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DC Caldwell
Daniel Caldwell (Republican Party, Democratic Party) (also known as DC) ran for election to the Texas State Board of Education to represent District 10. He was disqualified from the Green Party convention scheduled on March 23, 2024. He was disqualified from the Libertarian Party convention scheduled on March 23, 2024. He lost in the Republican primary on March 5, 2024. He lost in the Democratic primary on March 5, 2024.
Caldwell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
DC Caldwell was born in Garden City, Michigan. Caldwell earned a B.S. in civil engineering from Texas A&M University in 2008 and a J.D. from Texas Southern University's Thurgood Marshall School of Law in 2019.[1][2]
Caldwell's career experience includes working as an engineering group operations sergeant for the Texas State Guard and as an educator for the Austin Independent School District, Birdville Independent School District, Crowley Independent School District, and Freer Independent School District. He has served as a bilingual early voting clerk, a volunteer deputy voter registrar, and an election day judge. Caldwell has been affiliated with the Tarrant County Bar Association, the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, the Fort Worth Paralegal Association, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Federalist Society for Law & Public Policy Studies, the American Constitution Society, and the American Society of Civil Engineers.[2]
Elections
2024
Note: The district convention for the Green Party of Texas was deemed invalid by state leadership due to procedural issues.[3]
See also: Texas State Board of Education election, 2024
General election
General election for Texas State Board of Education District 10
Incumbent Tom Maynard defeated Raquel Saenz Ortiz in the general election for Texas State Board of Education District 10 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Tom Maynard (R) | 67.6 | 594,496 |
 | Raquel Saenz Ortiz (D)  | 32.4 | 285,508 | |
| Total votes: 880,004 | |||
| = 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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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for Texas State Board of Education District 10
Incumbent Tom Maynard defeated Mary Bone in the Republican primary runoff for Texas State Board of Education District 10 on May 28, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tom Maynard | 51.8 | 24,658 |
 | Mary Bone | 48.2 | 22,924 | |
| Total votes: 47,582 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas State Board of Education District 10
Raquel Saenz Ortiz defeated Daniel Caldwell in the Democratic primary for Texas State Board of Education District 10 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Raquel Saenz Ortiz | 78.6 | 35,622 |
 | Daniel Caldwell | 21.4 | 9,703 | |
| Total votes: 45,325 | |||
| = 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 election
Republican primary for Texas State Board of Education District 10
Incumbent Tom Maynard and Mary Bone advanced to a runoff. They defeated Daniel Caldwell in the Republican primary for Texas State Board of Education District 10 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tom Maynard | 49.3 | 101,741 |
| ✔ | | Mary Bone | 40.5 | 83,497 |
| Daniel Caldwell | 10.3 | 21,162 | |
| Total votes: 206,400 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Green convention
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Daniel Caldwell (G)
Libertarian convention
Libertarian convention for Texas State Board of Education District 10
Gerald McAlexander advanced from the Libertarian convention for Texas State Board of Education District 10 on March 23, 2024.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | Gerald McAlexander (L) | |
| ||||
| = 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. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Daniel Caldwell (L)
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Caldwell in this election.
2022
See also: Texas State Board of Education election, 2022
General election
General election for Texas State Board of Education District 11
Incumbent Patricia Hardy defeated Luis Sifuentes and Kathi Arocha in the general election for Texas State Board of Education District 11 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Patricia Hardy (R) | 63.3 | 390,046 |
 | Luis Sifuentes (D) | 36.7 | 226,183 | |
 | Kathi Arocha (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 176 | |
| Total votes: 616,405 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Democratic primary runoff election
The Democratic primary runoff election was canceled. Luis Sifuentes advanced from the Democratic primary runoff for Texas State Board of Education District 11.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- James Whitfield (D)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas State Board of Education District 11
Luis Sifuentes and James Whitfield (Unofficially withdrew) advanced to a runoff. They defeated Daniel Caldwell in the Democratic primary for Texas State Board of Education District 11 on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Luis Sifuentes | 47.2 | 25,401 |
| ✔ | James Whitfield (Unofficially withdrew) | 33.7 | 18,104 | |
| Daniel Caldwell | 19.1 | 10,261 | |
| Total votes: 53,766 | |||
| = 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 election
Republican primary for Texas State Board of Education District 11
Incumbent Patricia Hardy defeated Joshua Tarbay, Rebecca Garcia, and Daniel Caldwell in the Republican primary for Texas State Board of Education District 11 on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Patricia Hardy | 58.9 | 84,028 |
 | Joshua Tarbay | 20.7 | 29,554 | |
| Rebecca Garcia | 12.1 | 17,260 | ||
| Daniel Caldwell | 8.3 | 11,781 | |
| Total votes: 142,623 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Libertarian convention
Libertarian convention for Texas State Board of Education District 11
No candidate advanced from the convention.
