distributed to parents outlining parental rights and options to withhold consent for certain activities and instruction related to issues such as courses of study, instructional materials, and health education, among others. SB 204 requires TEA to create and maintain a handbook covering parental rights in their children’s education. There has been much debate over parents’ rights to prevent all children from accessing certain library materials. I see a simple solution: Have a library section that houses all materials to which some parents have filed reasonable objections. Students would need parental permission to access those materials. That way, the rights of those few do not interfere with all students and their education. Personally, I respect most Texas teachers, school boards and their judgment in selecting appropriate reading material for our students.

What should the Legislature do to address property taxes?

Texas has no state property tax or state-set tax rates; instead, local government entities collect property taxes. Public school districts typically take the largest share of the tax bill to fund K-12 education, teacher salaries, and school facility maintenance. If the $3.3 billion for school vouchers supported public education, local governments would not need to charge such high property taxes. The state legislature can also do other things, such as increasing the homestead exemption and capping the percentage of tax increases each year. However, the greatest thing the state legislature can do is return the $3.3 billion in private school vouchers to our public schools to lower our property ​taxes.

What needs to happen in the next legislative session to ensure West Texas has sufficient water for future generations and how should those projects be paid for?

​In 1957, the Texas legislature created the Texas Water Development Board to conserve and develop Texas water resources. However, it has taken a long time for any meaningful action on water quantity. Much focus has been on flooding, which is extremely important, but it has lost sight of quantity. The legislature must act immediately to strictly limit how much water data centers can use. Although closed cooling systems are a step in the right direction, the water used for power generation is shocking. Lubbock is semi-arid, which is why Texas Tech University houses the International Center for Arid and Semi-Arid Land Studies and three specialized water centers in engineering, agriculture, and law. Water is pumped out of the Ogallala Aquifer 10 to 30 times faster than it can naturally refill. Data centers should be located where water can support them long-term, not in the semi-arid Lubbock region.

Should Texas expand Medicaid, increase reimbursement to rural hospitals or take other actions to address rural health care?

Texas leads the nation in rural hospital closures. Over half of Texas and 156 rural hospitals face severe financial shortfalls. Rural hospitals are paid significantly less (up to 53 percent lower for emergency services) by commercial and government payers compared to urban facilities. As of 2026, 40 states plus Washington, D.C. have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act — but not Texas. That means many rural Texas hospitals must absorb the cost of care. When they can no longer afford that, they close, leaving rural Texans without local hospitals. Rural hospitals serve a larger proportion of older, uninsured, and publicly insured Texans. By not expanding Medicaid, the Texas Legislature is condemning those Texans to little or no medical care. Hypothetically, if Seymour Hospital closed, a patient suffering a stroke or major injuries would drive two hours and 45 minutes to reach a Lubbock hospital.

What role should, if any, Texas play in immigration enforcement?

The U.S. Constitution gives the federal government exclusive authority over immigration policy and regulation. ICE is authorized to delegate state and local law enforcement officers’ authority to perform specified immigration officer functions under ICE’s direction. The 2002 Enhanced Border Security Act authorized more state involvement in enforcing the civil provisions of federal immigration law. ICE faces widespread criticism and public protests over aggressive enforcement tactics, expanded mass deportations, and reduced agent training standards. I think the state would want to be extremely cautious about getting involved in ICE enforcement tactics like running down a suspect on a sidewalk in Houston on October 10th. People with full legal rights and documentation to be in the U.S. are being placed in detention centers without due process. A legal resident and good friend of mine was placed in a detention center and held for 8 1/2 months, with no acceptable reason not given.

Election ‘26

Click here to see our Election ‘26 coverage including an article with voting locations.