Christina Morales
DemocraticQ1 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?
I would want to see data not just from USDA but from trades/agricultural organizations. I think data from neighboring governments would be a useful datapoint to help determine proactive plans. Texas must step up now to curb the spread of NW Screwworm but the largest impact would come from the State teaming up with other affected state to lobby the federal government for the level of resources needed to halt the spread and prevent future outbreaks. The data will tell the story of how we got here and how to prevent it from happening again.
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?
Texas needs to stop being a cheap date for large corporations. Data centers do not have to be the resource suck they are currently. There is technology that can save water, they can invest directly into clean energy production and energy transmission infrastructure. I support a moratorium on Data Centers until the full impact is understood and any incentives to build Data Centers includes the mitigation of the negative impacts on our environment, energy infrastructure, and Texans quality of life.
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?
The subsidizing of Agriculture was supposed to produce high quality low cost food domestically. But we have high food costs and over abundance of processed foods. We need to change the incentive structure to allow for Agriculture to produce quality food that works within the environment that it is grown. Sustainable farming and local farming can reduce water consumption grown quality foods closer to people. Farmers that practice this type of farming should be subsidized more than large corporate farms. We need both in operation but sustainable agriculture has impact beyond crop yields that benefit our society.
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?
An energy policy of ALL THE ABOVE. Texas is a leader in renewable energy but some still see it as a threat to fossil fuels. Texas is a leader in energy, full stop. We should embrace that mantle and lead in new energy; nuclear, solar, geo-thermal, wind and battery storage. But we cannot invest in energy production and export it through a frail grid, we must expand our grid and connect to other large grids to sell and import power.
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?
We have amazing Tier 1 institutions that are creating the future world we will be living in. I fear the pressure from the President of the United States is chilling the academic freedom that makes our schools so productive and invocative. The “social monitoring” of academics and the threat of federal defunding of our universities will drive talent away from Texas Schools. Where schools thrive we see economic growth. Texas was seeing that growth in Austin, Dallas, and Houston because of the proximity to amazing institutions of higher learning. Texas State government must stand up to the Federal overreach to protect our university’s ability to innovate in science, engineering, literature, and medicine.
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?
Our state was ground zero for the impact of vaccine skepticism. We felt the real life impact of the politization of science. Texas must stand up for the health of it’s people and put aside the politization of important medical information and proven science.
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?
With the increased influence of social media in our society, we must all step back and remember the scientific method we were taught as children. Our emotions far to often are leading policy decisions, not data and research. There has been an erosion of respect for expertise and fact that may contradict options. Fortifying our education system will help future generations but the immediate need is for civic and political leaders to govern by emotion instead of data and facts.