Meet the Candidate: John Harvey Slocum – Texas House District 12

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – We are about 2 weeks away from the start of early voting.

One race some Brazos Valley voters will see on their ballot is Texas House District 12. This week on News 3 at Six, we are getting to know the candidates who want to represent District 12 in Austin.

District 12 includes Robertson, Madison, Walker, Grimes, Washington and the eastern and southern portions of Brazos County.

Kyle Kacal currently holds the District 12 chair. In November, he announced he would not seek reelection in 2024. Three Republicans are running in hopes of filling his seat: Ben Bius, Trey Wharton and John Harvey Slocum.

Slocum joined News 3 at Six on Monday to discuss why he believes he should take the seat.

“I think District 12 is very blessed to have three good candidates running. But I do think you know, I’m the son of a football coach. So I’ve been taught hard work and responsibility in my life but also team building, and I think in this district, District 12 needs to be represented by someone who understands that, that understands teams both in the district for steering committees and being close to the district and having an impact and understanding of what the community needs as well as being able to take that leadership to Austin and be able to have people join our side and get things done that represents District 12 and makes us successful there in the House of Representatives.”

One topic legislators have failed to agree on is school vouchers. Slocum says he looks forward to being in the room for these future discussions.

“I am an advocate for school choice. That being said. I’m also an advocate for public education. I’m a product of public schools and I think we have a responsibility to make sure that we keep a strong public school system,” Slocum said. “That being said it’s also very important for the parents of our children to have a choice… We have to make sure that no matter what we choose to do or how we do it the kids don’t suffer .”

You can watch our entire interview with Slocum in the player above.

You can learn more about him by clicking here.