Previewing the Texas House races in the Katy area

By George Slaughter, News Editor
Posted 10/20/22

Five Texas House of Representative districts include part of Katy in their respective areas. Here is an overview of the Katy-area seats up for election and who is running for those seats.

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Previewing the Texas House races in the Katy area

Posted

Five Texas House of Representative districts include part of Katy in their respective areas. Here is an overview of the Katy-area seats up for election and who is running for those seats. 

District 26 

Incumbent Jacey Jetton, a Republican, faces challenger Daniel Lee, a Democrat. 

1. Briefly describe your professional background, and how it will help you if elected.

JETTON: I am a seventh-generation Texan and the son of a Korean immigrant. I hard-working, Texas values run deep, and I understand the value of the American Dream. 

I and my wife Fanny are small-business owners with two boys in public schools. We understand the challenges facing Texas families: inflation, rising food and fuel costs, concerns about the quality of education, and increasing crime. We need effective leadership to move Texas in the right direction. 

I was voted Freshman of the Year in the Texas House of Representatives and will continue to fight for you in Austin. 

LEE: I’m a family and civil litigation attorney for the last 15 years and it will help my position for HD 26 because I know poorly written and bad laws. I can identify negative impact of the laws as soon as they are being drafted before they start hurting citizens. 

2. How do you think Texas can best manage its growth, particularly in terms of infrastructure? What measures would you advocate towards that end?

JETTON: Over 1,000 people move to Texas each day because Texas is the best place in our country to live out the American Dream. The growth in our region has backed up our highways, put a strain on our water system, and caused new areas to flood during major rain events. I will continue to work with local, state, and federal officials to make needed infrastructure updates and prepare for future growth. 

LEE: Texas with a constantly growing population and so many from out of state moving here. I believe that flooding and the power grid affects our community the most as far as infrastructure improvements that are of immediate need. Katy and Texas are both growing and we need to keep our persons and property safe from natural and potential man-made disasters. I believe that if we regulate and maintain as much of the Katy Prairie as possible we can protect the property owners and citizens from flooding in the future. 

3. How do you think Texas can prevent future mass shootings at schools? What measures would you advocate towards that end?

JETTON: I am proud to partner with local school districts, law enforcement and state agencies to strengthen the security of our schools. All Texas schools need protocols in place to secure their campuses and all law enforcement agencies need the proper resources and training to respond to potential safety concerns. The Texas Legislature has established the School Marshal Program to put more licensed marshals in schools and funded additional positions and trainings for officers in schools. The legislature and TEA are continuing to evaluate these programs to determine how to better fund and equip schools to keep their campuses safe. 

I serve as the vice chair on the State Commission on Special Education Funding and support better funding for services to treat mental health needs in our schools and communities. 

LEE: Texas can prevent future mass shootings at schools by enacting secure firearm storage laws, raise age to purchase semi-auto firearms, background checks on all gun sales, build a culture of secure gun storage and create evidence-based crisis assessment/prevention programs in schools. I would propose those bills and create awareness of the above plans to work with schools to create programs that are understood by parents and teachers alike. 

4. Other than infrastructure and education, what would your top three priorities be, and why?

JETTON: As a husband, father, business owner, and former Army National Guardsman, I will continue to fight for real Texas values in Austin. I support Texas families by keeping our communities safe, ensuring every Texas child has access to high-quality education, improving our infrastructure, expanding access to family-centered healthcare, and cutting property taxes. 

LEE: When one of us is poor, we are all poor. We need to expand Medicaid and insure more Texans, especially those that are not disabled and are low income. When our people are sick and our county hospitals take on their care, it actually costs us as Texans more money due to their lack of yearly doctor check-ups. This could lower overall costs. I believe that since 2014, Gov. Abbott and my opponent have failed us by refusing to expand Medicaid and foregoing $5-6 billion a year from the federal government. This in turn will help us lower property taxes. 

We need to clarify and codify our women’s rights to healthcare during pregnancy. Just like any healthcare decision, it should be between an individual and one’s doctor and no one else. A doctor should not get criminal or professional sanctions for doing his job which is look out for the health and life of one’s client. Women that are unwilling participants to the conception leading to a pregnancy should definitely have a choice in this healthcare decision. 

Retired teachers need a cost-of-living adjustment and our retired teachers have earned that. We need to design a long-term plan for their health care costs. 

