School vouchers are on the ballot in competitive Texas House District 121.

Texas House District 121 in north-central San Antonio is one of the few competitive races for the Texas House of Representatives this election.

Although the district has long been held by Republicans, including former House Speaker Joe Straus, Republicans have won by increasingly smaller margins over the past decade.

Even though redistricting made the Republican seat somewhat more secure in 2022, state Rep. Steve Ellison still won re-election by only 10 points two years ago. according to the San Antonio Express-News.

The area now stretches from Olmos Park and Alamo Heights to San Antonio International Airport, Stone Oak and all the way to the northern edge of Bexar County.

Texas Democrats see an opportunity to flip the seat blue after Ellison lost the Republican primary in March. Ellison was one of 21 Republican state representatives. who voted to block school vouchers last yearmaking him a target of Gov. Greg Abbott and pro-voucher groups.

Governor Abbott approved 15 applicants in the GOP primary in an attempt to get the votes he needs to create a voucher-like program that would give families public dollars to pay for private or home school. Eleven of those challengers won primaries, including Mark LaHood in HD 121.

According to the governor’s estimatesThe primaries give him a narrow Republican majority supporting the Republicans, provided that all currently Republican-held districts stick with the GOP in the general election.

Democrats would have to flip three seats to block vouchers in the next legislative session. House District 118 is another competitive race in the San Antonio area that Democrats are hoping to flip.

Current HD 121 State Representative Steve Ellison recently said he is supporting Laurel Jordan Swift in this electionalthough he still considers himself a Republican.

Democrat Laurel Jordan Swift is a political newcomer who told TPR’s “The Source” that she voted Republican until 2016. Jordan Swift said. “I started to really research these issues and realized that I actually disagree with the Republicans as much as I agree with the Democrats. I’m very moderate. I’m in the middle.”

Republican Marco LaHood did bad bet to serve as Bexar County District Attorney in 2022. His brother Nico LaHood was Bexar County district attorney from 2014 to 2018.

After he won the Republican primary in MarchLaHood said he was confident he could win the general election, despite people telling him he was too conservative for the district.

Abortion

Jordan Swift said she is running in part to overturn the state’s strict abortion law.

“I don’t think people, even moderate Republicans, realized when the abortion ban went into effect how it would have such a negative impact on all women and all people,” Jordan Swift. told “Source”“Even when people really want to have their children, they are not allowed to get real medical help when they miscarry.”

Jordan Swift said she believes abortion will be enough to make some Republicans change their vote.

“For many people this is a barrier. But when you hoard vouchers and underfund public education (that’s a deal breaker),” Jordan Swift said. “And you can add a lot of other things to that that people are finally getting tired of.”

When “Source,” LaHood asked. If he considers changing abortion laws to protect women in medical emergencies, LaHood said it’s important to decide what life is first.

“How do we balance the government’s responsibility to provide adequate care for our moms, but we still comply with the law?” said LaHood, who identifies as pro-life.

Vouchers

Jordan Swift opposes school vouchers and believes Texas public schools need more funding.

LaHood received the governor’s support because of his support for vouchers.

When asked about the cost of vouchers that limit public school funding, LaHood suggested that public schools may already have more money than they need.

“If $15,500 is spent on a child, there are only three options,” LaHood said. “Either way, it costs more to put our children in school, which means that in order for our children to remain in the current school system, the students and the school system are going bankrupt. Second question: Well, maybe the government just magically got something exactly right. Or the third option – it’s not that expensive. They cover all expenses.”

Average for Texas school districts about $10,000 per student, not $15,000.

When a caller asked about the fact that vouchers are not enough to pay for tuition at many private schools and the impact that has on public schools, LaHood did not answer the first question and provided some questionable math to answer the second.

LaHood said he thinks public schools will be fine because the cost of the voucher will be less than the full cost of each student, a calculation that doesn’t quite make sense and doesn’t take into account that many families use vouchers in other states. have never sent their children to public school before.

“If you follow a clean business model, schools won’t go out of business if a child or parent decides to transfer their child to another school system or homeschool because they’re still making $7,500 or more,” LaHood said, saying that schools in his district have at least $15,000 per student.

Current HD 121 State Representative Steve Ellison recently said he was supporting Swift in this election in hopes that changing his seat would protect public education from vouchers.

Property tax

LaHood also told The Source that he favors eliminating the property tax, which is the largest source of funding for public education in Texas.

“I firmly believe that if the government can seize your home or your property because you don’t pay taxes, then you don’t really own anything,” LaHood said. “You’re just renting from the government.”

Most states fund education through a combination of sales tax, income tax, and property tax. Since Texas has no state income tax, eliminating the property tax would result in schools relying almost entirely on the sales tax.

Jordan Swift said eliminating the property tax is an unrealistic and unfair proposal.

“Nobody likes paying property taxes,” Jordan Swift said. “It’s a painful thing, but a (much higher) sales tax would hurt the poorest people the most.”

Instead, Jordan Swift said the best way to lower property taxes is to expand Medicaid.

“We’re spending our federal tax dollars to expand Medicaid in 40 other states across the country, and we haven’t accepted that help,” Jordan Swift said. “Our rural hospitals are closing, our urban hospitals are overcrowded and overwhelmed, and we are subsidizing people who don’t have insurance with our property tax dollars.”

Border Security

LaHood said he believes in cutting government spending and cutting government spending, but said he doesn’t have a problem with spending. billions of dollars about Operation Lone Star.

“There are some things that are needed,” LaHood said. “We have the right to a secure border.”

Jordan Swift also said it was important to secure the border, but said it was the federal government’s responsibility.

“We don’t want people crossing the border to be left unaccounted for willy-nilly,” Jordan Swift said. “But we shouldn’t be using Texas tax dollars to pay for this.”

Climate change

Jordan Swift said another reason she is running for president is to fight climate change.

“I got a biology degree from UTSA, and then they could teach us about climate change,” Jordan Swift said. “That’s a fact, and I just think if we all come together, we can solve this problem.”