LaHood, age 46, is a criminal defense attorney. He unseated incumbent state Rep. Steve Allison in the Republican primary. The San Antonio native ran unsuccessfully for Bexar County District Attorney in 2022. He received his law degree from St. Mary’s University.
Hear from the candidate
Please tell voters about yourself.
I was born and raised here in San Antonio. I graduated high school from the Texas Military Institute, received my bachelor’s from Trinity University and my juris doctor from St. Mary’s School of Law. I am proud to give back to the community in which I was born, raised and educated by serving its people as a criminal defense attorney.
I’m a father, husband, employee, employer and a citizen in this community. I adore my wife Erica and our four children. They are my motivation to leave this world better than when we came into it. One of the reasons I am running for office is that I fear the world we are leaving for the next generation — my children included. Texas children should grow up in a safe community with access to high quality education and healthcare. I’ll fight to make that a reality for more Texas families.
What three issues do you consider to be most pressing for your district and how do you plan to address them?
As I have spoken to thousands of voters, the three major issues across both political parties are border security, property tax relief, and parental empowerment in education.
Since the beginning of Operation Lone Star, illegal border crossings into Texas have dropped by 85%. We are cracking down on human and drug trafficking plaguing our community. In the next legislative session, I will vote to continue to fund Operation Lone Star and support the creation of a permanent border protection unit like that in House Bill 20 from the 88th legislature.
Everyone is feeling the weight of property taxes, whether they realize it or not. We most often hear about appraisal increases crushing homeowners, but sky-high property taxes are also embedded in apartment rent. There is no homestead exemption or senior freeze for these renters to utilize. The legislature did the right thing in returning $17.6 billion to the people in the form of property tax relief — both through rate compression and increasing the homestead exemption to $100,000. The increase in the homestead exemption is now written into our state’s constitution, but the rest of the property tax relief will expire. That $17.6 billion was used over the last two years and the legislature MUST return more tax dollars to the people in the next legislative session.
The time for parental empowerment in education has come. A child should not be forced into a school that is not the best fit for them to thrive academically and socially. Nobody cares more for a child’s success than their parents and funding should follow the student to the school of the parent’s choice.
Do you support the creation of a school voucher program? If so, what specifics are you looking for? Are you willing to leave the next session without approving additional public school funding?
We need to both properly fund public education and allow parents to make the decisions best for their child. A child should not be forced into a school that is not the best fit for them to thrive academically and socially. Many lower income parents would give anything for their children to attend better schools, but they simply do not have enough to sacrifice.
Parental empowerment in education is for lower income families. The wealthy already have the means to pay for private school, for a stay-at-home parent to home school, or to move to a zip code with better schools. ALL CHILDREN deserve access to a high-quality education and the tax dollars spent on their education should follow the child to the school of the parent’s choice.
The parental empowerment bill in the most recent special session would have also brought tens of millions of dollars to San Antonio schools. The bill increased the basic allotment, allowed the basic allotment to be adjusted for inflation, and included a bonus check for teachers. It’s a shame that opponents of parental empowerment voted to trap lower income families and killed increased public education funding at the same time.
Describe how you plan to be an effective lawmaker in a governing body where leadership controls much of the agenda.
Relationships are key when it comes to politics. I look forward to building relationships with lawmakers on both sides of the isle and working with them to advance common sense solutions that will benefit Texas. The Bexar County delegation has a long history of working across party lines to do what is best of our constituents and I am excited to contribute to that teamwork when I am elected.
The house of representatives is expected to pass certain reforms to its rules which will decentralize power away from the speaker and to return it to individual members. I will support these reforms to decentralize power, allowing all lawmakers to become more effective.
How would you solicit input and feedback from residents in your district?
The house of representatives belongs to the people, and I will represent the interests of all my constituents. My door will always be open, and I will continue to stay involved in the community. I highly encourage everyone to engage with their elected officials either in person, over the phone, or via email. I will utilize a portion of my budget to ensure annual newsletters are sent to my constituents providing them with updates on how I have been representing them and providing them with the contact information for my office to ensure my constituents will know how to contact me.
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