Candidates for the Republican primary for U.S. House District 2 gathered at The Woodlands Area Economic Development Partnership on Feb. 19 for a forum on economic and business topics during the first week of early voting.
Incumbent Rep. Dan Crenshaw and candidates Martin Etwop and N. Lee Plumb attended the forum, and state Rep. Steve Toth, who represents District 15 in the Texas Legislature, was also invited but did not attend. The forum was moderated by Community Impact and Woodlands Online.
The candidates offered information about their backgrounds and motivations for running, and moderators’ questions covered topics such as the economy and legislative policies.
What they said
Candidates were asked to describe a vision for federal support of workforce development that would align with employer needs. The following are excerpts from their remarks.
Crenshaw: “We can put grant programs in place that support accredited programs, that incentivize that kind of thing at the local level. We need to be encouraging in that partnership between colleges and industry. … Classrooms need to be tailored for the job market, and we do see that here.”
Etwop: “We need to be concerned about our families, our kids, our students. … You need to hire for America, American employers, American employees. That’s how we get our young people back to work, and we need to be doing that.”
Plumb: “What we’re not seeing is a lot of creative thinking … The first thing I would do is pass a moratorium on any visas … that would force us to ask … ‘Why aren’t there enough people going through residency? … Why are we accepting the offshoring, and why is the private industry reliant on the federal government?'”
Offering input
On another topic, candidates discussed what would signal to them that their economic policies were working. The following are excerpts from their replies.
Plumb: “Tangible outcomes that you would expect to see is jobs coming back to the United States. You should expect to see a reduction in the announcements [of layoffs] that we’re seeing.”
Etwop: “When [the business owners] feel confident not to be bringing someone from another country to help … and they’re not worried about, ‘Is my paycheck going to make it because I’m overtaxed?’ … Today, everything is too expensive.”
Crenshaw: “We made permanent … things like deduction for investments. … These are very tangible results for business owners. You can’t have economic growth without security … I’ve also supported law enforcement. … [and] flooding is part of security. Projects we’ve been able to fund have saved a lot of lives.”
Get involved
The full forum can be viewed online.
Early voting began Feb. 17 and will end Feb. 27. A list of some of the positions on the sample ballot for voters in The Woodlands area in Montgomery County can be found here.
Election day is March 3.