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Zach Vance

  • Dec 29, 2025
  • 9 min read

Table of Contents


🔗 We have not asked Zach Vance to complete our candidate questionnaire.


Disclaimer: The information below summarizes publicly available information. “Considerations for voters” are intended to highlight relevant strengths, gaps, or strategic factors, not to advocate for or against any candidate.



Zach Vance Texas Governor


“We cannot flip Texas without someone who can get voters through, and past, the emotions that Republicans make them feel during the election. I am that person."




Candidate Overview 

Background

  • 39 year old medically retired Marine and Purple Heart recipient

  • Born in Houston and raised in Fort Bend County

  • Been a “stay at home/work from home dad” doing AUTOCAD work for a couple structural engineers since 2020


Mission:

  • To change Texas by getting Texans to prioritize real issues over the culture war issues that Greg Abbott uses to distract voters from the actual problems facing this state and in their lives.


Relevant Experience

  • Military service

  • Exposure to diverse communities

  • Media background

  • Caregiving & workforce disruption during COVID


Notable Positions & Focus Areas

  • Lower property taxes

  • End appraisal district’s reappraising of homes every year and make it every ten years

  • Have the state come up with a health care plan for uninsured Texans

  • Pay teachers what they deserve, incentivize good teachers to stay teaching, lower classroom sizes, figure out a way to punish problem students and their parents

  • An easily affordable and quality health insurance plan is absolutely a top priority

  • Eliminate homelessness in Texas


Considerations for Voters

  • Campaign framing centers voter emotion over policy substance.

  • Stated priority to “end the culture war” without clear policy definition.

  • Electoral strategy is framed primarily in opposition to Republican tactics.

  • Vance states on his website that he “hasn’t accomplished much” to campaign on, emphasizing personal experience over professional or policy-based achievements. Voters may want to weigh how this aligns with the responsibilities and scale of the Governor’s office.

  • The campaign suggests voters do not meaningfully care about issues such as healthcare, public education, or affordability because of emotional distraction. This framing may be viewed by some voters as minimizing the real, material challenges Texans face daily.




Positions


Democratic Values

Vance does not mention expanding voting rights or transparency/accountability in government on his website.




Healthcare

Stance:

Vance explicitly states his belief that healthcare is a human right, not a privilege, and the current medical system requires major reform to ensure affordability and access. Reproductive healthcare decisions should remain between individuals and their doctors, not politicians.


Key Positions & Commitments:

  • Supports major reform of the American healthcare system to lower costs and expand access

  • Prioritizes affordable, quality health insurance for as many Texans as possible


Reproductive Healthcare:

  • Opposes laws restricting abortion access

  • Supports making abortion care affordable and accessible, especially for low-income women

  • Advocates for improved outcomes and care for foster children in Texas

  • Supports policies that make adoption more accessible for loving families


Populations Centered:

  • Uninsured and underinsured Texans

  • Low-income individuals and families facing medical cost burdens

  • Women seeking reproductive healthcare

  • Foster children within the Texas child welfare system

  • Families navigating adoption


Relevant Expertise & Preparation:

  • Demonstrates familiarity with healthcare affordability challenges

  • Shows awareness of gaps in foster care outcomes and adoption systems

  • Articulates a values-based framework for healthcare and reproductive policy


Notable Emphasis:

  • Explicitly connects reproductive freedom with broader healthcare access

  • Highlights the impact of healthcare costs on financial stability

  • Shifts focus from abortion bans to child welfare and systemic reform

  • Centers low-income Texans in access to reproductive healthcare




Equity & Representation

Stance:

Equity means ensuring dignity, safety, and opportunity for people who have been pushed to the margins, including unhoused Texans, women seeking reproductive care, and children in state custody. Government has a responsibility to respond to harm with humane, practical solutions rather than punishment or neglect.


Key Positions & Commitments:

  • Commits to eliminating homelessness in Texas through comprehensive, statewide solutions

  • Frames homelessness as the result of structural failures, including mental health access, addiction, income loss, and housing shortages

  • Supports reproductive freedom and opposes state interference in personal healthcare decisions

  • Advocates for improving outcomes, care, and stability for foster children

  • Supports making adoption more accessible for loving families

  • Emphasizes dignity, purpose, and humane treatment in state responses to vulnerability


Approach:

  • Focuses on addressing root causes rather than criminalizing outcomes

  • Emphasizes “hand ups, not handouts,” prioritizing long-term stability and reintegration

  • Centers dignity and personal agency in policy responses

  • Argues the state should invest in systems of care (housing, mental health, child welfare) rather than coercive enforcement

  • Connects reproductive freedom with broader family and child welfare policy


Relevant Experience & Expertise:

