Dana Van De Walker
Dana Van De Walker (Democratic Party) is running for election to the Texas State Board of Education to represent District 8. She is on the ballot in the general election on November 3, 2026. She advanced from the Democratic primary on March 3, 2026.
Van De Walker completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Dana Van De Walker earned a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in political science from Illinois State University, as well as a doctorate in education from Sam Houston State University. Her career experience includes teaching English as a second language in South Korea, serving as an assistant professor and administrator at Daegu University, and coordinating student exchange programs at Sam Houston State University and Lone Star College.[1]
Elections
2026
See also: Texas State Board of Education election, 2026
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
General election for Texas State Board of Education District 8
Incumbent Audrey Young (R) and Dana Van De Walker (D) are running in the general election for Texas State Board of Education District 8 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Audrey Young (R) | |
 | Dana Van De Walker (D)  | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
Democratic primary for Texas State Board of Education District 8
Dana Van De Walker (D) defeated Shahzeb Meghani (D) in the Democratic primary for Texas State Board of Education District 8 on March 3, 2026.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Dana Van De Walker | 70.8 | 72,868 |
| Shahzeb Meghani | 29.2 | 30,084 | ||
| Total votes: 102,952 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
Republican primary for Texas State Board of Education District 8
Incumbent Audrey Young (R) defeated George Vachris (R) in the Republican primary for Texas State Board of Education District 8 on March 3, 2026.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Audrey Young | 69.7 | 72,510 |
 | George Vachris | 30.3 | 31,525 | |
| Total votes: 104,035 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Van De Walker received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Dana Van De Walker completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Van De Walker's responses.
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- Upholding the essential Constitutional value of separation of church and state: I believe that religion has no place in our public schools and will fight to remove the Ten Commandments and any religiously-influenced curriculum, while also advocating for the rights of students to individually practice their religion. Moreover, I support a robust, science-informed curriculum, comprehensive sex education, all-gender restrooms, and the ability of LGBTQIA+ students to use their chosen name and pronouns, regardless of parental approval (or notification). I am also fiercely opposed to book bans.
- Equitable access to education for all Texans, regardless of immigration status: This goal has several components, but most importantly to me, it includes allowing undocumented (or DACAmented) Texas residents to again qualify for in-state tuition at Texas colleges and universities. Also, I believe that ICE officials should not be allowed on any K-12 or college campus, nor should they be able to target parents or guardians dropping off or picking up students at school.
- Opposition to school vouchers: Numerous studies have shown that school vouchers take money away from the neediest school districts and disproportionately impact students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Instead, we need to prioritize investing in public schools, including incentivizing teachers to stay.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from OpenSecrets. That information will be published here once it is available.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
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Candidate Texas State Board of Education District 8 |
Personal |
Footnotes
