Pat Curry and Erin Shank discuss replacing Doc Anderson

WACO, Texas (KWTX) – The Hispanic Leaders Network held a debate with candidates for district seats in the Texas House at the KWTX studios. News 10’s Ke’sha Lopez was the moderator on Tuesday as Democratic candidate Erin Shank and Republican candidate Pat Curry answered questions in the race for House District 56.

The Texas Tribune reports that District 56 includes many cities in McLennan County, including 72% of Waco.

Both first introduced themselves and presented their plans for Texas.

Shank explained why her personal and professional experience leads to the type of leadership she believes is required in this role.

“I have the best job in the world. I’m a mother and I think that’s what qualifies me most for this job. I am also one of the highest-ranking attorneys in McLennan County and in the Texas House of Representatives,” Shank said.

Curry says his team has already done a good job in Austin and he wants to keep it up. “I am pleased to say that I have been involved in many political issues, having been actively involved in shaping the policies coming up in the next session since the primary.”

The first issue was hot topic for Texas and the nation. Immigration. Shank says if Kamala Harris wins the presidency, passing the bipartisan border bill would help make the process easier for immigrants. But ultimately the border is not a state issue, but a federal issue, she says.

“We’ve spent billions of dollars building border walls, expanding border walls and barriers down there, and I think that’s just a federal issue. Why don’t we put this money into education?” Shanks says.

Curry says there is a right way and a wrong way to allow immigration into our country. Explain that our border should be treated the same way you would install gates and security to protect your home.

“We just need to make the right staffing and deal with the current situation, but we can’t just let it cross our border. We need the wall, we need barriers,” he explains.

The next topic was public education, particularly for low-resource areas. Curry was a strong advocate for school vouchers and their importance for students.

“My goal is to make sure it includes workforce development and professional development and allows freshmen in high school to start taking classes whether they go to college or not. They must be ready for all the jobs we create. And we created a lot of jobs,” he says.

Shank focused on her opposition to the voucher movement.

“We need to put this money into our public schools, which educate 95% of our children and all of our children with special needs,” she says.

The last topic was health insurance, especially for children.

It’s a topic Shank could talk about from his own experience with insurance issues.

“This one hits the spot. We need to expand Medicaid. I have a little girl with disabilities and she’s on Medicaid and Social Security, and three weeks ago her Medicaid was taken away because she got a couple hundred dollar increase in her Social Security,” she says.

Curry disagrees with expanding the program because he says it leaves us at the mercy of the federal government. But he says our state is really good at getting people the help they need.

“She is taken care of. If we change the federal government now and elect Donald Trump and keep Ted Cruz in office, we will keep that and solve this problem,” he says.

Early voting runs until November 1st, with Election Day set for November 5th.

To find a complete list of polling locations near you, click here.

Copyright 2024, KWTX. All rights reserved.