Notes on the 2018 Republican Party of Texas Platform

Last week, thousands of Republicans from across the state gathered at their biennial convention, and just like at the Texas Democratic Convention later this week, produced a document called the platform — a comprehensive list of values and goals of a political party.

Unsurprisingly, the new Texas GOP platform solidifies my view, and the view of millions of Texans, that we must do everything in our power to end the stranglehold of one-party rule in our state. Below is an embed of this platform, and below that, you’ll find my commentary on some of the most distressing things that we could very well see become reality, soon, if the Texas Democratic Party is unable to get off the back burner and start winning elections again.

2018 RPT Platform

PREAMBLE/PRINCIPLES

1. “Affirming our belief in God…” — The first 5 words of the platform would seem to indicate that the Texas GOP, and all its members (and certainly its convention delegates) are believers in a higher power. More specifically, as you’ll see later on, they’re believers in the Judeo-Christian God. Not that there’s anything wrong with this, of course, other than that it’s blatantly untrue; but, this is important because you can now assume that every single word after that, for another 50+ pages, is grounded in a Biblical viewpoint. Spoiler: The next 50+ pages are not, in fact, nearly as grounded in Biblical ethics as they would have you believe…
2. “The sanctity of innocent human life, created in the image of God, which should be protected from fertilization to natural death” — As you’ll see later, the words “innocent” and “natural death” have been placed here deliberately. Because for all the talk of preserving life, the GOP remains a steadfast supporter of capital punishment; or, put another way: government-sponsored murder of American citizens.
3. They also believe in “Self-sufficient families, founded on the traditional marriage of a natural man and a natural woman.” — already they’re foreshadowing their contempt for homosexual and transgender people.

Let’s move on to BUSINESS, COMMERCE, AND TRANSPORTATION

1. Their first order of business is to continue to ignore rational thought and decades of peer-reviewed science, saying they “oppose all efforts to classify carbon dioxide as a pollutant…[and] further urge the US Senate to defeat the “Cap-and-Trade” legislation” — no big surprise here. It’s a lot more beneficial to them and their high-dollar donors to make sure science and public health don’t get in the way of corporate profits and campaign donations.
2. They move directly to an issue that helped push me out of the Republican Party years ago, saying, “No laws or executive orders shall be imposed to limit or restrict access to sexual orientation counseling for self-motivated youth and adults.” — first of all, Republicans, for the last time, people don’t choose to be gay. And second, how many more instances of severe mental health breakdowns do you need before you understand that conversion therapy ISN’T REAL and only serves to cause often irreparable harm to the people undergoing it? And finally, considering you people think that parents should be able to make all health decisions for their children without any government “interference” whatsoever, there is no such thing as a “self-motivated youth” — only children forced by their parents to undergo therapy and procedures and regimens no one should ever be subjected to.
3. Moving right along to the environment. According to the Republican Party of Texas, “‘Climate change’ is a political agenda promoted to control every aspect of our lives.” In addition, they “support the defunding of “climate justice” initiatives and the abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency and repeal of the Endangered Species Act.” — Once again, a flat denial of science, of facts, is running rampant in the “Grand” Ol’ Party.
4. Caring only about themselves, and never about being a responsible member of an increasingly globalized system, they “support United States withdrawal from the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, and the World Bank.”
5. And, doubling down on their belief that businesses have vastly more rights than a person, they “believe the Minimum Wage Law should be repealed.” — because, sure, it would be fantastic to go back to a time when it was legal to pay your employees 35 cents an hour.
6. “We encourage the Legislature to preempt local government efforts to interfere with the State’s sovereignty over business, employees, and property rights. This includes but is not limited to burdensome regulations on short-term rentals, bags, sick leave, trees, and employee criminal screening. We support preemption of city ordinances that dictate sick leave policies to private businesses” — this is one that baffles me, and something you’ll never get a straight answer on if pressed. How can they claim to be for local government when they do everything in their power to ensure that municipal and county officials, which are the public servants closest to the people, can’t carry out the will of the people in their care? Put another way: the GOP only cares about the “right” of the state government to do whatever they want, and more specifically, the “right” of the Republican-controlled State of Texas to override Democratic Party-passed local ordinances.
7. They also want people to be able to become lawyers without any legal training whatsoever: “We support allowing any person to sit for the Texas State Bar Exam regardless of where he or she received their law education as long as criminal and ethical background requirements are met.”
8. “We support the immediate repeal of Dodd-Frank legislation.” — Because apparently protecting consumers from predatory banks is a step too far. They also “support repeal of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation.”
9. “Texas should prohibit governmental entities from collecting dues for labor unions through deductions from public employee paychecks. We also encourage the adoption of a National Right to Work Act.” — Because under no circumstances should a person have any labor rights, nor an effective way to demand any. I’ll remind everyone (because the GOP apparently needs continual reminding) that things were a whole lot worse for workers before we had any labor laws. The phrase “robber barons” springs to mind. They also “urge the Legislature to resist making workers’ compensation mandatory for all Texas employers.”

