AUSTIN, Texas — Early voting in the primary runoff election starts in two weeks. Republican voters in Texas House District 19 will decide who they want to put on the November ballot – former Austin City Council Member Ellen Troxclair or Austin Police Officer Justin Berry.
District 19 used to be located in East Texas, but after redistricting, D19 includes west Travis County along with Burnet, Blanco, Gillespie and Kendall counties.
During the March primary, Democrat Pam Baggett ran unopposed while four Republicans ran for the seat. Troxclair earned about 38% of the vote, while Berry walked away with about 35%.
Question: Why do you believe you're the best candidate to represent District 19?
Ellen Troxclair: "Yes, absolutely. I'm a mom of three kids. I am a Christian conservative. I'm a small business owner. And I'm the only one in the race with a proven record of actually following through on campaign promises, which I sure wish we had more of these days. I am endorsed by both of the other candidates that did not make it into the runoff. Obviously, we were on the campaign trail together so they had good insight into my work ethic, my character and my goals for the district. And they joined Sen. Ted Cruz, Congressmen Chip Roy, Roger Williams, Texas Alliance for Life, Texas Right to Life, Gun Owners of America and many more conservative organizations who are uniting behind electing a true conservative for this district. And I'm running because I'm tired of being sold out. We have got to secure the border. We have to protect our kids, and we have to stand up for truth. I feel like our country is at risk and Texas must lead the way back to sanity."
Justin Berry: "Well, you know, I asked people not to necessarily hear what I say, but look at my record, look at what I've done as a public servant for the last 15 years, as a police officer. I think it's very important to look at both of our times in the public light. You know, former Councilmember [Troxclair] had some votes that necessarily may not have been some of the most favorable votes, especially for those of us in the law enforcement community. And so I challenge people to look at the difference between her vote record and my time as a as a police officer, as a public servant. I think that speaks volumes to not just my character, but also to how best I'm there to serve the community … In law enforcement, you know, when I don't think there's much difference between being a public servant as a lawmaker, as a policymaker, or as a police officer, because we're there to solve problems. You know, when people reach out to us, whether it be a call for 911 for help, we're there to solve a problem. When people are calling your office because they need help with property tax relief or issues with their water supply or, you know, worrying about infrastructure issues, those are things right there that as a lawmaker, you're there to look at, 'How do I find a solution to a problem?' And so to me, I don't think there's much difference between the two. And I think my time in public service really sets me up to be the better candidate, because I'm really focused on how do we solve a problem, rather than maybe trying to find ways to just just spin it this way or spin it that way rather than address the issue."
Question: Sometimes rural interests clash with urban interests at the Texas Capitol. How are you going to best represent the interests of rural District 19 voters?
Berry: "I think that's a great question. And actually, if you look at how I ran that race when I ran in 47, we spent a lot of our time actually focusing on the smaller communities like Lago Vista and Bee Cave and Lakeway and Spicewood. We spent a lot time listening to their issues, their concerns, their needs because they haven't had a voice. And one thing that you find out in the rural communities that we're trying to be the representative for, there's a lot of the same feelings – 'How do I know you're going to give me a voice? How do I know our issues are going to be heard?' And so it's because of that is why I think that we're better set up to be the better representative for these small communities. You know, out there some of the big issues they're focusing on really are a public safety issues. You know, we're dealing with they want to have a secure border. They're concerned with some of the illegal immigration that's taking place because it's impacting some of the property owners out there. They're worried about the fentanyl that's coming through. I can't tell you how many times you hear of a fentanyl issue taking place in a lot of these counties. And so there is a lot of similarities that are going on out in the in the rural areas that, you know, my time in law enforcement has set me up to actually have some knowledge of some of these issues of what's going on and where the policy failures are to help improve and make things a little bit better for the community."
Troxclair: "Yes, well, great question. And both my husband and I are from more rural communities. He's from Uvalde County and graduated with 15 people in his graduating class of Knippa, Texas. And I'm from Flower Mound, where it was more pastoral land than strip mall. So that is our background. We found ourselves in Austin because that's where the jobs were after we graduated from college. And even though it wasn't where we planned on raising our family and setting down our roots, it was really the property tax issue that I realized somebody's got to do something. We're going to be taxed out of our home. We had saved money, both worked two jobs to save money to buy our first home in Austin. And it was shortly after that we got our first property tax bill and realized we're going to be taxed out of our home sooner rather than later. And rather than give up, I mean, the easy thing to do would have been to run and to sell the house and to get back to our more rural roots, but we about it and ultimately kind of woke up with the true conviction that we have to fight where we're most needed. And so even though the odds were not in my favor, I did run and win and serve as the only conservative on the Austin City Council. And we've since moved out. And I, of course, I stayed in the city during my entirety of my four-year term, but we have since moved outside of Austin about 45 minutes west of here. We also own land in Mason County. We spend as much time out there as possible close to Fredericksburg. So this is a, this is a district that we do have roots in, I would say. And in fact, my father-in-law has worked with farmers in these communities for decades as a Agrilife Extension agent, making sure that the ranchers and farmers have the tools and resources that they need to produce crops and raise cattle. So, yes, I served on the Austin City Council because I thought that was where I was being called and where I was most needed, but this district, the Hill Country, really is the true heart of Texas. It is, it is the last – gosh, when I think of what we need to do to keep Texas red, I think of the people across the whole country who have stood up time and time again from the encroachment on the big cities. And there's no one that is better prepared than I am after serving as a chief of staff for conservative legislators for 10 years, serving on a local city council, serving on as a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and just being a absolute conservative fighter for the past two decades to really understand those dynamics and ultimately stand up for what is right and get Texas back on the right track.
Question: What do you believe is the most pressing issue for the residents in District 19?
Troxclair: "Securing the border, if we do not get that under control, it is impacting all other parts of our government, all other parts of our schools. It is an absolute financial and a humanitarian and a public safety crisis. I have been to the border personally. I think it's only getting worse. And that should be priority number one for the Legislature and the governor. And from there, of course, we can do more things at once. And I will still continue to be an advocate on all the other issues that I listed but I think first, border security is priority number one."
Berry: "You know, a lot of it's coming down to is everyone's getting a property tax bill right now. So you hearing a lot of calls about, 'I'm being taxed out of my house.' You're actually hearing that. It's no longer, 'I may be taxed out of my house.' You're now hearing the conversations, 'I will be taxed out of my house. I am going to have to look for a place to move. But then where do I move to because I can't afford anything else?' So you're hearing that not just in Austin, but you're also hearing that in Kendall County. You're hearing that out there in Burnet County. You're hearing that out there in Gillespie County and Blanco County. There are real concerns about the growth in the rise in property values and the ability to afford the taxes that are coming with that."
You can watch Goudeau's full interview with Ellen Troxclair here:
You can watch Goudeau's full interview with Justin Berry here:
The primary runoff election is May 24. The last day to apply for a mail-in ballot is May 13. Early voting starts May 16 and runs through May 20.
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