Kristin Hook, Ph.D. is challenging Republican Representative Chip Roy for the house seat in Texas’s 21st congressional district. The district takes in parts of San Antonio and Austin but mainly contains several Hill Country counties. The district has not elected a Democrat since 1976.
Hook has served as a science and technology expert in the U.S. Senate under Elizabeth Warren (D – M.A.) and the National Institutes of Health and later the Government Accountability Office.
Hook is presenting herself to voters as a representative who is pro-science and that includes her position on abortion rights. She notes that the 2021 Texas Senate Bill 8, that banned abortion in Texas before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, was called the Texas Heartbeat Act. But Hook challenges the notion that a human embryo has an actual heartbeat, since the heart develops later in a pregnancy.
Hook’s opponent, Chip Roy, is an extreme conservative who has continually pushed his party further to the right. He has been seen as a regular disruptor in the House, even by his fellow Republicans. But Roy was unchallenged in the GOP primary.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 5, and early voting in Texas begins on Monday, October. 21.
Texas Public Radio has extended an invitation to Republican Chip Roy to come on air for equal time and take listener phone calls and questions. We have yet to get a response to our invitation.
Guest:
Kristin Hook is the Democratic nominee for Texas Congressional District 21.
"The Source" is a live call-in program airing Mondays through Thursdays from 12-1 p.m. Leave a message before the program at (210) 615-8982. During the live show, call 833-877-8255, email thesource@tpr.org.
*This interview will be recorded on Monday, September 23, 2024.
