VOTING INFO
Cameron County Sample Ballot:
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
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MEET RUBEN
Ruben was born and raised in South Texas, where he attended public school and his teachers encouraged him to dream big. He was inspired by his Christian faith and by his mother, a trailblazing public servant herself, to dedicate his life to serving his community.
A father of four children, Ruben has focused on fighting for a public education system that gives every child the opportunities, love, and attention they need to thrive. Ruben served as a member of the Brownsville ISD Board of Trustees before being elected to the Texas State Board of Education in 2012. On the State Board of Education, Ruben advocated fiercely for the Rio Grande Valley and all 5.4 million Texas students. He has spent the past decade working tirelessly to give students, teachers, and parents the resources they need to succeed.
Ruben worked across party lines to establish the first statewide course on Mexican-American studies, giving Texas students the opportunity to learn about the powerful influence of leaders like Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. He has fought against the STAAR test, advocated for increasing school funding and teacher pay, and worked to provide educational opportunities for all students, regardless of background. He continues to work for the people of the Rio Grande Valley by working to create new educational and economic opportunities for our community.
Ruben's career in service has been defined by honesty, hard work, and joining together to accomplish positive results. Ruben was able to bring Democrats and Republicans on the State Board of Education together to deliver meaningful results for Texas schools. Ruben believes it is more important than ever to demand our leaders listen to us and focus on finding bipartisan solutions to the big challenges we face, including real tax relief, affordable health care, well paying jobs, preventing gun violence, and humanely securing the border. He looks forward to working across party lines to help families, businesses, and communities rebuild bigger and better than ever.
OUR ISSUES
Ruben Cortez believes in a Texas where children go to safe and high-performing schools, where families have good paying jobs and affordable healthcare, and where we don't have to worry about things as basic as keeping the power on when the weather turns bad.
EDUCATION
As the Rio Grande Valley's most prominent supporter of public education, Ruben believes the first job is helping our students are prepared for the bright future that awaits them. That starts with keeping schools safe from all threats. Ruben has advocated for making sure all students have access to high speed internet, eliminating high-stakes testing, and for teachers to be paid professional salaries that respect their years of training. He has worked hard to make sure parents and teachers are involved together in writing curriculum that is transparent and collaborative. He has fought for schools to have access to the resources they need to meet staffing challenges and to ensure each child receives the individual attention they need to thrive.
HEALTH CARE
Ruben Cortez believes every family should have access to affordable and reliable health care, no matter their income or where they live. Texas should immediately expand Medicaid in order to access billions of dollars in federal funding that can help families in the Rio Grande Valley right away. Cortez worked tirelessly to protect the health and safety of students and families during the COVID-19 pandemic. He believes Texas must prioritize making health care more affordable for working families.
GOOD JOBS
Every person should have the ability to provide for their family through an honest day's work. Ruben supports expanding access to high paying jobs through investing in the green economy, workforce development, training, supporting local businesses, and incentivizing new investment. He'll partner with public schools, colleges, universities, and the business community to ensure an efficient workforce pipeline that provides employees ready for the jobs of tomorrow. Ruben will fight to improve pay and make housing more affordable.
TAXES & INFRASTRUCTURE
As a dad, Ruben knows you have to take care of the basics first. That means securing our communities and keeping the lights on, whether it's in the heat of summer or during a deadly winter freeze. Ruben will focus on the basic issues affecting South Texas, like addressing drainage and flooding, improving our aging roads and bridges, working to ease congestion at international ports, and bringing down property taxes. Ruben will prioritize making sure the Rio Grande Valley receives the services it needs without leaving families to get taxed out of their homes. That's why Ruben has promised to file legislation permanently capping property tax appraisals to end out-of-control tax growth.
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY
Ruben is focused on getting things done, not playing politics. He will restore honesty and transparency in government and will fight against the extreme politics that have distracted our state leaders and made Texas less safe.