District 28 

Incumbent Gary Gates, a Republican, faces challenger Nelvin Adriatico, a Democrat. 

1. Briefly describe your professional background, and how it will help you if elected.

ADRIATICO: I’m a business owner in Fort Bend County. 

GATES: I am an entrepreneur. I started a business from nothing and built it to over 500 employees. I am a state representative. I’ve served the people of Fort Bend County for 2.5 years in the Texas House. I am an education advocate. I’m a fierce advocate for equal opportunity for all our students, including access to vocational education programs. 

2. How do you think Texas can best manage its growth, particularly in terms of infrastructure? What measures would you advocate towards that end.

ADRIATICO: No answer received.

GATES: Flood mitigation and proper drainage are always major concerns. Also, it is important that we continue to develop surface roads that work well with our major highway system so that we can ease traffic congestion. We do not need more toll roads. 

3. How do you think Texas can prevent future mass shootings at schools? What measures would you advocate towards that end?

ADRIATICO: No answer received.

GATES: The Texas House Select Investigative Committee on the Robb Elementary Shooting conducted a thorough investigation this past summer. I will work with my colleagues in the House to implement their recommendations during the coming session. We must focus on school security, mental health assistance, and law enforcement training and coordination. 

4. Other than infrastructure and education, what would your top three priorities be, and why?

ADRIATICO: Right to vote, education, and infrastructure. The redistricting is the biggest gerrymandering we’ve had. On education, we spend more money on inmates than on our educators. I don’t know where our priority is. Our teachers are overlooked and underpaid. 

GATES: Cutting property taxes, defending the border, promoting Texas energy, and supporting education are vitally important. Biden administration policies on energy and the border cause seemingly endless problems for Americans, and especially Texans. Texas energy is essential to world security right now. Finally, helping students prepare for the jobs of the future should be everyone’s top priority. 

District 85 

There is no incumbent in this race. Republican Stan Kitzman faces Democrat Larry Baggett. 

1. Briefly describe your professional background, and how it will help you if elected.

BAGGETT: I spent 12 years in the US Navy. My primary job there was weapons instructor and military police. I also served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a security contractor along with a few years as a Tennessee police officer. I feel my diverse background gives me a better understanding on how to work with various types of people. I understand it is important to listen to all sides on issues then make a decision based on facts. 

KITZMAN: I am a former small business owner, public school teacher, construction worker, county commissioner, U.S. Army Infantry Soldier and currently serve as the General Manager of a local drainage district. This experience gives me a perspective that uniquely qualifies me in this position. I have seen both sides of many issues by experience, and I have spent much of the time representing constituents at the “rubber meets the road” level. I have had the daily task of preparing for the changes that the future will bring, while keeping grounded in where this area came from. 

2. How do you think Texas can best manage its growth, particularly in terms of infrastructure? What measures would you advocate towards that end.

BAGGETT: The State of Texas needs to acknowledge that Texas infrastructure is still substandard. Start correcting the deficiencies and weaknesses in the infrastructure. The energy gris still haven’t really been corrected to my best understanding on the issue. 

I would like to see more money put into research and development. We need to consider all forms of energy from solar, wind and petroleum. One source of energy doesn't fit all situations. 

We need to control the development of other safe resources to protect our natural resources. 

KITZMAN: The growth that was predicted is here. The Houston region is approaching 7 million and is predicted to be at 12 million in the next few decades. Keeping development to the highest standards while respecting the rights of the taxpayers is vital. A positive way of life depends upon appropriate infrastructure. Provisions for water, mobility and energy to meet the needs of our communities must be planned and executed. 

3. How do you think Texas can prevent future mass shootings at schools? What measures would you advocate towards that end?

BAGGETT: We will never be able to stop all shootings but we can do like the anti-terrorist expert. Create security awareness and continued training for the teachers and students. I would support raising the age to 21 years of age on certain types of firearms. I would push to require actual training on proper safe and usage of firearms. I believe we have to close the back door loopholes that the wrong person can access illegally. 

We not only need red flag laws but also ensure our law enforcement has the ability to enforce laws. We have to start enforcing our current laws. 

KITZMAN: There is no quick fix for this. Certainly, increased school security is immediately required, but in the end, a cultural change must take place. Funds for mental health resources must be made available to local governments and schools coupled with realistic intervention with those who need help. 

