Ryan Ayala is an attorney who received his law degree from St. Mary’s University. He’s challenging state Rep. Liz Campos (D-San Antonio) in the Democratic primary.
Hear from the candidate
1. Please tell voters about yourself.
My name is Ryan Ayala. I’m 25 years old and I was born and raised in Southeast San Antonio. I’m a proud public-school graduate of East Central High School. I received my bachelor’s degree in government and history from UT Austin. After that I came home for law school at St. Mary’s University. I’ve worked at the Attorney General’s Office in the Child Support Division and I’m now a family law attorney in private practice.
I’m running for State Representative because I think we need a real Democrat who is going to help us. The status quo isn’t working, our schools are closing, the homelessness problem has gotten worse, and our neighborhood infrastructure has not seen any improvements. I think it’s time for a new generation of Democrats who will put in the work to talk with constituents, ask what’s important, and do something about it.
2. Briefly describe your top policy priorities.
My top priorities are public education, public safety, infrastructure, and just basic public service. I’m here today because public schools worked for me as a dyslexic student, and I’ll be vocal in defending our public schools that are consistently under attack in Texas.
Public safety means addressing homelessness and dangerous dogs. There are 2 buckets to homelessness, for the many people who want help, we need to remove barriers like access to IDs, provide enough case managers, and help with housing and utility deposits. For those who refuse help, I will file legislation to update the loitering law so repeated citations require intervention. Returning to the streets is not good for anyone. Our dangerous dog laws act too late. My brother was recently chased while block walking. I’ll file a bill to give local authorities real tools to stop repeat roaming and aggressive dogs.
Infrastructure needs are widespread. I’ll work with the City and County to see where the State can support their efforts. These are the types of public service issues that matter. Even when the State isn’t directly responsible, I won’t pass the buck. I’ll work for my constituents and stay focused on serving the people.
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?
We could start with affordability. We’ve seen other states have large populations of people leave their state because of cost of living. I’d like to work with on affordability at the legislature by capping property tax appraisal increases more tightly, funding first-time homebuyer assistance, and eliminating sales tax on basic necessities like hygiene products and diapers. I also plan to be a proactive state official and work with my local officials to bring jobs that pay a livable wage to our area and provide childcare for their employees.
I think if our elected officials all work in the same spirit of public service, the tools are there to help with these needs, we just need to take the initiative to make it happen. Again, this goes back to public service. It’s easy to say that’s not my area, the harder thing is to step up and actually get involved. I grew up being told by my mom talk is cheap. So I’m not here to talk about it, I’m walking through our neighborhoods asking constituents what are the issues that are important to you and what can I do to help.
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?
To be clear, I do not support using taxpayer dollars for private school tuition. This takes money out of our public schools without accountability or evidence that charter schools improve outcomes for all students because they have never been subject to the same standards and requirements of our public schools. If the state insists on moving forward with ESAs, then let’s compare apples to apples on education.
Make these charter schools subject to the same transparency, oversight, and academic standards as public schools, including public reporting of student outcomes, financial audits, anti-discrimination protections, and proof that students with disabilities and high-needs students such as dyslexics like myself are actually being served and receiving the required services—not being “not accepted” to these schools.
It’s easy to get the desired outcome when you can cherry pick your students. Public schools serve all kids equally. If charter schools want public dollars, then let them serve all students and follow the same guidelines.
We all know the real solution is to fully fund public education, pay and retain teachers, reduce class sizes, and invest in proven help like special education and early intervention. Every child deserves a quality education, not just those that charter and private schools deem worthy to serve, and the most accountable way to deliver that is through strong 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?
Texas’s growth is our strength, not our problem. When companies expand and bring good-paying jobs, more families can afford homes, which naturally broadens the property tax base without raising rates. That growth allows us to provide property tax relief while still meeting the revenue needs of a growing state.
The key is focusing on smart economic development and using that base growth to offset rate reductions or caps. This lets homeowners get relief without starving our already hurting public schools, cities, and essential services of necessary revenue. We can lower the burden on families while still funding the public services that make our communities livable.
We talk about affordability issues, capping the property tax rate directly puts money back in the pockets of our citizens. These are solutions we should be focusing on to help with affordability.
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