And now…CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES

1. Here’s a long one, but to sum up: they have this novel idea that the supremacy clause doesn’t exist and nullification is an actual thing that can happen. Somebody call John C. Calhoun.“Pursuant to Article 1 Section 1 of the Texas Constitution, the federal government has impaired our right of local self-government. Therefore, federally mandated legislation, which infringes upon the 10th Amendment rights of Texas, should be ignored, opposed, refused, and nullified. Regulation of Commerce in Article I Section 8 of the Constitution has exceeded the original intent. All attempts by the federal judiciary to rule in areas not expressly enumerated by the United States Constitution should be likewise nullified. Any federal enforcement activities that do occur in Texas should be conducted under the authority of the county sheriff.”
2. Pursuant to their never-ending quest for power and control over our government and our people, they “support the repeal of the 17th Amendment of the United States Constitution and the appointment of United States Senators by the state legislatures.” — y’all, they’re going to do everything they can to make sure that a minority party has as little say in our government as possible. Ensuring that the growth of Democratic-held population centers doesn’t affect their ability to elect Republicans to the U.S. Senate is a pretty good way to make that happen.
3. “We call upon the President of the United States to revoke all of President Obama’s executive orders that violate our platform.” — notice they didn’t say the law. They said their platform. They are actually calling upon the president of the United States to enact their platform by fiat.
4. Again trying to ensure that “big-city liberals” have zero say in the government under which they live, they “further resolve that all amendments to the Texas Constitution require a majority of the voters in at least 191 counties (three-fourths) instead of a simple majority of the votes.” — in short, again, they want to make sure that population surges in traditionally-Democratic areas of the state don’t translate into an increased voice of the people that live there.
5. On guns: “We oppose increased background checks, as they are highly prone to “false positives” and hinder law-abiding citizens’ ability to defend themselves, rather than reduce crime.” — unsurprisingly, the Republican Party of Texas wants to make it easier for people to own and carry weapons, ignoring, ultimately, warning signs that would be brought to light via a comprehensive background check.
6. In addition, they “support all legislation and policies that reduce restrictions on legal gun owners to purchase, own, or carry any type of gun, ammunition, accessory, knife, or other weapon, and oppose all that hinder the same.” — what this says, essentially, is that the GOP is perfectly fine with the average American carrying around a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher and a belt full of grenades to a McDonald’s or at an elementary school or wherever else they want. This is insane.
7. In addition to opposing federal regulation of of guns , they also want to cripple the State of Texas’ ability to regulate firearms in any form whatsoever, saying, “We call for the Texas Legislature to propose to the people of Texas a Constitutional Amendment to strike the following words from Article I Section 23 of the Texas Constitution: ‘but the Legislature shall have power, by law, to regulate the wearing of arms, with a view to prevent crime.’”
8. And in an attempt to ensure that children aren’t protected from parents who are too stupid to lock up their deadly weapons, they “oppose mandates on personal firearms storage, maintaining that it is the responsibility of an individual to safely store his or her firearms and choose responsibly when and how to make them available to minors.”
9. Finally, they want to force the GOP’s remarkably stupid gun stance and laws on the rest of the nation, saying they “support national reciprocity and call upon Congress to pass it.”

