2020 General Election - TURF Voter Guide

Texans Uniting for Reform & Freedom (TURF) compiled this Voter Guide to gauge candidates positions on toll roads, transportation policy (including accountability and transparency), and property rights. Based on each candidates answers to our survey, they received a grade.

NOTE: This guide only includes contested races (so those with no opponent do not appear in this guide).* It also only includes candidates who returned our survey in writing (filled out by the candidate him or herself). If you do not see a candidate here, they did NOT return our candidate survey in writing. Do NOT cast your vote until you know where they stand on tolls. You can’t trust what they tell you until they’re willing to put it in writing (and even then we have trouble holding them to it!). Have them contact us immediately. The below candidates will appear on the General Ballot. Only one Democrat returned our candidate survey.

See the Texas TURF Report Card for the grade of every incumbent state legislator.

TURF Voter Guide - 2020 General Election

Local Transportation Bonds

City of Austin:

Vote ’No’ on Austin’s Proposition A Project Connect rail and transit bond. This would increase city property taxes 25% (dedicating 8.75% of city property taxes to this boondoggle) and cost taxpayers $7.1 billion. That’s just the down payment. That $7.1 billion wouldn’t even cover operation and maintenance costs (see this article in the Austin Business Journal). That doesn’t fund the whole system. They’re proposing a massive light rail system (for the third time, expanding it’s already nationally recognized embarrassment with its metro rail line), converting its fleet of buses to all electric, and an all electric bike fleet at transit hubs. Putting such a mass transit system before voters during a pandemic adds insult to injury, especially in light of mass transit being cauldrons for the spread of coronavirus (even the CDC cautions against its use). Then there’s the massive increase in residents working at home. Many of which will be permanent, even after the COVID crisis passes.

City of San Antonio:

Vote ’No’ to Proposition A, which carves out another 1/8 of 1% of the city’s Advanced Transportation Tax to Via Transit (this is in addition to the 1/8 of the ATD tax it already receives). This diverts core city road tax revenues to an agency that already wastes millions in taxpayer dollars, runs fleets of empty buses, and forces bus/HOV lanes on our highways stealing road capacity from commuters. Via spent $38 million on a park and ride boondoggle for a 3 mile bus priority lane it forced on the US 281 corridor. It’s sits unfinished and the park and ride garage is virtually empty. When we tried to take pictures of it, a security officer told us we could not take photographs of this disgrace. They don’t want you to see or know how badly they wasted YOUR money. The last thing taxpayers should do is give this agency MORE money!