Shiloh Salazar

I would support a strong partnership between Texas, USDA, veterinarians, and local producers that focuses on early detection, rapid testing, sterile fly releases, and stopping infected animals from moving the pest into new areas. Texas should also make sure rural veterinarians, livestock owners, county extension offices, and wildlife officials have the funding and training they need to recognize and report cases quickly, because biosecurity only works when the people on the ground can actually use it. I would look closely at the science coming from USDA and our agricultural universities, but I would also listen to ranchers and producers who understand what is practical in West Texas and what would create unnecessary costs without improving disease control. Protecting agriculture means treating prevention as an investment, because waiting until an outbreak is widespread will cost producers, taxpayers, and rural communities far more.

Keywords: Good agricultural policy starts with good science, but it has to work at the ranch gate too.

I support economic development, including data centers, but growth cannot come at the expense of the communities that already call Texas home. I would require meaningful water impact studies, protect residential and agricultural water needs, and make sure data centers pay the infrastructure and utility costs created by their demand rather than shifting those costs onto families and small businesses. I also believe counties need stronger negotiating power when these projects are proposed, including the ability to require agreements that protect roads, water, fire departments, EMS, and other local services, with large facilities contributing directly to the first responders who will be expected to serve them. Finally, I support reforming tax incentives and exploring a state and local tax structure tied to the enormous amount of data these facilities process or transfer, so that as this industry grows, some of that value is returned to the communities providing the land, water, energy, and infrastructure that make that growth possible.

Keywords: Texas can welcome new technology without handing it a blank check written on our water supply, electric bills, and rural communities.

Texas water policy should start with protecting the people who feed us and the rural communities built around agriculture. I would invest in repairing aging water infrastructure, expanding water reuse, and studying where Texas can better capture excess water during major rain and flood events and store or move it to areas that need it, including through reservoirs and aquifer recharge where the science supports it. We should also help farmers and ranchers access technology and infrastructure that protect their water supply and keep their operations productive, while making sure new industrial development does not threaten existing agricultural or residential water sources. Texas is going to experience both drought and flooding, and our long term water strategy should be built around capturing more of the water we receive, protecting its quality, and working with farmers, ranchers, groundwater districts, and local communities to determine what works in each region.

Keywords: In Texas, we can have too much water in one place and not enough in another. Our infrastructure should be smart enough to prepare for both.

Texas needs a reliable electric grid that can support our homes, businesses, agriculture, and continued growth, and that will require investment in generation, storage, and transmission. I am not opposed to infrastructure such as 765 kV transmission lines when the evidence shows they are necessary, but I strongly believe Texas needs a better process for deciding where they go, with earlier community involvement, stronger protections for landowners, and meaningful consideration of existing homes, farms, ranches, and property values. We also need to make sure the largest new energy users pay their fair share of the infrastructure their demand requires and can reduce their demand during grid emergencies before families are asked to conserve or face outages. Grid reliability should be about planning ahead, diversifying our energy resources, and building what Texas actually needs without asking rural communities or residential ratepayers to carry an unfair share of the cost.

Keywords: We can build the grid Texas needs without treating rural Texas like an empty space on a map.

I am not knowledgeable enough to make a comment on this topic. What I can say is that I think we need to listen to experts that are in those fields and actually hear them when they tell us some things work and some do not.

Parents deserve accurate information about vaccines and infectious diseases from medical professionals they trust, not to be left searching Google or social media and trying to determine what is true on their own. I would support better training and resources for pediatricians and OBGYN providers to have real, individual conversations with families during pregnancy and throughout a child’s early years about how vaccines work, their benefits, possible risks, and the diseases they prevent. That means making time for questions and concerns in the exam room rather than simply handing parents a brochure or dismissing them when they are uncertain. When outbreaks occur, public health agencies should communicate clearly and transparently about what we know, what we do not know, and what families can do to protect themselves, because trust is built through honest conversations, not fear or shame.

Keywords: Parents should not have to choose between a pamphlet and Google when they have questions about their child’s health.

When I taught science, one of the most important lessons was that science is not about having all the answers. It is about asking questions, testing what we think we know, and being willing to change our conclusions when the evidence changes. Scientific evidence and expert input should play a major role in policymaking, especially when we have enough reliable data to make decisions that affect people’s health, livelihoods, water, energy, and communities, but science should inform those decisions alongside the experiences and needs of the people who will live with them. When scientific claims compete or remain uncertain, I would look at the quality and amount of evidence, whether findings have been independently supported, and where the broader scientific consensus stands while continuing to listen to legitimate questions and new information. Public opinion deserves to be heard, but when strong scientific evidence conflicts with popular opinion, I believe leaders have a responsibility to explain the evidence, listen to people’s concerns, and make the best decision we can with the information available while always being willing to revisit that policy as the science and circumstances change.

Keywords: Good policy should be strong enough to follow the evidence and flexible enough to change when the evidence does.