CRIMINAL AND CIVIL JUSTICE

1. They start, naturally, with wanting to charge doctors with homicide for performing a medical procedure that’s none of their business in the first place. “We support repeal of the physician homicide exemption of the Texas Penal Code Section 19.06 unless it is absolutely required to save the life of the mother.”
2. Without defining the definition of the phrase “fit parent,” the Republican Party of Texas said the following: “We support legislation ensuring that the parents’ rights to raise and educate their children are protected in Texas law as a fundamental, constitutional right and that there is a presumption that fit parents act in the best interest of their children. So long as the parent is fit, there will normally be no reason for the state to interject in the private realm of the family to question the ability of that parent to make the best decisions concerning the rearing of that child.” — this is one of those things that sounds like a great idea until you realize that this allows parents to force their children to do any number of things that would, at present, cause their children to be taken away.
3. Moving on along that note, and here’s one of the things that surprised me the most: “We call for the eventual abolishment of CPS…” — because, again, government intervention into the poor or horrendous treatment of children must clearly be stopped. This is just wrong, y’all.
4. “We urge repeal of the Texas Penal Code “Obscenity Exemption” that allows children access to harmful, explicit, or pornographic materials under the guise of education materials.” — this means they want entire sections of biology textbooks ripped out and pamphlets in nurse’s offices to be thrown away. Because under a Judeo-Christian worldview, people shouldn’t be educated about such obscene and vulgar topics as penises and vaginas and what happens when you bring those two together? Get it together, GOP.
5. Believing of course in the right of people to drive without any consideration for those around them, they “call upon the Texas Legislature to abolish the Driver Responsibility Program and to immediately restore the driver licenses of the citizens whose licenses were suspended by the DRP and to cancel their debt.” — because there should be no mechanism by which people should be deterred from being an idiot behind the wheel.
6. Here’s one that continues their believe that freedom of expression should extent to protecting racists and bigots and sexists: “We urge the complete repeal of the Hate Crimes Law since ample laws are currently in effect to punish criminal behavior towards other persons” — they want no recourse for being harassed because of sexual orientation, race, gender, etc.
7. Believing that legality has no place in a court of law, they support the “right” of jurors “to vote on the verdict according to their conscience.” — not the facts, but on their individual emotions regarding a case. Furthermore, in a blatant effort to protect their monied interests, they “oppose the abusive use of class action lawsuits” — because under a Judeo-Christian worldview, clearly, Americans should have no protection against businesses, for example, lying about the harmfulness of a product or flouting labor laws.

EDUCATION

1. Furthering their desire to control every aspect of government and ensure that people have no access to sexual education whatsoever, they said, “Until the legislature removes sex education from the curriculum of public schools, the State of Texas should adopt changes to Texas Education Code 28.004 to require every member of the School Health Advisory Council (SHAC) to be appointed by the Board of Trustees; require every school district to post SHAC meeting minutes, full and fair disclosure of the contents of the human sexuality instruction, and proposed changes to health education; close loopholes and prohibit contraception distribution and demonstration; and expand the grievance process to cover the entire section of Texas Education Code 28.004.” — this allows often-partisan school board members to select who will be advising them and makes the SHAC system toothless in its quest to raise public health in schools and reduce teenage pregnancy.
2. On sexual education itself: “We demand the state legislature pass a law prohibiting the teaching of sex education, sexual health, or sexual choice, or identity in any public school in any grade whatsoever, or disseminating or permitting the dissemination by any party of any material regarding the same. All school districts, individual schools, or charter schools are prohibited from contracting with or making any payment to any third party for material concerning any of the above topics. Until this prohibition goes into effect, sexual education shall only utilize sexual risk avoidance programs and promote abstinence outside of marriage.” — THEY DON’T WANT ANYONE TO LEARN ABOUT THE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM IN ANY FORM WHATSOEVER. Not for STD/STI prevention, not for reduction of teen pregnancy, not for knowing what the hell organs you and other humans have and what they do. No matter their intent, the result of this policy would be to dramatically raise the rates of STD/STIs and pregnancies in minors — rates that we’ve worked so hard to bring down.
3. Also not surprisingly, they are “urg[ing] the legislature to end censorship of discussion of religion in our founding documents and encourage discussing those documents, including the Bible as their basis. Students and district personnel have the right to display religious items on school property” — they want the Bible taught in public schools as fact. Plain and simple.
4. Continuing to not understand nor care about the actual definition of religious freedom, they said this: “Our state universities and public schools shall not make special concessions based on religious practices, which create undue burdens and costs for the institution.” — What they don’t realize is this means that Christian students, as an example, won’t be allowed time off for holy days, not just that students of other religions won’t be able to practice as they wish.
5. Their “solution” to our massive student loan debt crisis is the following: “Congress shall amend the law governing underwriting the student loans to require the amount of cumulative loans guaranteed for any individual by any government program shall be less than or equal to one year of the average annual earnings actually paid in the marketplace by those with that degree” — so, education majors, sorry, but you’ll only be able to get government loans for a maximum of about $39,000. I could be wrong (spoiler: I’m not.), but I don’t think $39,000 is going to cover the cost of earning a degree and teaching certificate. So, congratulations, GOP, you’ve just made our teacher shortage problem even worse. All in a day’s work I suppose?
6. I won’t copy and paste their incredibly-lengthy plank on “local control for education,” but suffice to say they’re going all in on teaching religion in schools, rejecting federalized education standards — or indeed educations standards at all, and prohibiting anyone so much as working in the same building an an abortion provider from being any part of the school system. Additionally, and disturbingly, they believe “Texas families should be empowered to choose from public, private, charter, or homeschool options for their children’s education, using tax credits or exemptions without government constraints or intrusion.” — in short, they want to take money away from our already-strapped public schools to go toward charter and private schools.
7. Going further, they “support objective teaching of scientific theories, such as life origins and environmental change. These should be taught as challengeable scientific theories subject to change as new data is produced. Teachers and students should be able to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of these theories openly and without fear of retribution or discrimination of any kind.”
8. On patriotism: “Students shall pledge allegiance to the United States and Texas flags daily to instill patriotism.” — SHALL PLEDGE. Shall. Because that worked out so well for the Germans.
9. No shocker here, but the Republican Party of Texas not only has an inability to use correct terminology, but rejects the actual existence of transgender people. ”The official position of the Texas schools with respect to transgenderism [sic] is that there are only two genders: male and female.”

