Republican incumbent Sid Miller faces a challenge from Susan Hays, a former Dallas County Democratic Party chairwoman.
ditorial board, Hays cited her experience as a cannabis lawyer as the reason she can help Texas better regulate the drug. By not legalizing marijuana, she said the state is missing out on economic development opportunities and tax revenues that could be used for health care funding.
“I spent the pandemic in a county that shares a hospital with two other counties with 25 hospital beds and three ventilators,” Hays said. “It’s a sleeper issue in this race.”Texas Organization of Rural & Community Hospitals Aside from trying to help make sure there are more rural health care facilities, she said she would also push for the Republican-controlled Legislature to pass a bill expanding Medicaid in the state under the Affordable Care Act.
Miller claimed there haven’t been many rural hospital closures during his tenure, citing that a majority go back to 2005 — a decade before he became commissioner. But since 2015, 16 rural hospitals have closed, according to TORCH.