Despite an “incredibly contentious” run-off campaign, things remained relatively calm between Gary VanDeaver (R-New Boston) and Chris Spencer (R – Hughes Springs) at the 2024 Candidate Run-Off Debate on Monday night.
Hosted by the Republican Women of the Red River Valley, the debate saw not only saw VanDeaver and Spencer go head-to-head but also run-off candidates for District 12 State Board of Education and Lamar County Constable – Precinct 2.
Roughly 150 locals attended the event in person while more than 19,000 have since watched the live-stream online via myparistexas.com.
Moderated by myparistexas.com News Director, Katie Bartlett, candidates were not only asked pre-determined questions but also took several questions from audience members.
State Board of Education incumbent Pam Little and candidate Jamie Kohlman kicked off the event with both candidates heavily stressing their conservative political credentials.
Little said that if re-elected that her number one priority in 2025 would be re-visiting and revising social studies and math standards in Texas education, while Kohlmann would make her top priority to also revise social studies and history standards.
In particular, Kohlmann stated that she would push back against liberal indoctrination efforts in Texas schools and stated that voters need to elect more “activist Republicans” to the SBOE.
Candidates for Lamar County Constable – Precinct 2, Gerry Hines and Curtis Graham, followed with neither candidate securing the majority vote of 50% plus vote in the primaries which triggered the May run-off.
In the March primary, Hines received 38.23% (151 votes) and Graham received 34.18% (135 votes). The incumbent, Jeffrey Jones received 27.59% (109 votes).
Hines is currently a bailiff for the 6th and and 62nd district courts and Graham currently works with the Lamar County Sheriff’s Department.
Both candidates have over a decade of local law enforcement experience and outlined their cases for why they felt they were the best person for the available constable position.
VanDeaver and Spencer then took to the stage with the two candidates sparring over who is best qualified to represent House District 1 in northeast Texas, which includes Bowie, Cass, Lamar, Morris, and Red River counties.
In the primaries, of the 30,557 votes cast district-wide in the March 5 primary, representative VanDeaver received 45.5% (13,912 votes), Spencer received 43.1% (13,155 votes) and Dale Huls received 11.4% (3,490 votes). zHuls has since endorsed the candidacy of Spencer.
Lamar, Red River and Bowie counties gave electoral majorities to VanDeaver while Cass and Morris counties gave majorities to Spencer.
Both candidates acknowledged during their introductions that the run-off campaign has been incredibly contentious.
VanDeaver highlighted his prior experience as a career educator and his multiple terms served as state representative while Spencer focused on his past experiences as a small business owner and his appointment by Governor Abbott to the Sulphur River Basin Authority and his opposition to the proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir.
The topics of the debate last night centered around issues such as the appointment of Democrat chairs to legislative committees, school choice, border security and reigning in out of control property taxes and appraisal rates throughout the state of Texas.
When asked what their top legislative priority would be in the upcoming 2025 session, VanDeaver said that border security would be his number one priority, going on to say that his larger priority would be “to represent the citizens of House District 1, even if those votes are in opposition to what the governor wants.”
Spencer agreed that border security would also be his top priority, along with “reigning in out of control property tax appraisals.”
Furthermore, Spencer said that if elected, he wants to see the elimination of the proposed Robert Nichols Reservoir in the proposed state water plan and is hopeful that he would be appointed to the Natural Resources Committee in Austin.
Border Security
Both candidates agreed on the necessity of giving Governor Abbott all requested resources in order to complete plans on a fully funded border wall with Mexico.
VanDeaver made it clear that he has never refused a single request from the Governor for needed funding and resources for border security and that if there was anything that was lacking it was simply because “the Governor has not yet asked for it.”
He also reiterated stated that roughly $11 billion dollars has been allocated to border security during his time in the state congress.
Spencer also highlighted his belief that the best way to curb illegal immigration into the state of Texas would be to re-elect Donald Trump as President of the United States in the upcoming November 2024 general election.
School Choice/Vouchers
The candidates disagreed sharply on the issue of school choice.
Spencer referred to school choice as an “educational savings account” while VanDeaver referred to it as a “voucher system”.
VanDeaver went on to say that he believes that he is being primaried this year because he refused to vote for school choice, something that Gov. Abbott made into a major legislative priority in the the last legislative session.
He also believes that school choice will have unintended negative consequences for rural students and school districts in House District 1, while mainly benefiting students in large Texas cities.