FINANCE

1. On ensuring government workers have a stable pension system: “The Texas legislature shall enact new rules to begin to transition government pensions for ERS and TDCRS members from a defined benefit pension to a defined contribution retirement plan similar to a 403(b).” — so, no. No stable pension system. Good to know. Also no mention of the Teacher Retirement System, which is a major issue in this state and under great threat of falling apart.
2. On school finance: “We urge replacing the property tax system with an alternative other than the income tax and requiring voter approval to increase the overall tax burden.” — no specifics, just that they want to get rid of property taxes. Well, that was helpful. Additionally: “We support a simple, fair, and efficient method for financing our public school system. We oppose the ‘Robin Hood’ system of public school finance and believe the Texas Legislature, not the courts, should determine the amount of money spent on public education and the distribution thereof. We oppose the Edgewood I and II decisions that legislate school finance from the bench.” — I don’t know if they’ve noticed, but the Texas Legislature has done a particularly terrible job of deciding how and how much to fund public education.

GOVERNMENT AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS

1. On bond elections: “Any bond election (state or local) must pass with at least a ⅔ majority of voters to affirm the bond. The bond issue must obtain a yes vote of a minimum of 20% of registered voters.” — in case you were wondering, bond elections rarely garner turnout over single digits, so what they’re proposing will result in a grand total of zero passed bonds.
2. They’d also like judicial candidates to run for office like a regular politicians, enabling potential judges to announce their positions on cases they haven’t even tried, potentially destroying any semblance of judicial ethics. “We support a state constitutional amendment that would enable judicial candidates to express their beliefs in general terms before elections to thus inform voters of their views.”
3. In their quest to deny people the right to vote, they “support that early voting will be limited to 7 days, ending on the Friday before Election Day.” They also support “separate locations for Republican and Democrat primary voting…[and] oppose countywide polling locations…” They also continue to support voter ID requirements, “the repeal of all motor voter laws, re-registering voters every four years, requiring photo ID of all registrants, proof of residency and citizenship, along with voter registration application,[and] retention of the 30-day registration deadline…” — yes, they want to take away your ability to register to vote when renewing the driver license/ID they’re requiring to actually vote, and other things that are only going to serve to make it harder to register to vote and go vote. Additionally, to further these goals, “English, and only English, shall appear on any ballot for any election in the United States of America and in the State of Texas.”
4. They also “oppose any identification of citizens by race, origin, or creed and oppose use of any such identification for purposes of creating voting districts. We urge that the Voting Rights Act of 1965, codified and updated in 1973, be repealed and not reauthorized.” — say hello to a rash of rich, white Republican elected officials in places where they have no business being in office.
5. Doubling down on their need to force Biblical teachings on the populace and world at large, they “believe there should not be a Palestinian state within the historical borders of Israel. Our policy is inspired by God’s biblical promise to bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel and we further invite other nations and organizations to enjoy the benefits of that promise.”
6. They also call for the United States to withdraw from the UN Arms Trade Treaty, and “unequivocally oppose the United States Senate’s ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
7. Regarding the United Nations itself: “The United Nations is a detriment to the sovereignty of the United States and other countries, and because of this we support: 1. Our withdrawal from the current United Nations. 2. The removal of the United Nations from United States soil. 3. The rejection of all Agenda 21 and Agenda 2030 policies and programs. 4. The rejection of all related NGOs, councils, and environmental programs. A zero budget allotment of American tax dollars to any United Nations programs. 5. The opposition of any designation of World Heritage Sites in the United States and especially in Texas.”