Candidate | ||
| Daniel Caldwell (L) | |
| ||||
| = 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. | ||||
Campaign finance
2021
See also: Mayoral election in Fort Worth, Texas (2021)
General runoff election
General runoff election for Mayor of Fort Worth
Mattie Parker defeated Deborah Peoples in the general runoff election for Mayor of Fort Worth on June 5, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mattie Parker (Nonpartisan) | 53.5 | 47,325 |
 | Deborah Peoples (Nonpartisan) | 46.5 | 41,055 | |
| Total votes: 88,380 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
General election
General election for Mayor of Fort Worth
The following candidates ran in the general election for Mayor of Fort Worth on May 1, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Deborah Peoples (Nonpartisan) | 33.6 | 22,395 |
| ✔ | | Mattie Parker (Nonpartisan) | 30.8 | 20,551 |
 | Brian Byrd (Nonpartisan) | 14.8 | 9,835 | |
 | Steve Penate (Nonpartisan) | 9.4 | 6,248 | |
 | Ann Zadeh (Nonpartisan) | 8.6 | 5,760 | |
 | Mike Haynes (Nonpartisan) | 1.3 | 892 | |
 | Cedric Kanyinda (Nonpartisan) | 0.5 | 329 | |
| Daniel Caldwell (Nonpartisan) | 0.5 | 306 | |
 | Chris Rector (Nonpartisan) | 0.4 | 293 | |
| Mylene George (Nonpartisan) | 0.1 | 49 | ||
| Total votes: 66,658 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Leroy Scott (Nonpartisan)
2018
General election
General election for Harris County Justice of the Peace Precinct 7 Place 2
Sharon M. Burney defeated Daniel Caldwell in the general election for Harris County Justice of the Peace Precinct 7 Place 2 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Sharon M. Burney (D) | 87.1 | 80,820 | |
| Daniel Caldwell (R) | 12.9 | 12,003 | |
| Total votes: 92,823 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Democratic primary runoff election
Democratic primary runoff for Harris County Justice of the Peace Precinct 7 Place 2
Sharon M. Burney defeated Cheryl Elliott Thornton in the Democratic primary runoff for Harris County Justice of the Peace Precinct 7 Place 2 on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Sharon M. Burney | 54.4 | 4,867 | |
| Cheryl Elliott Thornton | 45.6 | 4,082 | ||
| Total votes: 8,949 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Harris County Justice of the Peace Precinct 7 Place 2
Sharon M. Burney and Cheryl Elliott Thornton advanced to a runoff. They defeated Audrie Lawton-Evans and Ray Shackelford in the Democratic primary for Harris County Justice of the Peace Precinct 7 Place 2 on March 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Sharon M. Burney | 31.9 | 7,294 | |
| ✔ | Cheryl Elliott Thornton | 24.6 | 5,637 | |
 | Audrie Lawton-Evans | 22.5 | 5,155 | |
| Ray Shackelford | 21.0 | 4,809 | ||
| Total votes: 22,895 | |||
| = 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 election
Republican primary for Harris County Justice of the Peace Precinct 7 Place 2
Daniel Caldwell advanced from the Republican primary for Harris County Justice of the Peace Precinct 7 Place 2 on March 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Daniel Caldwell | 100.0 | 2,277 |
| Total votes: 2,277 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Selection method
The members of the Texas Justice of the Peace Courts are elected in partisan elections and serve four-year terms. They are elected in a precinct-wide election.[4]
To serve as a justice of the peace, justices must complete a 40-hour course on relevant duties within one year of his or her election. They must also complete a similar 20-hour course each year they continue to serve.[5]
2017
Harris County, Texas, held a general election for Houston Community College Board of Trustees on November 7, 2017, with a runoff scheduled for December 9, 2017. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was August 21, 2017.