4. Other than infrastructure and education, what would your top three priorities be, and why?

BAGGETT: I will push to eliminate 100 percent property taxes for all senior citizens on primary property. We all know as we age, our ability to continue working is affected and why should our senior citizens fear losing the home or property after working so many years. We have to give them a real finish line. 

Ensure our law enforcement officers have the ability not only physically but legislation that supports them while serving the State of Texas. 

I will push to ensure the voters get the chance to vote on TEXIT. The federal government failed the state of Texas and many others. I continue to put politics over the people. 

No one needs permission to decide to be free. Most importantly I want Texans to be able to vote on Texas' future. I stand committed to support the Texas Constitution and the U.S. Constitution. 

KITZMAN: Food security. We must protect production agriculture in order to meet the needs of Texans. With a rapidly changing landscape, food and fiber must not be left out of the plan. 

Secure the Texas border. No sovereign country can survive un-checked immigration. I is vital to the survival of the people of Texas that the crime associated with an unsecure boarder be halted. 

Property taxes: Relief from climbing property taxes simply has to be put in place. I am confident that this will be a priority for the coming Legislature. 

District 132 

Incumbent Mike Schofield, a Republican, faces challenger Cameron “Coach Cam” Campbell, a Democrat. 

1. Briefly describe your professional background, and how it will help you if elected.

CAMPBELL: I think my superpower is my background. I’m very blessed that football has opened just about every door for me. I’ve been a head coach, and athletic director, and I worked in nonprofit. I’m also an entrepreneur. My company, Texas Athletic Construction, builds athletic surfaces. 

SCHOFIELD: Having served as an advisor to Gov. Rick Perry for over a decade before you elected me to the legislature, I have a thorough understanding of how Texas government really works. In my three terms representing our area in the House I have learned how to put that knowledge to work to serve our community. 

Too often, government acts as if it is more entitled to your money than you are, and knows how you should live better than you do. I know that you don’t exist to serve the government, your government exists to serve you. To that end, I wrote the constitutional amendment to ensure that you won’t ever have to pay a Texas income tax, and have worked diligently to cap the amount local governments can raise your property taxes. 

Texas is not like New York or California. I will continue to make sure that Texas government limits itself to providing the infrastructure you need, then gets out of the way and lets Texans continue to provide the ingenuity that perennially makes our economy the best in the nation and leads to people wanting to move their businesses and families here. 

2. How do you think Texas can best manage its growth, particularly in terms of infrastructure? What measures would you advocate towards that end.

CAMPBELL: I live in north Katy and if you live anywhere near Clay Road, you can’t take calls and you can’t search the internet. We’ve got three of the fastest growing zip codes in the country. The infrastructure has to catch up. Because of our explosive swell, our roads, broadband and internet will be at capacity. Like the former hockey star Wayne Gretzky said, you don’t skate to where the puck is, skate to where it is going to be. 

SCHOFIELD: Texas is the fastest-growing state in the nation, and Katy is by far the fastest-growing area in the state. We have a great community, so it’s not surprising that more people want to live here. We can either pretend that we can stop growth from coming—and end up getting swamped by it when it comes anyway – or we can make sure we are in a position to benefit from it. We need to ensure that new growth includes amenities to make our community a better place to live, and that it comes with sufficient road upgrades and flood control measures so that new growth doesn’t cause problems for our existing neighborhoods—and the neighbors who have made this a desirable area to live in the first place. Road and highway widening is already planned, and we also need the originally-planned “third reservoir” under Cypress Creek to prevent the new growth from adding to the risk of flooding. 

3. How do you think Texas can prevent future mass shootings at schools? What measures would you advocate towards that end?

CAMPBELL: As a former high school coach and parent of a Katy ISD student, safety is 1, 2 and 3 to me. This isn’t a talking point, but something I face every day as a parent. Being smart and look at implementing common sense gun laws. The way I see it, if you need a license to drive a car, and need certification to do other things, we need to take a serious look at licensing certain guns. We need to take a deep look and reimagine what student safety looks like. Perhaps that means armed security guards on campuses. We should bring metal detectors into conversation. Everything is on the table. 

