Representative Fred Hill is retiring from his District 112 seat on the State House, and filling the vacuum on the Republican side is a bevy of candidates. On February 14, the Richardson Chamber of Commerce had a candidate forum for the three Republicans vying for that seat: Angie Chen Button, Randall Dunning, and Jim Shepherd. We take a glance at their answers to questions. Also, each candidate has tried to garner endorsements, and on page 2 of this article we review those in what we call Endorsement Wars.

We give brief reviews of the candidates’ answers to questions in the order answered. This is concise but he wanted to give you one last look if you planned to vote in the Republican primary and if you had not yet voted in early voting. One the Democratic side, there is only one person in the race and we will review her opinions at a later time.

During opening remarks, Shepherd stressed his experience on the Richardson City Council and the Richardson ISD school board as his main qualifications for office. Mr. Dunning stressed his political philosophy of conservativism and his record on the Garland City Council. Mrs. Button stressed her conservativism and her ability and experience at building consensus amongst differing opinions.

On transportation funding, Dunning suggested reprioritizing transportation funding. He said tollways are not the only solution but ought to be considered where appropriate. Button said her experience on the DART Board and regional mobility committee made her most qualified to deal with this issue. She said that transportation policy, here and nationwide, should enhance global competitiveness. She is against raising a gas tax to fund transportation but she might favor indexing the gas tax to the inflation rate. She thinks tollroads are a better solution than raising taxes. Shepherd agreed indexing the tax is a good idea and stressed that regional mobility councils are better equipped to deal with transportation issues than the state.

On appraisal caps on property, Dunning favored a cap on the amount an appraisal can increase year to year. Button suggested that the problem is too complex for a simple solution. She said the entire appraisal system ought to reformed, that no one person is going to have the answer, and that the answer would come through an involved deliberative process with many participants. Shepherd said appraisals are not the problem. Cities and entities that set tax rates are ultimately responsible for the tax burden, he said. During response time, Dunning said Shepherd’s position was like blaming the taxpayer.

On skyrocketing college tuition, Shepherd favors “UTD’s notion” of a four year freeze on tuition hikes for entering freshmen. Dunning seemed to oppose the freeze notion but Button backed Shepherd up saying a freeze allows families to plan for tuition costs, at least, over a four-year period.

On illegal immigration, Dunning suggested stop passing laws that encourage illegal immigration, letting local police do immigration work, and he supports photo Ids for voting. He said Irving’s approach of helping deport arrested illegal immigrants is more favorable that Framers Branch’s approach. Button pointed out that she was a legal immigrant and as such had a duty to help with the illegal immigration problem. She supports hi-tech border monitoring, and giving local police greater authority in illegal immigration matters. She also favors getting consensus by engaging business leaders in the process to find new solutions. Shepherd points out that it’s a federal border and that the federal government should provide assistance to local law enforcement. He is concerned that a vast demographic shift can harm ISD funding and that the focus should be drug dealers and crooks.