Ben Mostyn
RepublicanQ1 In June 2026, USDA confirmed New World screwworm in Texas livestock for the first time in decades; as of early July, dozens of infestations have been confirmed across South Texas (USDA APHIS , 2026). USDA estimates a full-scale outbreak comparable to past infestations could cost the regional economy billions of dollars (USDA APHIS). What policies, if any, would you support to respond to the current outbreak and improve Texas’s agricultural biosecurity (practices and safeguards that prevent pests and diseases from spreading through livestock populations), and what evidence or considerations would inform that approach?
In the 1960s the screw-fly problem was solved by breading screw-flies and irradiating the newly bread flies which caused the male flies to become infertile. This had zero negative impact of livestock or the environment at large. These infertile flies were released to mate with the female and the population of screw flies dropped to zero.
Q2 Texas is on track to become the nation’s leading data center market within the next three years (Bloom Energy, 2026). The state’s grid operator has more than doubled its 2030 forecast for data center power demand over the past year (ERCOT, 2025). Such growth brings economic opportunity while placing significant demands on water, land, and energy systems, raising questions about tax incentives, utility costs, and local community impacts. What policies, if any, would you support around water/energy allocation, tax incentives, or utility costs for data center development in Texas, and what evidence informs that position?
Water has always been a major issue in Texas and it always will be. With regard to data centers’ use of water, zoning laws requiring that the data centers recapture the condensation of water from their cooling systems. As for electricity usage, I would like to say that wind and solar could supply the need, but that simply is not the case. However, there is an alternative power generation technology that can be employed. It is an orphaned technology known as Molten Salt Thorium Reactors. Oak Ridge National Laboratory built and successfully operated the first one in the world for a number of years. But because the reactor could not produce fissile bomb material, the project was canceled.
What was learned was that the Thorium reactor was safer than uranium-fueled reactors.
Q3 Texas faces flooding while simultaneously experiencing water scarcity driven by drought, groundwater depletion, and population growth (TWDB, 2024). Hundreds of Texas waterways are listed as impaired for bacteria, mercury, and other pollutants, threatening water quality for communities across the state (TCEQ, 2024). Agriculture is the largest consumer of the state’s groundwater, yet it is also well positioned to be a valuable partner in conservation efforts. What policies, if any, would you support to improve Texas’s water infrastructure, and what considerations would guide your approach to the state’s agricultural economy?
There are literally hundreds of thousands of oil and gas wells that have been drilled in Texas and all of them pass through the brine layer. This brine layer has lower salinity than sea water and therefore more economical for reverse osmosis desalination projects. There have been teat wells proving the viability of this method at A&M Corpus Christi and by SAWS. A program establishing desalination plants from the brine water is a potential solution to the pending water problem. These plants should be first established on state owned lands to avoid water rights issues.
Q4 The Texas power grid continues to face strain from extreme heat and increasing demand, including from data centers. What policies, if any, would you support to improve grid reliability for Texas consumers and businesses?
There are two facets to this problem and both must be addressed. First and foremost an emergency contingency plan must be established by coordination port facilities and railroad companies. In an emergency (such and happened in 2021) it could be possible to connect diesel electric locomotives and ships in the harbor to the grid to provide power to critical infrastructure such as hospitals, water utilities, police and fire departments. This would require cooperation with both public and privet sector stakeholders and emergency funding to pay for the implementation.
The second facet is the long-term solution. New power generation plants need to be built preferably employing Thorium reactors as mentioned above. These newer power plants must incorporate EMP mitigation technology such that a natural EMP, or a man-made EMP. will not kill the grid.
Q5 Texas universities and hospitals receive approximately $1.9 billion annually in NIH funding across 118 research sites, supporting tens of thousands of jobs and driving medical and scientific innovation (FASEB, 2025). NIH grants reimburse institutions for both direct research costs and indirect costs, the facilities, administration, and support infrastructure that make research possible. A 15% indirect cost cap proposed by NIH in 2025, currently blocked by federal courts, would sharply reduce this reimbursement below the rates Texas institutions have negotiated, cutting an estimated $300 million in annual support that institutions would need to absorb or backfill (Kamerlin & Elias, 2025). What policies, if any, would you support at the state or federal level to protect the long-term stability of Texas’s research infrastructure, and why?
Currently the types of state funding that are awarded to academia and private sector is controlled by a few academicians in College Station. The vast majority of funding goes to medical research. This system ignore other equally deserving proposals that are not in the medical field but in energy and technology. The state need to work more closely with the Army’s Future Command and so that a broad range of emerging technologies are developed which can ultimately be brought to market by the private sector.
Q6 Texas kindergartners’ measles vaccination rate fell to 93.24% in the 2024-2025 school year, a decline from prior years amid a national resurgence (Texas Department of State Health Services, 2025). That year, Texas recorded 762 confirmed measles cases, including the deaths of two unvaccinated school-age children, in the state’s largest outbreak since 1992 (Texas DSHS, 2025). Measles can cause serious complications: roughly 1 in 5 unvaccinated people who contract it are hospitalized, and it can lead to pneumonia, brain swelling, or death (CDC). As a policymaker, how do you approach engaging with communities that have concerns about infectious disease outbreaks and vaccine safety, and what policies, if any, would you support related to these issues, and why?
If COVID taught us anything it is that panic is a poor policy. It was astonishing to me that masks were mandated yet the highly effective pathogen killing UV-C lighting in ventilation systems to in schools or malls are completely ignored. Had this been a policy the spread of the disease would have been greatly reduced. That being said, childhood vaccines need to be re-examined for safety. The fact that Mercury is used in vaccines as a preservative is unacceptable and must be stopped. There are alternative preservatives that DO NOT affect the central nervous system the way that Mercury has been shown to do. The question is this a state or federal issue.
Q7 Scientific evidence is generated through the systematic testing and evaluation of ideas. It provides knowledge the helps us understand the world and predict the likely consequences of different choices, such policy making related to public health, energy, agriculture, and environmental regulation. What role, if any, should scientific evidence and expert input play in your policymaking process, and how would you evaluate competing or uncertain scientific claims when making policy decisions? What role, if any, should that process play when scientific consensus and public opinion diverge?
Science in its purest form is a great tool for civilization. However, over the past several decades science has become agenda driven as the Climate Gate leaked e-mails proved and the recent revelations of Dr. Fauci’s diary. So, in developing policy all views on a scientific issue must be heard and weighed for merit. Silencing one side is not good policy nor is it good science. In science we should work from the known to the unknown, from the simple to the complex and always twist the theory to fit the facts – not the other way around.