  • Military service and medical retirement, shaping views on responsibility, service, and human dignity

  • Caregiving and workforce disruption during COVID, providing personal insight into economic instability

  • Exposure to diverse Texas communities through lived experience across regions

  • Media and communications background, informing public engagement and messaging

  • Professional experience balancing caregiving, work-from-home labor, and economic uncertainty


Notable Emphasis:

  • Treats homelessness as a solvable policy failure, not an individual moral failing

  • Explicitly links equity with dignity and purpose, not charity

  • Shifts focus from abortion restrictions to strengthening foster care and adoption systems

  • Frames freedom as protection from government overreach in personal and family decisions




Economy & Cost of Living

Stance:

The cost of living in Texas is driven by property taxes, healthcare costs, childcare access, and housing instability. The state should use its surplus and authority to reduce household financial pressure rather than shifting costs onto local governments and residents.


Key Positions & Commitments:

  • Supports using state surplus sales tax revenue to better fund public schools and reduce reliance on local property taxes

  • Supports taxing homes at their purchase price for 10 years, with appraisals kept below market value

  • Commits to reducing what he describes as wasteful local government spending

  • Supports a state-created healthcare plan for uninsured Texans to reduce ER cost-shifting to cities and taxpayers

  • Calls for statewide solutions to make childcare more affordable and accessible


Cost-of-Living Focus Areas:

  • Public Schools

  • Healthcare Costs

  • Property Taxes

  • Childcare Costs


Populations Centered:

  • Homeowners

  • Parents of school-aged children

  • Uninsured Texans

  • Seniors


Approach to Economic Policy:

  • Proposes ending annual home reappraisals and moving to a 10-year appraisal cycle

  • Proposes eliminating most property taxes for certain seniors (65+, long-term homeowners, fully paid homes under $1M)

  • Adjusting the appraisal timeline at the county level


Notable Emphasis:

  • Strong focus on property tax relief as a primary cost-of-living solution

  • Heavy reliance on state surplus funding without detailed discussion of long-term sustainability

  • Emphasizes affordability through structural reform rather than wage policy

  • Frames healthcare and childcare primarily through economic impact, not labor rights

  • Positions homelessness, reproductive access, and healthcare as economic issues as well as moral ones




Texas Issues

Stance:

Vance believes that Texas is facing an existential political and humanitarian crisis driven by culture war politics, voter disengagement, and leadership that prioritizes power over people. The state’s core problems will only be addressed if Democrats fundamentally change how they engage voters and win statewide power.


Key Positions & Commitments:

  • Frames defeating Greg Abbott and flipping statewide offices as urgent and life-or-death for many Texans, particularly women

  • Argues Texas elections are driven more by fear, anger, and confusion than by policy debate

  • Commits to directly confronting Republican culture war messaging rather than ignoring it

  • Prioritizes large-scale voter turnout strategies, including:

  • Turning out at least 250,000 new voters

  • Mobilizing “presidential-election-only” Democratic voters in midterms

  • Persuading non-partisan, right-leaning voters to vote Democratic

  • Positions himself as uniquely capable of calming voter fear and reducing emotional manipulation in elections

  • Emphasizes drawing a sharp moral contrast between candidates and parties


Approach to Climate Resilience:

  • Vance does not directly address climate resilience, climate adaptation, or environmental preparedness in this section

  • He frames statewide crises primarily through political, emotional, and electoral dynamics rather than environmental systems

  • Climate-related infrastructure, grid reliability, and disaster preparedness are not explicitly discussed here


Relevant Experience & Expertise:

  • Military service as a medically retired Marine and Purple Heart recipient

  • Media background, informing views on messaging, voter psychology, and political communication

  • Lived experience across multiple Texas regions, including rural and suburban communities

  • Experience engaging with voters through storytelling, emotional framing, and persuasion

  • Positions himself as skilled in emotional intelligence and behavioral understanding rather than policy specialization


Notable Emphasis:

  • Heavy focus on campaign strategy, voter psychology, and emotional dynamics over specific Texas policy solutions

  • Infrastructure, grid reliability, and climate preparedness are notably absent from this discussion

  • Criminal justice reform is not explicitly addressed in this section

  • Support for rural communities is discussed primarily through electoral strategy, not policy commitments

  • Small business support is not directly mentioned

  • Veteran status is emphasized as part of credibility and identity, but veteran-specific policy priorities are not outlined here

  • Fair maps and anti-gerrymandering are not addressed in this section

  • Strong framing of politics as a moral and emotional battle rather than a policy-driven one




Education

Stance

Vance acknowledges the need for increased funding and meaningful support for public schools and teachers.


Key Positions & Commitments:

  • Tax dollars don't need to go to private schools.

