Priorities

The Texas General Land Office oversees the Alamo. That means the Land Commissioner has real influence over how the Alamo is managed and how its story is told.

The Alamo is too important to be used for politics. It’s a place that belongs to all Texans, and its history should be treated with honesty and respect.

As Land Commissioner, I will make sure decisions about the Alamo are guided by historians and preservation experts—not political agendas. The job of the GLO should be to protect the site, be transparent with the public, and tell the full, accurate history of the Alamo.

Texans deserve history, not politics. And that’s exactly how I will handle the Alamo.

Texas beaches are part of who we are. They’re a source of pride for us. From families spending weekends on the coast, to workers who make their living on the water, to generations who’ve grown up fishing, shrimping, and building coastal communities. Our beaches don’t belong to special interests. They belong to the people of Texas.

As Land Commissioner, I will protect Texas beaches as a shared public resource and a point of pride for our state. The General Land Office has a responsibility not only to protect public access and coastal ecosystems, but also to respond quickly when our beaches are damaged by storms, oil spills, or erosion.

That means taking beach cleanup seriously. Texans shouldn’t show up to the coast and find tarballs washing ashore, debris left behind after storms, or pollution sitting for weeks with no clear response. Tarballs aren’t just an eyesore—they threaten wildlife, hurt tourism, and signal a failure to act quickly and responsibly. Cleanup efforts must be timely, coordinated, and transparent, with clear accountability so communities aren’t left guessing or cleaning it up themselves.

I will enforce the Open Beaches Act, stand up for public access, and invest in long-term coastal protection that reduces erosion and storm damage in the first place. And I will work directly with coastal communities, local governments, and volunteers to keep our beaches clean, safe, and open.

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Putting Texans First, Not Developers

Texans deserve to know whose interests are being prioritized when decisions are made about our coastline. Under current leadership, Dawn Buckingham has met with developers interested in building along our coast, raising real concerns for

communities who depend on public access, environmental protection, and long-term resilience.

As Texas Land Commissioner, I will be clear about where I stand: decisions about Texas beaches should be made in the open and in the public interest—not behind closed doors and not driven by development pressure. Our coastline is not something to be sold off piece by piece. It’s a shared resource that must be protected.

Protecting Texas beaches is about respect, responsibility, and pride. I will fight to ensure our coast is cleaned up when pollution hits, protected from overdevelopment, and preserved for all Texans, today and for generations to come.

The Texas General Land Office manages 13 million acres of state-owned land. That means the Land Commissioner sets the rules corporations must follow when they operate on state land. As Land Commissioner, I will require stronger worker safety protections for any company operating on state lands than are required by state law. I will make sure that every lease has strict standards around drilling safety, equipment maintenance, waste handling, and emergency response–so that workers aren’t punished when companies cut corners.

After I returned home from the Marine Corps, working at the Valero refinery gave me the opportunity to provide for my family. Now, the Panhandle winds fuel a new era of renewable energy. Texas leads the nation in oil and gas and renewable energy production. As Land Commissioner, I will ensure that our energy resources are leveraged to ensure the greatest return from oil, gas, and renewable energy companies. We can keep the energy industry strong while generating revenue to fund our public schools, aid in disaster recovery, and protect our coastlines.

Our state faces deadly disasters too often, and recovery funds are sometimes mismanaged or delayed. As Land Commissioner, I will oversee disaster recovery using the Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds to make sure assistance reaches the people hit hardest first—working families, not just the wealthy and well-connected.

I will also prioritize disaster mitigation through the Community Development Block Grant – Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) program, strengthening communities and infrastructure to reduce the impact of future storms and floods. By improving transparency, speed, and fairness in both recovery and prevention, we can help Texans rebuild stronger, safer, and more resilient communities.

I am a product of the public school system, my wife is a school district employee, and my children are attending public school. I am a proud supporter of Texas public schools.

The Permanent School Fund, supported by the Land Commissioner’s office through management of state lands and mineral leases, is one of the most significant endowments for Texas public schools. By growing this fund responsibly, we can strengthen neighborhood schools, support critical resources like textbooks and technology, and help guarantee lower borrowing costs for school districts. I will prioritize using PSF earnings to benefit students and teachers directly—not diverting them away from everyday Texans—so every classroom can prepare our next generation for success.

As a Marine Corps veteran who deployed twice to Iraq, I am committed to fighting for those who have served our country. 

Texas Veterans Land Board
I am committed to expanding the Texans Veterans Land Board. Applying for benefits and receiving assistance should never feel like a full-time task. We must give our heroes the respect they deserve and ensure they don’t miss out on critical benefits, including competitive land and home loans, access to assisted living centers, and end-of-life planning programs.

Expanding Homes and Cemeteries
I am committed to ensuring veterans receive the care and respect they deserve in state homes and resting sites. With a generation of veterans approaching retirement age, Texas’ state-run veterans homes are inadequate to meet the demand of this growing population.

I will create a Veteran Home Expansion Task Force made up of the staff of the Texas Veterans Land Board and stakeholders from the veteran and military family community to identify opportunities to expand existing homes, establish new ones, and expand offerings to include assisted living centers. No more forgotten facilities. Veterans deserve dignity in life and in death, and workers in these facilities deserve to be heard and treated with respect.