8. The Texas GOP also supports “requiring a closed primary system in Texas” — ensuring that Democrats in traditionally red areas (where there’s often not a Democrat on the ballot to vote for in the first place) have no say in their leaders.
9. On dismantling the federal government piece-by-piece: “We oppose the appointment of unelected bureaucrats, and we support defunding and abolishing the departments or agencies of the Internal Revenue Service; Education; Energy; Housing and Urban Development; Commerce; Health and Human Services; Labor; Interior (specifically, the Bureau of Land Management); Transportation Security Administration; Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and National Labor Relations Board. In the interim, executive decisions by departments or agencies must be reviewed and approved by Congress before taking effect.”

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

1. Most prominently, they “support the abolition of all federal welfare programs, as they are not an appropriate role of the Federal Government.” They also include a laundry list of unnecessary “reforms” to other welfare laws, including work requirements and drug testing, as well as requiring that “Mothers applying for government financial support, exempting rape victims, should provide the verifiable name and any known contact information of the birth father, which information shall be turned over to the State of Texas Attorney General’s Office within 30 days for collection of child support.”
2. They also “oppose any needle exchange programs,” “choice” in healthcare, and prohibiting the government from mandating any sort of healthcare, including vaccinations. Yes, the Texas GOP are anti-vaxxers.
3. Regarding LGBT+ issues: “We believe there should be no granting of special legal entitlements or creation of special status for homosexual behavior, regardless of state of origin, and we oppose any criminal or civil penalties against those who oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values.” Additionally, repeating themselves, they “oppose all efforts to validate transgender identity.” — I don’t know what to say here that wouldn’t get a cable news anchor an FCC violation.
4. Again attempting to ensure that parents have the unfettered right to do whatever they want to their children, regardless of whether or not it meets any sort of rational or moral standard, they decree: “Local, state, or federal laws, regulations, or policies that limit parental rights in the rearing of both biological and adopted children shall not be enacted. Parents have the God-given right and responsibility to direct and guide their children’s moral education.”
5. And, of course, as you can imagine, the Republican Party of Texas supports the repeal of Obamacare, the defunding of Planned Parenthood, the complete abolition of abortion, and “also support elimination of public funding for embryonic stem cell research, research on fetal tissue, or human cloning.” — None of these things are surprising, but they are nonetheless completely infuriating and in defiance of logic and science.

NATIONAL DEFENSE AND BORDER SECURITY

1. They really, really like the military.
2. However, they “oppose the use of women in military combat units.” — which means they are taking away the right of a woman to defend her country to the best of her abilities. Oh, wait, that’s right — they don’t believe that a woman has the ability to defend her country.
3. The oppose the draft, amnesty in any form, the refugee resettlement program, and issuing driver licenses and IDs where the person’s face is obscured (which is so blatantly directed at Muslim women).
4. And while they claim to support the Constitution of the United States, they do believe that it’s flawed in its definition of a citizen of the United States, saying: “We call on the United States Congress to pass a constitutional amendment that defines citizenship as those born to a citizen of the United States or through naturalization.”
5. They want all new hires to be screened through E-Verify and “sanctuary cities” to be defunded.

