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HARLINGEN — Texas Democrats hope to retake a state Home seat within the Rio Grande Valley by attacking the incumbent Republican — a first-term legislator — over her assist for a personal college voucher system.
Jonathan Gracia, an legal professional and former Cameron County justice of the peace, is working to reclaim state Home District 37, which is at the moment held by state Rep. Janie Lopez, a San Benito Republican, by positioning himself staunchly towards college vouchers.
Each events have named the seat a precedence. Texas Democratic Chair Gilberto Hinojosa mentioned the race will probably be shut, however believes Gracia will win the seat again.
“We should do well,” Hinojosa mentioned.
The race places Republicans — who’ve a large majority within the Home — on the protection. The seat was one of many get together’s pickups in 2022. Lopez received the seat by about 4 factors, changing into one of many few Republican representatives for the Rio Grande Valley together with state Rep. Ryan Guillen, R-Rio Grande Metropolis. Guillen was a Democrat for years, earlier than becoming a member of the Republican Get together in 2021.
Whereas management of the Home shouldn’t be unsure, a handful of races, together with this one, might decide whether or not Republican leaders could have sufficient votes to cross the extremely contentious voucher laws.
District 37, which incorporates components of Cameron and Willacy counties, is a uncommon aggressive seat in Texas, after the Legislature redrew maps in 2021. Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, carried the district by 11 proportion factors in 2022. That very same yr U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, a Democrat, defeated Mayra Flores, the Republican incumbent, by 8.5 proportion factors there.
Each state Home candidates, Lopez and Gracia, see themselves as academic advocates, agreeing that Texas public training is underfunded. Lopez is a college counselor and beforehand served on the college board of her native district. Gracia is married to a public college educator.
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Gracia — seizing on one of many state’s hottest political debates — says Republicans within the Texas Home are taking the flawed method of their makes an attempt to approve Abbott’s voucher program that might enable dad and mom to make use of tax {dollars} to ship their youngsters to non secular or personal faculties.
Abbott named the voucher program a precedence throughout the 2023 common legislative session. He lobbied state lawmakers for months over a number of particular classes, to no avail. In November, 21 Republicans joined with Democrats to spike the voucher laws, however Lopez was not one in every of them.
After a number of failed makes an attempt to sway GOP lawmakers who had been hesitant concerning the voucher proposal, Abbott efficiently campaigned to take away a lot of his fellow Republicans who voted towards the voucher program. Lopez, who supported this system, accepted Abbott’s endorsement in December. The governor attended a fundraiser for Lopez right here final month.
Abbott has mentioned the Home now has sufficient votes to cross a voucher program, although the margin stays tight, with a slim pro-voucher majority that may stand up to few losses in November. Voucher opponents view the final election as maybe their final likelihood to cease the coverage, and the Gracia-Lopez contest is one in every of a number of on the heart of the battlefield.
Gracia questioned Lopez’s assist for college vouchers given her background in training.
“You would think that that person would understand the struggle,” Gracia mentioned. “And maybe they do, but they don’t care, and that’s just not good enough for South Texas.”
Gracia and different voucher opponents argue that this system diverts cash away from public training, which they are saying is already struggling from lack of sources.
“They have this money and they simply don’t want to use it in the correct fashion,” Gracia mentioned. “We need to make sure that what we have currently is working before we start thinking about trying to expand who’s going to take public education dollars. And that’s the real travesty of this all.”
In keeping with a marketing campaign finance report filed in July, Gracia has obtained assist from a pro-charter faculties political motion committee, Constitution Colleges Now. The group obtained donations from Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, a serious Democratic donor and advocate for constitution faculties, in addition to from GOP donors corresponding to Walmart inheritor Jim Walton.
Whereas Abbott pushed for a voucher program that might be open to all college students, Lopez supported a restricted voucher program debated within the Home as a result of it prioritized college students from low-income households and people with disabilities.
That proposal, an try and compromise between totally different factions of Republicans, would have created “education savings accounts,” for as much as 40,000 college students. Households who exited the state’s public training system would have obtained $10,500 yearly for personal college bills or as much as $1,000 for homeschooling.
