Cate Brennan and Aaron Hendley vie for seat of outgoing Rep. Giovanni Capriglione.
Jumping into this sea of red are two candidates on the Democratic primary ballot — Cate Brennan, 67, and Aaron Hendley, 24. Brennan is a retired health care executive, and Hendley works in fast food.
. They share a passion for advocating for Texas families and making daily life more affordable. While Hendley’s enthusiasm and interest in politics is admirable, he lacks the background to carry his party on the ballot. Brennan, on the other hand, brings years of experience in nonprofit and advocacy work and seems poised to have conversations with voters.She’s focused on improving and adding funding for public schools, addressing affordability issues and expanding Medicaid while also reining in health care costs. Brennan advocates for repealing the Education Savings Account program established in House Bill 3 last year. She contends that public money should not be sent to private schools and that students who remain in public schools are going to have fewer resources.She proposes an increase in the minimum wage, from the current $7.25 hourly rate to $20 an hour, a move that she says will benefit the Texas economy, as people will have more money to pour back in. Her list also includes free or subsidized child care, pointing to neighboring New Mexico, which rolled out universal child care last year, and free tuition to community college for Texas residents. Her social net ideas require revenue, some of which she suggests would come from existing budgets and some from new sources, such as taxes from legalized gambling and legalized marijuana sales.“A budget is a picture of our priorities,” she said. “How you allocate is where your priorities are.” For starters, she says that border security is important, but there is room to cut from the Operation Lone Star budget. The Texas Legislature last year allocated $6.5 billion for border security operations. Brennan, who lives in Grapevine, says House District 98 voters have MAGA fatigue and are troubled by rhetoric from ultraconservative Republicans. “The conversation is shifting here,” she said. Of the two Democratic candidates on the ballot, Brennan is most prepared to lead those discussions.Dallas Morning News editorials are written by the paper's Editorial Board and serve as the voice and view of the paper. The board considers a broad range of topics and is overseen by the Editorial Page Editor.Bad Bunny, Olivia Dean, Lady Gaga and Kendrick Lamar win at the 2026 Grammy Awards
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