In particular, his largest concern with this issue is lack of fiscal/academic accountability and oversight on how the funds will be dispersed and used.
Spencer, while a supporter of local school districts, still believes all Texas parents should be allowed to have a choice in where their children attend school.
He also pointed out that 69% of Republican primary voters in Lamar County voted in favor of educational savings accounts.
Spencer disputed VanDeavers portrayal of the educational savings accounts and explained why he feels that the money will be regulated and dispersed in a responsible manner.
Education
When asked what they believe can be done to improve public education, VanDeaver stated that the most important thing that could be done is for people to “stop bashing teachers”.
He believes that teachers are unfairly demonized by politicians and the general public and went on to say that teacher pay raises and increased funding for public schools would be a major priority of his in the next session.
VanDeaver also made it clear that the Texas house had an education bill ready to pass in the last legislative session that he was in favor of until Gov. Abbott included a mandatory vouchers addition to the bill.
In response, Spencer said that a return of student discipline was needed.
In particular, he pointed out that educators and school administrators are hesitant to discipline students for fear of retaliatory lawsuits from parents.
He highlighted the need to increase state funding to be able to give all educators in the state a pay raise and expressed a desire to reform standardized testing for students with the elimination of the STAAR test.
Property Tax
Both candidates agreed that the temporary $17 billion in property tax relief passed in the 2023 legislative session is quickly being eroded away with new appraisal rates.
VanDeaver believes that rural counties should explore following the recent trend of large urban counties that are opening up their CAD boards to elected officials being appointed in an oversight capacity.
He also said that making the price of land sales public knowledge could go a long way toward reigning in the current appraisal rates.
Spencer went a step beyond and said that he wants to see the eventual elimination of property taxes entirely, calling property taxes “immoral”.
He also called the elimination of property taxes a “futuristic plan that will take several legislative sessions to complete” but reiterated that he believes it is possible.
Spencer also gave Lt. Governor Dan Patrick (R) credit for adding a study of the elimination of property taxes to the upcoming state Senate agenda and stated that he wants to see that same study also introduced into the Texas house.
Term Limits
Both candidates were also in agreement in the necessity of passing mandatory term limits for elected officials.
Neither candidate proposed a finite length of time for term limits but both stated that they would sign off on legislation if it was put forward.
VanDeaver explained that the average number of years currently served in the Texas house is only seven-years, contrasting it sharply with the average number of years served in the United States Congress.
Dade Phelan
Both candidates were asked if they would support appointing representative Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) to another term as Speaker of the Texas House with both having differing opinions.
VanDeaver gave a full-throated endorsement of Phelan in his reply and stated that he would support Phelan next year if he was nominated again and listed all legislative priorities that have been passed by the Texas house while Phelan has been in that position.
Spencer stated that he would not support Phelan for another term as Speaker and went on to dispute Phelan’s legislative record and highlighted the practice of Phelan appointing Democrats to committee chairs in the Texas House of Representatives.
VanDeaver said multiple times that he is in favor of bi-partisan cooperation and has no issue with the practice while Spencer said he would only support a candidate who would commit to appointing only Republicans to chair the committees.
Ken Paxton
The candidates clashed over the 2023 impeachment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
VanDeaver defended his vote to impeach Paxton stating that the evidence brought forward to the Texas House was compelling enough to justify going to trial.
Spencer called the impeachment proceedings a “sham” and stated that Paxton “is the most conservative Attorney General that the United States has ever had” and called the proceedings a “runaway train” and likened the trial to a political hit-job orchestrated by Democrats.
he also pointed out that Texas voters have overwhelmingly voted in support of Paxton multiple times over the past several years.
VanDeaver replied to that by saying that Paxton is “the most conservative Attorney General that the state of Texas has ever had, possibly in the entire United States. Ken Paxton is also the most corrupt Attorney General that the state of Texas has ever had. And he deserved exactly what he got.”
He compared the Texas House proceedings to a grand jury and stated he that believed there was more than enough evidence presented to justify voting for an impeachment trial that was conducted in September of 2023.
Paxton was later acquitted on all 16 articles of impeachment in the Texas Senate.
VanDeaver concluded by saying it was the right vote to take at the time and that he has no regrets on how he voted.
Early voting is scheduled for May 20-May 24 and Election Day is on Tuesday, May 28.
Both Early Voting and Election Day will be located at 231 Lamar Ave Paris, TX. Polls will open at 7:00am and close at 7:00pm. If you are in line to vote at 7:00pm, stay in line, you are still able to vote.
