State Representative Candidates (District 50)

State Representative Candidates (District 50)

Written by Eric Pulsifer and Amy Stansbury Friday, 01 August 2008

Mark Strama, Democrat (incumbent)

• Hometown: Houston

• Lived in District 50: Since 2003, and in Austin since 1990
• Career background: Co-founder of NewVoter.com; national director of programs for MTV’s Rock the Vote initiative to register voters online
• Education: Bachelor’s in philosophy and political science, Brown University
• Contact: 499-0125 • www.markstrama.com

Q. Why did you decide to run for state representative?

A. I ran in 2004 against an incumbent Republican. The conventional wisdom was that it was a Republican district that had been gerrymandered to elect Republicans. The conventional wisdom turned out to be wrong. The guy I ran against had been one of the ringleaders with the Tom Delay re-redistricting, and that had not sat well with this district. In 2003, the legislature had cut education funding, it had cut children’s health insurance — cut the things that were most important to the people in District 50. A huge percentage of the people who live in my district live there specifically so they can put their kids in those excellent public schools. They did not agree with the failure to support public education that has characterized the majority of the current legislature.

Q. What is your background?

A. My background was in voter registration and voter turnout. In the 1996 election cycle, I was the national director of programs for Rock the Vote on MTV. So I had always really made voter registration and voter turnout a priority. I knew that was important to win in 2004 because there were more Republicans than Democrats living in the district, if you just looked at the people who were already registered. But I also knew if you registered a lot of people who had not voted before, that might change. So, we made a very aggressive effort to bring new people to the polls, and it was successful. We had a very high turnout in 2004, and it was a very close race. I won by 550 votes out of 65,000.

Q. What do you think helped you get re-elected?

A. When I was elected by such a narrow margin the first time, I said, “I’m going to do the best I can to represent not only the people who voted for me, but the people who voted against me.” I understand that this is a district that wants from me — not partisanship, but balance, moderation and solutions. I’ve tried to do that ever since I got elected, and I thought that the 2006 election was an endorsement of that approach. I have also kept an open door to everybody. I think a lot of people who voted against me the first time, voted for me the second time. The numbers show that. In Pflugerville, [it is] just being a part of the community, being engaged in the activities of the community. I have also been responsive to the issues that come in the door of my office at the capitol, whether it is phone calls from constituents or ideas for legislation.

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Jerry Mikus, Republican

• Hometown: Pflugerville

• Lived in District 50: Since the late 1970s
• Career background: Investment adviser
• Education: Bachelor of Business Administration, Stephen F. Austin State University
• Contact: 990-8740, jerry@jerrymikus.com, www.jerrymikus.com

Q. When did you become interested in politics?

A. When I got back from Vietnam, I went to Washington, D.C., and got to meet some of the congressmen and senators. When I found out what kinds of politicians were running our country, I got pretty upset. In 2000, I decided, ‘My kids are all grown, and I’ve got extra time.’ I figured it was really time to hit the ground running.

Q. What issues are most important to you?

A. Replacing school property tax with a state sales tax is one of my key issues. I would not and do not support a state income tax. I would propose that the appraisal rate be lowered from 10 to 5 percent. I would also propose that any property tax rate increase above 5 percent annually would require voter approval.

Q. What do you hope to accomplish if elected?

A. Let’s say you win as state rep. A lot of people assume that you can introduce legislation, get it passed through the House and Senate to be signed by the governor. But no, you have to convince at least 75 plus other state reps to agree with you on that same issue to get it passed out of the House. Now, you’ve got to go across the chambers and ask the Senate to pass the same legislation. So what do you have to do? You need to be able to have a uniform message with other legislators to get legislation passed. We are working to that end. I have been in communication with other state reps on these very same issues. I am very confident that my issues will pass by a joint group of legislators. One person can’t pass legislation — it’s a joint effort.

Q. Beyond voting, how can citizens make sure their government works for issues that matter to them?

A. If people want to effect change in legislation, they need to write letters, they need to come and testify and they need to come help lobby as individuals. I can’t do it by myself. No one can. But as a group you can accomplish so much more. You have to stay involved to get things done.

Q. How do you plan to stay in touch with your constituents?

A. I like to do the town hall meetings. I like to go to the neighborhoods, to the homeowners associations and speak in a town hall forum. And my door would always be open.

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Jerry Chandler, Libertarian

• Hometown: Fort Worth

• Lived in District 50: Since 1984
• Career background: Real estate inspector, reporter
• Education: Bachelor’s degree, Texas Wesleyan University
• Contact: 627-0300, ojerryc@yahoo.com

Q. What issues will you prioritize if elected?

A. More than anything, education. Education is the backbone for both the individual and for our community. I don’t think that education problems can be solved in one fell swoop, but we can certainly phase in some improvements beginning at the lower levels and as those kids move up, move those improvements with them. That way, it would be more cost-effective and not as radical.

Q. What got you interested in politics?

A.The quote from Edmund Burke, “All that’s necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” That had a lot to do with that. You’ve got to take a stand every now and then, and this was my year to try and make a difference and offer the people a real choice.

Q. If elected, what would you hope to accomplish?

A. First thing I’d want to do would be to campaign that no law should be passed that doesn’t affect everybody — no special interest laws, no exemptions. If I, as a legislator, would pass a law, it would apply to me, as a legislator, just as it would to everybody else.

Q. How would you make sure you represent the voters in your district?

A. Through regular town hall meetings and the creation of an e-mail database, effectively communicating for virtually no expense with everyone.

Q. Why would you be the best choice for state representative?

A. Everybody talks about smaller government, less government or government that works. It doesn’t seem like the two parties have been able to provide that, and that’s the foundation of the Libertarian Party. As Thomas Jefferson said, “A government that governs best, governs least,” and the Libertarian Party takes that as its principal stand.
There are a lot of things that the government can and should do, but there are a lot of things that are outside the purview of the government. Basically, I believe in the ability of the people themselves, once they’re educated, to be able to solve most of their problems better by themselves and for themselves, than someone else trying to solve the problem for them or telling them how to.