Five candidates are seeking election or reelection in the District 37 State Representative race. Vaquero Radio requested interviews with all candidates last week but not all responded. The station compiled brief candidate profiles. All candidates were given the same amount of time to respond to each question. Their profiles are below.
Name: Janie Lopez
Party: Republican
Occupation: Mental Health Professional
Hometown: San Benito
Education: Masters in Education and Masters in Business
Why should individuals vote for you?
“I am the first female Republican, Hispanic Republican to be elected in our district. So while in office, I worked hard for my district in Austin and made positive changes … during this Legislature when we were fighting the border crisis, so we brought more funding to do that, too.”
What is your platform?
“I know for a fact that South Texas is one of the areas in the entire nation with the highest poverty levels. That’s why we need to make sure that we fight for better funding down here, for infrastructure to fix the flooding issues.”
What is the biggest issue you will address?
“I will continue to fight hard for more funding down here for the Valley. We need to fight for our outdated infrastructure. It’s old and so we need more funding to fix our road systems. We need to continue on the causeway. It’s been 20 years since they have been fighting for that and we’re finally taking progress on that.”
Final thoughts?
“I just wanted to add that I do have a background on that and I am also a mental health professional.”
Name: Carol Lynn Sanchez
Party: Democratic
Occupation: Attorney
Hometown: San Benito
Education: Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Internal Relations. Thurgood Marshal School of Law, Juris Doctor.
Why should individuals vote for you?
“I think I just need to come forward and show what it is that our area needs. I think it’s been overlooked for quite a bit, and my time as a commissioner has allowed me to see what is that the people need. I pride myself in being very involved in my community. So, although I was a commissioner in San Benito, I always extended myself to all the areas in District 37.”
What is your platform?
“Going back to the basics. So, I want to make sure that we build up bare bones, have a good area for us to be able to present to the rest of Texas and then from there, the nation.”
What is the biggest issue you will address?
“My aim is for funding for infrastructure. We need a lot of help with that, with our drainage. There is no reason for people to have to be sitting in their own sewage for days because we don’t get the funding for that.”
Final thoughts?
“Just to go back to my background, my eight years there as the city commissioner, I was actually the mayor pro-tem and I was appointed as soon as I took the position. I was the first female. I was the youngest actually to ever hold that position. I also just want to just be a strong voice, and that is something that I am not scared to be.”
Name: Alex Dominguez
Party: Democratic
Occupation: Attorney
Hometown: La Feria
Education: Bachelor in Arts in Political Science from Rice University; Juris Doctorate from Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Order of the Barristers.
Why should individuals vote for you?
“I think this election is far more that one just about experience and clearly of all the candidates, I have the most experience having been not only a member but a vice chairman of two different committees. Additionally, I served on the House Appropriations Committee, which is in charge of the budget.”
What is your platform?
“Education first, jobs and the economy second and third, common sense solutions for the entire Rio Grande Valley.”
What is the biggest issue you will address?
“The biggest issue that we need to face here for South Texas is job creation. We have entirely too many young members of our communities moving north and never coming back. So, we create enough children down here, but many of the young adults don’t stay.”
Final thoughts?
“I am very excited for democracy. I know that’s a strange thing to say, but I am very excited that young people, older people are consistently going to the polls. There have been entirely too many issues that affect us both statewide and at the national level that we feel without the power to do something about it.”
Jonathan Gracia
Vaquero Radio tried to contact candidate Jonathan Gracia for an interview via social media and his website, but as of the airing of this broadcast, he had not responded.
Ruben Cortez
Vaquero Radio tried to contact candidate Ruben Cortez via phone and text but as the airing of this broadcast, he did not provide a time to conduct an interview.