STATE AFFAIRS

1. The Alamo. For those that don’t know (or like most people, don’t care), there’s been a bit of a scuffle over the Alamo and the current Texas Land Commissioner, George P. Bush — resulting in this: “We believe the Alamo should be remembered and not “reimagined.” We believe Texas’s authority regarding the Alamo shall not be infringed upon by any organization or authority, including but not limited to local governments, the federal government, the United Nations, or UNESCO. We demand that the decision-making authority for the Alamo never be removed from Texas, and the custodians of the Alamo be required to: 1) affirm and emphasize the intrinsic significance of the 1836 battle in telling the story of the Alamo, and 2) maintain transparency in finances and operations of the Alamo. Specific protection shall be afforded the site, including all land and existing monuments, including the Cenotaph, which SHALL NOT be moved from its present site.”
2. On campaign finance: “We urge immediate repeal of all limits on campaign contributions by American citizens to the candidates or causes of their choice.” — they really want people to be able to purchase themselves an elected official or two.
3. They oppose institutions of higher learning being places of tolerance: “We support the protection of free speech rights on public universities, including the elimination of politically correct speech codes and ‘bias-response teams.’”
4. “We call on the Texas Legislature to repeal the Johnson Amendment that assaults the free speech of pastors and religious organizations.” — this one is huge. The repeal of the Johnson Amendment would satisfy the right’s wet dream of shattering any semblance of the separation of church and state, allowing preachers to spend their Sunday mornings telling their flocks who to vote for, all the while maintaining their status as a tax-free, non-profit religious organization.
5. “As America is a nation under God, founded on Judeo-Christian principles, we affirm the constitutional right of all individuals to worship as they choose” — first of all, you can’t affirm the right of people to worship as they choose in the same breath as declaring the United States a Christian nation. Second, and more importantly, what the Republican Party really wants here is to make sure that they can use the Bible to justify anything they damn well please.
6. “We oppose any attempt to criminalize and/or penalize anyone for the wrong use of pronouns.” — they really want bigots to go unchallenged.
7. “Penalties should be established for any form of desecration of the American or Texas Flag.” — I wonder if this applies to cutting them up and wearing them as shirts and underwear? Spoiler: Of course not.
8. On homosexuality, once again: “We affirm God’s biblical design for marriage and sexual behavior between one biological man and one biological woman, which has proven to be the foundation for all great nations in Western Civilization. We oppose homosexual marriage, regardless of state of origin. We urge the Texas Legislature to pass religious liberty protections for individuals, businesses, and government officials who believe marriage is between one man and one woman. We oppose the granting of special legal entitlements or creation of special status for homosexual behavior, regardless of state of origin. We oppose any criminal or civil penalties against those who oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values.”
9. On marriage: “We support the definition of marriage as a God-ordained, legal and moral commitment only between one natural man and one natural woman.”
10. On spousal benefits: “We shall not recognize or grant to any unmarried person the legal rights or status of a spouse, including granting benefits by political subdivisions.” — this means you, LGBT+ people (who of course they don’t believe should be able to be married and some of whom they don’t believe exist in the first place).
11. And finally, on divorce: “We urge the Legislature to rescind no-fault divorce laws and support covenant marriage.” — Because, yet again, it is the goal of the Republican Party to impose their version of Biblical teachings on the people.

I leave you with this link to a clip and transcript from HBO’s The Newsroom, which I encourage everyone to watch and/or read. In it, news anchor Will McAvoy, played by Jeff Daniels, has a diatribe against the Tea Party. I think you’ll find that McAvoy’s comments on the Tea Party now so completely describe the Republican Party as a whole that it’s hard, for me, at least, to recognize the party I used to be a member of.

The Newsroom - Tea Party Is The American Taliban

In the words of Dale Hansen, “It’s getting harder to enjoy the day.”

SPENCER BOUNDS is the Democratic Nominee for Texas House of Representatives, District 82, against 50-year incumbent Republican Tom Craddick — a former speaker of the Texas House whom Spencer voted for in 2012 (back when he was a Republican). Spencer serves on the executive committee and the state board of the Texas Young Democrats as West Texas Regional Director and Rural Caucus Chair. Spencer also serves as the Policy Director for the Young Democrats of America Rural Caucus and is the former Executive Director of the Tom Green County Democratic Party. Find him on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at @Spencer4Texas and via email at spencer@spencer4texas.com.