The deadlock value public faculties an extra $7.6 billion that was included within the failed compromise.
“It’s unfortunate that we didn’t get this additional funding, and I promise to fight for more funding,” Lopez mentioned.
Candidates diverge on different points
The candidates distinction on a number of different problems with state coverage, particularly well being care.
Gracia, the Democrat, favors enlargement of the Medicaid program underneath the Reasonably priced Care Act, which might enable greater than one million further Texans to qualify for medical insurance. Texas is one in every of 10 states to refuse to totally broaden this system because the preliminary rollout of the Reasonably priced Care Act.
“We’re talking about the underprivileged community that’s going to be able to benefit from Medicaid expansion,” Gracia mentioned. “What an easy vote.”
Lopez, the Republican, wouldn’t decide to voting for or towards Medicaid enlargement, stating that she can be in favor of a program that might profit her area.
“I will be voting for anything that’s going to help the Valley,” Lopez mentioned. She added that the state had already poured tens of millions into psychological well being providers for adults and youngsters. She famous a psychiatric facility in Harlingen will probably be expanded because of the $1.5 billion authorized by lawmakers final yr to enhance or construct new well being care amenities.
On the problem of abortion, Gracia mentioned he favored abortion entry as was allowed underneath Roe v. Wade.
“Right now we’re not even having this conversation because, well, the Legislature doesn’t want to take up the topic,” he mentioned.
Lopez declined to say whether or not she supported any exceptions to the state’s present abortion ban however mentioned the state must deal with supporting ladies having youngsters.
“If Texas is a ‘pro-life’ state, then we need to support women who are having babies,” she mentioned, including that girls had been getting Medicaid protection for a complete yr after childbirth.
Lopez is backed by the Texas Alliance for Life PAC, an anti-abortion group, based on her marketing campaign finance report.
Although they deviate on some key points, each candidates lean extra to the average facet of their respective events.
Each favor sturdy border safety with Lopez supporting extra expertise and manpower on the border. Lopez helped writer Home Invoice 7 which might have created a brand new division of the Texas Rangers referred to as the Texas Border Drive to conduct border enforcement measures. Like Senate Invoice 4, which handed the legislature however shouldn’t be being enforced whereas it’s being challenged in courts, the home invoice would have made it a state crime to unlawfully enter the state wherever however a port of entry.
Gracia mentioned the state wanted to behave so their federal companions understood the problems on the bottom.
“That means being able to pass legislation at the Texas Legislature that’s going to be able to show our federal partners that if they’re not engaging in this problem, they’re passing it on,” he mentioned.
Of their most up-to-date marketing campaign finance report from July, Gracia obtained $122,375 together with $50,000 from himself. He reported spending $11,823 and sustaining $95,486.
Lopez reported she obtained $142,402 in all contributions and spent $37,318. She maintained $103,032.
Among the many donations to her marketing campaign had been a $10,000 contribution from the Border Well being PAC, a Valley-based group that has backed Democratic candidates however usually helps Republicans as effectively, and a donation of greater than $25,600 from Coalition Por For Texas PAC, a gaggle that backs Republican Hispanics in an effort to flip Democratic seats.
Gracia hopes his status in workplace as a justice of the peace — presiding over small claims court docket and officiating marriages — and as an legal professional will persuade voters of his engagement locally.
“It’s a different type of politics, and that’s one of engagement, showing that you care, not through words, but through actions,” Gracia mentioned.
If elected to a second time period, Lopez mentioned she would work to convey extra funding for infrastructure, lower or eradicate college district taxes and tackle points on the border.
Throughout her first time period, Lopez launched payments that might have elevated funding by means of the Texas Water Growth Board for tasks in economically distressed areas.
Funding for water tasks proceed to be a high concern for a lot of farmers and ranchers within the space who’ve been minimize off from water because of drought situations affecting water reservoirs.
“We need to find solutions here in Texas just like we did for the border issues,” Lopez mentioned.
Reporting within the Rio Grande Valley is supported partly by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.
