Texas House District 121 has long been a Republican stronghold. The Northside state house district includes the cities of Alamo Heights, parts of San Antonio’s Northeast side, Olmos Park, Terrell Hills, Hollywood Park and Hill Country Village.
Since 2018 HD121 has been represented by Republican Steve Allison, but he was defeated in the March Republican party primary by Marc LaHood. LaHood was heavily backed and endorsed by Governor Greg Abbott because Allison refused to support the GOP’s school voucher program. Allison is a former school board member for Alamo Heights ISD and was vocal about how vouchers would hurt public schools.
Abbot is predicting that in the coming legislative session he will have the votes to pass his voucher plan that would use public money to pay for some of the tuition for private schools.
Republicans held 86 seats to Democrats’ 64 seats in the Texas house last legislative session. But Democrats are hoping that Abbott overplayed his hand and there are seats like HD121 that could be won by Democrats. Allison has been popular with moderates from both parties and Democratic challenger Laurel Jordan Swift is looking to win over those moderate at the ballot box. Swift is a former Republican voter and is looking to appeal to other voters who feel abandoned by the Republican Party and the Texas Republican leadership like Attorney General Ken Paxton.
In addition to opposing the voucher plan, Swift is campaigning on expanding Medicaid in Texas as a commonsense issue. She frames the abortion issue in terms of freedom where women in Texas lack the freedom to decide what to do about an unwanted pregnancy or a crisis pregnancy that endangers the life of the mother.
Swift is also challenging Abbott’s multi-billion- dollar spending on Operation Lone Star. She says Texas needs border security, but the state government should be working in cooperation with the federal government. She calls for a multifaceted approach to securing the southern border beyond just physical barriers.
Guest:
Laurel Jordan Swift is the Democratic candidate for Texas House District 121.
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*This interview will be recorded on Tuesday, September 10, 2024.
