Will Campbell
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?
I am currently drafting a bill that will establish a new department of the Texas government that will create an integration of the various different existing departments from Public Safety to the Texas HHS, and also integrate in all Texas universities and public research facilities, to create a team dedicated to the proactive deterrence, detection, response, and eradication of biological hazards such as the cyclospora and screw worm. The department will have funding in coordination with universities to establish strategically located facilities for research and active detection and deterrence across the state and at the border and ports of entry. This will allow active researchers and students to conduct their studies in live practice to protect the people of Texas, and US in coordination with those respective departments and agencies, to create the greatest threat detection and response network for biological hazards in the world. Integrating it with global information and public data sharing to make Texas into the world’s number 1 fighter of these threats, and greatest research institution for developing deterrence and eradication responses. This will fund the pipeline of specialists and scientists in this space as well. So I am fully behind finally establishing a real means to prevent these events from occurring in the future.
Keywords: Establishing deterrence and response infrastructure
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?
I have three bills drafted to solve for the preservation of Texas water, growth of our own power generation, and sustainment of smart innovation and advancement of data centers. I’ve published a breakdown of this here: https://www.willcampbellfortexas.com/releases/texas-energy-and-data-center-policy-plan
The plan is not to stifle innovation, but to secure Texas’ intelligence and information infrastructure and security, improve the energy infrastructure thorough distributed energy generation, and to create the proper regulation and incentive structure for data center builders and energy producers to work together to solve this problem.
Keywords: Legislation to protect Texans and our infrastructure through innovation
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 conservation of our water resources is vital to the future of Texas. I will support the proactive efforts and initiatives for finding solutions to solve both the flooding problems and retention of water in the state of Texas. I am dedicated to researching solutions to this problem and establishing/authorizing the Texas Water Board to perform the projects necessary to reduce the impact of flooding while finding more effective ways of capturing that water for the use of Texans for the long term.
Keywords: Dedicated to Legislation that will preserve water and reduce flooding impact.
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?
Please refer back to my energy generation policy on this topic. https://www.willcampbellfortexas.com/releases/texas-energy-and-data-center-policy-plan
Keywords: I have drafted legislation to solve for our energy and infrastructure needs.
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?
Having dependence on Federal funding for research is not a positive. It is a negative on our research institutions. The priorities of any federal administration change over time and it creates a funding infrastructure that is ever changing and disruptive. I am for passing legislation and solving for how we make our research institutions more independent and less reliant on Federal grants. This is a challenge I am currently researching how to solve for, but it cannot be a government solution - as the government is not the entity that should be controlling the freedom of scientific exploration and research. By fostering stronger relationships with private industry, this problem can be solved, but it requires closer relationships between private industry and Texas institutes of research to make it happen. I am committed to finding a solution for this problem through removing barriers and regulations that stifle innovation through government dependence for our research institutions.
Keywords: Removing dependence on government for funding research and innovation
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?
I support medical freedom. I also support the implementation of gold standard science, which requires repeatable observations and demonstrable evidence and proof of validity of claims of efficacy for medicines and vaccines. I will also support the safe and economical promotion of a vaccine schedule that reduces its impact on early childhood development, and spread out the vaccination schedule to guarantee demonstrated reduction of risk to the population. But it is the right of the parents to decide for their children what the vaccines will be that they get.
Keywords: I am for medical freedom and parental rights, and promotion of a sound vaccine regime for children.
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?
Scientific consensus is not the answer. Demonstration of repeatable results from multiple independent sources and the data demonstrating consistent results and a coherent application of scientific principles is what should be permitted as evidence in making policy decisions. Scientific consensus is merely opinion, and should not be the determining factor in making policy decisions. Scientists are not policy makers, they are fact finders. While scientifically derived evidence must always be brought before policy makers when they are making decisions - it is the facts alone that should be presented - not the opinions of scientists on policy. We learned that lesson the hard way over the past decade. The facts should drive the day.
Keywords: Repeated and consistent demonstration of results matter, not opinion of professionals, in matters of policy.