Marc LaHood, 47, is a criminal defense attorney who has served in the Texas House since 2025. He defeated a Republican incumbent to win the seat in 2024, and fended off an expensive GOP primary challenge in 2026. He faces Democrat Zack Dunn in November.
Hear from the candidate
1. Please tell voters about yourself.
My name is Marc LaHood, and I am the current State Representative for House District 121. I was born right here in San Antonio. I live here in San Antonio, House District 121, with my wife and four beautiful children. I graduated from the Texas Military Institute, Trinity University, and Saint Mary’s University Law School in 2007. I am a criminal defense attorney, and I practice through my personal law firm.
2. Briefly describe your top policy priorities.
My top three priorities are the availability of water, property tax reform/relief, and security/grid. Each of these issues is complex, but all are critical to the long-term stability and success of our community.
Water isn’t just an issue for commercial interests. We need it to survive. I want to work on transitioning water from ancillary funding to the budget for oversight and ensuring we’re not wasting resources.
Property taxes aren’t just a private property issue. Businesses pay exorbitant amounts, and these costs factor into the budgets and burdens.
Security/grid are the same animal in my opinion.
Again, these aren’t just citizen issues. Businesses cannot thrive and grow if they don’t have reliable power and security from crime. I had a bill last session that created a permanent state reserve to ensure our grid is always supplied and running, helping to keep prices stable and consistent.
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 will continue to push legislation that strengthens our state’s infrastructure to better address flooding and prepare for extreme weather events. Last session, I successfully secured $3 million in funding for the Bexar County Sheriff’s Department, reinforcing public safety and emergency response capabilities. I have worked closely with local San Antonio officials to proactively address these challenges, and I will continue to do so. I also plan to reintroduce local drainage mitigation legislation as I did in transportation last session.
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?
We should closely monitor parent participation in the Education Savings Account program alongside school enrollment and adjust funding accordingly next session. Parents know what’s best for their children and should be empowered to direct education dollars to the learning environment that fits their children’s needs, while continuing to strongly support and fund our public schools.
During the last session, we appropriated $8.5 billion in new funding for public education, 40% of which will go toward teacher pay raises. This was the largest investment in the Texas public school system in history.
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?
Next session, I will focus on lowering property taxes by supporting a plan that will require 2/3 rd s voter approval for property tax increases, make citizen-led tax rate rollback elections easier, cap appraisal growth, and eliminate all school property taxes for homeowners.
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