SCHOFIELD: The deeply-disturbed people who shoot at schools are not going to abide by any regulation on what weapons they can have, any more than drug dealers and cartels follow our laws banning fentanyl and other deadly drugs. Texas (and other states) has increased the emphasis on making mental health services available to people in need. No one who is in good mental health shoots up public places. Cutting off these issues at the source is the real key to avoiding these incidents before they affect more communities. 

In the months since the tragedy at Uvalde, the legislature has been working to ensure that mandatory police training sessions include clear instruction in incident command, which failed at Uvalde. Texas also needs to re-evaluate law enforcement priorities in general to put more of our police resources in and near schools where we gather thousands of children and teachers every day, not only for the relatively-rare shooting incidents, but also for the daily safety of students and teachers, who have been subjected to increasingly-dangerous environments, including from student-on-student, and student-on-teacher violence. Everyone in our schools should be able to go about their day feeling that they are in a safe environment. 

4. Other than infrastructure and education, what would your top three priorities be, and why?

CAMPBELL: If you look at the landmass, House District 132 is humongous. I want to make House District 132 like what Fort Worth is to Dallas, but for Houston. I want to see us focus on science, engineering and math, and entrepreneurship. We need to be laying the groundwork, and you have to have the game plan to do this. 

I want to promote trade education in schools. In our day we had shop classes. College is fantastic, but it’s not for everybody and that’s okay. 

I want to be an advocate for access, particularly for those with disabilities. I want to create a sounding board to identify needs and ensure that we can meet them. . 

SCHOFIELD: My three biggest priorities for next session are 1) making sure your neighborhood is safe by preventing Harris County from defunding the police who keep us safe, or letting dangerous criminals out of jail on PR bonds so they can terrorize us, 2) securing our border, and 3) stopping the never-ending property tax increases that have made it hard for Texans to afford to continue to live in their homes. 

When the current Harris County government de-funds the constables and sheriff’s officers who patrol our neighborhoods, and the judges in downtown Houston favor the rights of the criminals over your right to be safe, criminals learn that they can get away with crimes in your neighborhood without any repercussion. Once that happens, there is nothing protecting your family’s safety in your community and in your home. 

No one should have to live in fear of criminals breaking into their houses and cars, and no one should have to leave their home because their own government taxes them out of it with excessive property taxes. I will fight to ensure that you can afford to stay in your home and that you can feel safe in your home and in your neighborhood. 

District 135 

Incumbent Jon Rosenthal, a Democrat, faces challenger Michael May, a Republican. May did not return a candidate questionnaire. 

1. Briefly describe your professional background, and how it will help you if elected.

ROSENTHAL: I’m a mechanical engineer. I have a degree in mechanical engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. I moved to Houston at the end of 1991. I’ve been an engineer for around 30 years, 25 of those around oil and gas. I was first elected in 2018. 

2. How do you think Texas can best manage its growth, particularly in terms of infrastructure? What measures would you advocate towards that end.

ROSENTHAL: inf to me is not just roads and bridges. Power infrastructure also. To me it’s a broad question. Public schools and everything else. Same stuff advocatae for now to improve equity in all areas, prioritizae and fund pub schools should be the same approach as the state reapidly expands. Balancing revenue stream and there’s a couple of things….first close corporate prop tax loopholes. Other streams of revenue we’re not taking advantage of. I would legalize cannibas and tax that. Budget is misprioritized and we spend billiionos where we don’t necessarily need it, such as border security. Medicaid expansion would be a big deal because it would bring a lot of money into the sstate. 

3. How do you think Texas can prevent future mass shootings at schools? What measures would you advocate towards that end?

ROSENTHAL: increase the ageto buy massively destructive weapons. High powered semi automatic can buy at 18, raise the age to 21. Repeal HB 1927. Permitless carry. 2nd admend advocates say we should have basic safety training before buying a firearm. Single shot rifles that people for hunting aren’t the problem like hi  powered rifels and semiautomatics are. More counselors to see  issues. Most people trainined to recogn problems. More resources to handle growing school populations. 

4. Other than infrastructure and education, what would your top three priorities be, and why?

ROSENTHAL: The things that called me to politics are still my top priorities: public education, access to healthcare, and the ongoing battle against bigotry and injustice. I’ve added to other causes: voting rights and bodily autonomy. On public education, I want to separate standardized test scores from public education school finance, because I believe it corrupts the system to have the money depend on the test scores. 

Texas House of Representatives