Shelley Nickels is a physician who works as a medical director at Methodist Hospital.
Hear from the candidate
1. Please tell voters about yourself.
I am a native Texan, an internal medicine physician, and the proud mother of three
children. For the past 12 years, I have cared for patients in San Antonio, serving as a
medical director for hospital medicine programs. I earned my undergraduate degree and later a Master’s in Healthcare Administration through Trinity University’s executive
program, where I also met my husband, Eric.
I decided to run for the Texas House because too many Texans are losing access to affordable health care or facing dramatically higher costs. As a physician, I understand why our health care system is failing patients and providers alike. Texas needs leaders with real-world expertise who can develop practical solutions, and I believe our Legislature would benefit from having more health care professionals at the table.
2. Briefly describe your top policy priorities.
I believe Texas should expand Medicaid to improve access to care and reduce the financial burden on families and rural hospitals.
We must restore women’s reproductive rights and reverse laws that have denied Texans access to necessary medical care, contributed to preventable maternal deaths, and driven OB-GYNs out of our state. I also support protecting the right to build a family through IVF and surrogacy and oppose efforts to restrict those options.
We should use the state’s purchasing power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices and reduce out-of-pocket costs for patients.
Strong public schools are the foundation of a strong Texas. I support fully funding public education, investing in universal pre-K, paying teachers competitive salaries, and maintaining the separation of church and state in our public schools.
Texas should protect our clean air, clean water, and electric grid while ensuring large corporations contribute their fair share and create opportunities for Texas workers.
Finally, every Texan deserves to feel safe and respected. I support strong hate crime protections, common-sense gun safety measures, and policies that protect the rights, freedoms, and dignity of every person in our state.
3. What would you like to see the legislature do to make Texas cities better places to live? In what ways could state officials work better with local officials?
I believe the Legislature should treat Texas cities as partners, not adversaries. Every community faces different challenges, and local leaders are usually in the best position to understand the needs of their residents. The state’s role should be to provide resources, set high standards, and ensure accountability.
We need to increase the supply of affordable housing for working families, teachers, first responders, veterans, and seniors.
We need to protect our water resources, modernize the electric grid, and ensure that large industrial users, including data centers, contribute fairly to the infrastructure. We need to support law enforcement with training and resources while expanding
mental health services, crisis intervention, and diversion courts that reduce repeat
offenses and improve community safety.
4. Texas has taken major steps to reshape its public education system, including allowing taxpayer dollars to fund private school tuition. What do you believe needs to happen to monitor the success of Education Savings Accounts, and to ensure every student still receives a quality education?
Texas should fully fund public education, oppose vouchers that drain neighborhood
schools, and ensure all publicly funded schools are held to the same standards of
accountability. Just because legislation was passed, this does not mean that is the way
it must stay. We must undo this harmful legislation that primarily benefits those who
were already attending and could already afford private school education at the
expense of our public schools.
5. Reducing the burden of property taxes is expected to be a major focus of the next legislative session. Describe your ideas for balancing the needs of a growing state with state leaders’ desire to rein in that major revenue source?
Reducing property taxes should be a major priority, but Texas must do it responsibly.
Relief should focus on primary residences, seniors, disabled Texans, veterans, and working families rather than providing the largest benefits to corporations, investors, and owners of multiple properties.
Large commercial property owners should not be able to use expensive litigation or distorted comparisons to shift more of the tax burden onto homeowners and small businesses.
Every major exemption or incentive should have measurable public benefits, regular
audits, and an expiration date. Programs that do not create the promised jobs or investment should end.
Texas should use its broad statewide revenue base to permanently reduce school district tax rates while fully replacing the lost local revenue.
Taxpayers should receive clear information showing which taxing entities increased or decreased their rates, how their bill was calculated, and how to challenge an inaccurate appraisal.
Texas should not pay for relief through excessive sales taxes, fees, or other regressive measures that simply move the burden from one household bill to another.
