CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Abel Herrero is expected to serve a ninth term as Dist. 34 Texas State Representative. He took the lead against republican opponent Carolyn Vaughn on Tuesday.
Click here to see the election results.
After Election night, Herrero plans to get back to work. He said he wants to focus on finding solutions to meet the needs of the community he serves. One topic near and dear to his heart, is bettering the education system.
Hererro is a father and his kids go to local schools. So, he said he wants to make sure the future is bright for them and the next generation.
Herrero believes using several streams of revenue could be the solution for Texas school funding. He said the state reaps a lot of benefits from oil and gas businesses. He also said he supports gaming and casinos coming to Texas because he believes the state could take profits from that and distribute it to the education system.
Herrero was born and raised in Robstown. His mother raised him and his brother as a single parent, working two jobs. Herrero has been practicing law for 25 years. He's been married for 30 years and has five children, four of which are in public schools.
The following are responses from a Q&A with Herrero:
Q. What are your thoughts on legalizing marijuana?
A. "For legalizing marijuana, I'm an open minded individual, I would consider issues that are brought forth for consideration. I one that has been analytical and comparing the pros and the cons of an issue. And then based on the response that we get from our constituency, you know, we will push forth and whatever that position is. I am a representative of our community. So if the community says, hey, yeah, we would like for you to consider that and we want you to move forward, that's what I would do if the community says no, this is a step that we would not want to take then I respect the opinions of our constituents. I will advocate and represent them as I have been the last couple of years."
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Q. Give us your insight on inflation, the economy, and housing?
A. "There's a diverse group of the housing if you will, to housing needs between people that are looking for affordable housing, individuals that are homeowners and trying to make sure that we the keep the cost of living down. I went to the dollar store and wanted to buy a loaf of bread and it was four dollars or $3.75 to be exact. So we want to do everything that we can do to make sure that we reduce the cost of living. It's important that we provide adjustments. I'm always ready, willing and able to help our community because those are some of the needs that we know of in a diverse community that we live in.
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Q. What should be done at the border?
A. "It's a federal issue, but obviously it's affecting Texas and so when the propositions came forth and providing resources for our Texas Department of Public Safety, I supported those propositions, you know, in providing additional funding, additional individuals. I'm not gonna say manpower because there are women, so men and women in DPS that are protecting our communities. I do think that we need to do more to ensure that our local jurisdictions have the resources necessary. When we look at some of the lessons learned from Uvalde. We learned that there is additional training that is needed for our local law enforcement that we need to make sure that we provide availability of individuals that are well equipped, you know, so when we look at our police force, and we look instead of dedicating all of our resources to the border, you know, we need to look in our backyard and realize that those funds could be used effectively and efficiently. And in a more direct way, in curtailing some of the violence that is occurring in our communities, specifically in our schools. If we just refocus our attention in training officers and making availability of resources and individuals to rural communities, making sure that we provide the training in our classrooms for individuals that we will allow for local control of our school districts, and that we allow for flexibility of our school districts and being able to provide those resources. So you know, I understand that we can use our DPS troopers in doing some of the Border Patrol issues that are really the task of the federal government but we also need to see some results in seeing that it is being used effectively in that fashion, but otherwise, we can use those resources effectively, efficiently. Now, in our in our backyards."
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Q. What is your stance on abortion policies?
A. "I'm pro-life, and I voted as such. I've indicated, two individuals that have asked me that and that's what I've done. I'll stand by my record, you know, and that's my position on abortion. And people ask me, I'm pro-life."
