Candidate Questionnaires - State

This is the questionnaire sent to Texas state candidates. Links to individual candidate responses are below.

1. Would you support requiring all electronic voting machines to print on paper for each voter a complete summary of their voting choices, which will become, after their inspection, the authoritative record of their vote?

2. Would you support single payer universal health care?

3. In February 2003 Santa Fe, New Mexico enacted a minimum wage ordinance which raised the minimum wage to $8.50/hour for all business and non-profits with 25 or more employees. The wage will increase to $9.50/hour in 2006 and $10.50/hour in 2008. Would you support similar legislation and an escalator clause that would guarantee cost of living adjustments?

4. Would you support enactment of legislation providing for public financing of general election campaigns for elective office at the local, state and federal levels?

5. Would you consider implementing a state income tax to be used to fund health care and public education?

6. Would you support a ban on the death penalty?

7. Would you support increased funding for renewable energy and ending subsidies to the oil and gas industry?

8. Would you support programs to restore full funding for mental health/mental retardation adequate to provide food, shelter and medical/mental health treatment for the homeless?

9. Would you be in favor of changing the Texas method of selecting electors to the Electoral College from “winner take all” to proportional representation by popular vote?

10. Would you support Instant Runoff Voting?

11. Would you support a substantial increase in teacher compensation? What other approaches would you take to improve the quality of public education in Texas?

12. How would you improve the environment of Texas i.e. TCEQ accountability, grandfathering of refineries, power plants etc and clean air emissions standards?

13. Are you dissatisfied with the way legislative districts are configured in Texas? If yes, what will you do about it?

Compiled by members of the Progressive Action Alliance, Oil Patch Democrats, Progressive Populist Caucus, Helping Democrats Get Elected, and Democracy for Houston

revised Feb. 4, 2006

Links to individual candidate responses are below. Their responses are provided just as they wrote them, with no corrections for grammar or spelling.