  • We need to spend every dollar we can to make public schools better.


Approach:

  • Increase pay and incentives to decrease turnover rates

  • Lower classroom sizes


Relevant Experience & Expertise:



Notable Emphasis:

  • This statement on his website is interesting and requires elaboration to understand his intent - "I will figure out a way to punish problem students and their parents."




Accountability, Ethics, & Leadership

Stance:

Vance frames leadership as a moral imperative focused on protecting Texans from harm, rejecting culture-war politics, and prioritizing outcomes over ideology. Accountability is defined largely through results, voter trust, and defeating entrenched political power.


Key Positions & Commitments:

  • Rejects the use of public funds for private schools; prioritizes public education investment

  • Commits to reducing wasteful local government spending

  • Frames healthcare access, reproductive freedom, and housing stability as moral responsibilities of leadership

  • Positions defeating Greg Abbott and Republican governance as an urgent ethical necessity


Approach:

  • Emphasizes emotional intelligence and voter psychology as central leadership tools

  • Frames leadership as calming fear, reducing anger, and countering political “gaslighting”

  • Prioritizes electoral victory as a prerequisite for accountability and reform

  • Uses sharp moral contrasts to define ethical boundaries


Relevant Experience & Expertise:

  • Military service informing views on responsibility, duty, and leadership under pressure

  • Media background shaping understanding of messaging, persuasion, and public narrative

  • Caregiving and workforce disruption during COVID informing views on affordability and stability


Notable Emphasis:

  • Strong focus on campaign leadership and voter persuasion, with less detail on governing structures

  • Accountability is framed more as moral clarity and intent than formal oversight mechanisms

  • Limited discussion of institutional checks, enforcement tools, or ethics reforms

  • Leadership is defined primarily through winning elections and shifting voter behavior




Immigration

Vance makes no mention of immigration or related issues on his website.




Candidate Qualifications

Stance:

Vance presents lived experience, personal hardship, and emotional insight as primary qualifications, arguing these traits are more critical than traditional political résumés for winning statewide office and governing effectively.


Key Positions & Commitments:

  • Positions himself as an outsider capable of breaking through voter disengagement

  • Emphasizes relatability, empathy, and authenticity as core qualifications

  • Frames the ability to turn out new and low-propensity voters as a key credential

  • Asserts confidence in his ability to flip Texas blue statewide


Approach:

  • Centers personal narrative and life experience over formal political accomplishments

  • Relies on voter psychology and emotional connection as distinguishing strengths

  • Emphasizes persuasion across ideological lines rather than coalition governance


Relevant Experience & Expertise:

  • Medically retired Marine and Purple Heart recipient

  • Media and communications experience

  • Technical work supporting structural engineering projects

  • Caregiving experience and firsthand exposure to childcare and healthcare barriers

  • Lived experience across multiple Texas communities


Notable Emphasis:

  • Explicitly acknowledges limited traditional accomplishments or governing experience

  • Qualifications are framed more in terms of emotional intelligence than administrative readiness

  • Little discussion of managing large state agencies, budgets, or complex bureaucracies

  • Strong confidence in personal capability, with fewer concrete examples of policy execution




Scorecard Summary


Our Score: 11.5/34

Very limited alignment with TMK–Indivisible Waco’s core endorsement criteria.


Important Note: In the absence of completed questionnaire responses, this score is based only on positions explicitly stated on the candidate’s campaign website. Areas where points were not awarded reflect lack of available information, not opposition to the policy.


We will update this profile if additional policy information becomes available.



Key Positions & Commitments:

  • Expanding access to affordable healthcare and framing healthcare as a human right

  • Protecting reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy

  • Fully funding public schools, opposing vouchers, and improving teacher pay and retention

  • Addressing homelessness through humane, dignity-centered solutions

  • Reducing costs through property tax reform, childcare solutions, and affordability measures


Approach:

  • Focuses heavily on voter psychology, emotions, and countering Republican culture-war messaging

  • Emphasizes persuasion and calming fear and anger as prerequisites for winning statewide elections

  • Frames the campaign as an existential fight for Texans’ lives, particularly women

  • Leans toward broad vision and narrative framing over policy mechanics and enforcement detail


Relevant Experience & Expertise:

  • Brings lived experience related to affordability pressures, childcare access, and healthcare insecurity

  • Experience is conveyed more through personal narrative and worldview than formal policy or administrative roles


Notable Emphasis:

  • Strong moral clarity and willingness to directly confront Republican messaging

  • Centers dignity, humanity, and quality of life for marginalized and struggling Texans

  • Less explicit on infrastructure, climate resilience, criminal justice reform, and democratic structural safeguards

  • Positions resonate emotionally but would benefit from clearer implementation pathways in several policy areas






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