The District IV, District V, and District IX seats on the board were up for election in 2017. District IX Trustee Christopher Oliver, who pleaded guilty to bribery charges and was censured by the board in July 2017, did not run for re-election.[6][7] Incumbent Carolyn Evans-Shabazz defeated Daniel Caldwell I and Manny Barrera in the general election for the District IV seat on the Houston Community College Board of Trustees.[8]
| Houston Community College Board of Trustees, District IV General Election, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Carolyn Evans-Shabazz Incumbent |
73.39% | 6,954 |
| Daniel Caldwell I | 14.94% | 1,416 |
| Manny Barrera | 11.66% | 1,105 |
| Total Votes (100% of precincts reporting) | 9,475 | |
| Source: Harris County, Texas, "Cumulative Report - Official," accessed December 9, 2017 | ||
| Click [show] on the right for information about other elections in which this candidate ran. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2015
The city of Dallas, Texas, held elections for mayor and city council on May 9, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was February 27, 2015. Early voting began on April 27, 2015. All 14 city council seats were up for election.[9][10] In District 6, incumbent Monica Alonzo defeated Daniel Caldwell, I, Ozumba Lnuk-X and Lakolya London.[11][12]
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Campaign themes
2024
Video for Ballotpedia
| Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released December 26, 2023 |
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Daniel Caldwell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Caldwell's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am a proud Texas Aggie Corps of Cadets Class of 2007 and civil engineering graduate. Prior to studying law at Texas Southern University, a HBCU, I was already a holistic intellectual and life-long student with broad interests and aptitudes. I earned the Eagle Scout Leadership Service Award as a teenager living in Utah. Then, I was also recognized for outstanding contributions to the community as a Georgia Scholar and National Merit Scholar at my high school graduation. I would like to correct regulatory excesses with a policy philosophy of Keep It Short & Simple. As a former military volunteer in the Texas State Guard and a clerk with non-profit, government, and social organizations, I understand the role that strict regulations play in impairing--even handicapping--the ability of individuals, companies, and agencies to fill needs in the society the regulations are intended to protect. I taught high school geometry and precalculus in south Texas before working in Special Education in DFW and central Texas. I genuinely enjoy helping others learn and grow to reach SMART goals. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and of the Grand Lodge of Texas.I am an American by birth and a Texan by choice.
- Like an optometrist prescribing glasses, I plan to implement small, specific improvements designed to make a big difference for the quality of life for children and for the focus and quality of education.
- The existing curriculum standards for Texas public schools are misguided, outdated, and poorly written. I advocate for redirecting the emphasis on career-readiness, inclusion of technology, and application of critical thinking, decision-making, and goal setting skills.
- Schools are intended to "preserv[e] the liberties and rights of the people," (Tex. Const. Art. 7 Sec. 1) serving our communities, not compel our attendance nor control our families.
I am running to do better for them.
I want to protect children from abuse and neglect and trauma and infanticide.
I also want to preserve fundamental liberties of family members and children to have meaningful relationships.
In addition to wanting to improve the governance of schools, I want to advocate for reform of needless judicial abuses which alienate, demonize, and disenfranchise relationships with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins by disallowing all contact with extended relatives -- for literally no reason.
I am appalled that so-called family courts often exercise no meaningful restraint whatsoever on judges' absolutely boundless discretion to make up false facts ("lie") to terminate familial rights de facto as long as the judge doesn't claim to terminate the "relationship" de jure.
In prior years, I have indicated my interest in facilitating self-sufficiency with maintaining a list of environmental quality-of-life supports, namely clean air and water, public facilities for rest and refreshment, accessible markets and employment, and community event halls and forums for learning.
I remain a critic of gerrymandering by which career politicians redraw districts to pick their voters to build power and wealth rather than focusing on serving their constituents and empowering leaders to step up and take the reigns with term limits.
The Board is in charge of empowering students to plan and dream and create the future of humanity.
The Board is in the position to set expectations for every student to confidently answer the question, "What do you want to do when you grow up?"
So many graduates today have no answer or still don't know, and this floundering is harmful to good citizenship and threatens to leave the next generation without leadership, ambition, achievement, initiative, direction, diligence, and so many priceless virtues that we as Americans and Texans have come to value.
The Board has influence to improve the teaching and learning of over ten million Texas children over the next decade, and I hope to contribute to improving the instruction and content standards used statewide to prepare our youths for adulthood.
The Board should have made each of the revisions I wish to implement decades ago, but I hope these improvements that I will soon play a part in making will endure for decades to come.
The Board is in the position to redirect a prevailing philosophy in schools from aiming to make students "college-ready" to the higher goal of becoming career-ready.
When students are career-ready, then the students are also college-ready, but the reverse is not necessarily true.
With due respect to firefighters who save lives, law enforcement officers who patrol and protect neighborhoods, and other professionals who provide valuable services, I believe that educators have the most important profession.
I also find wisdom in the words of philosophers such as Confucious.
As for non-biblical or non-religious examples, I have a lot of imperfect examples to follow.
I may find myself quoting Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., who taught that we should "not be judged by the color of [] skin but by the content of [] character."
Judge John Payton won an impressive campaign for Justice of the Peace in Collin County, although I am less than impressed with his record after that.
Similarly, Allan Shivers set precedent for bringing the Democratic and Republican parties together as the nominee of both at the same time.
That kind of unity is admirable, and something I would like to repeat, but I would have supported rather than opposed the Brown v. Board of Education school integration decision as he did.
During Shivers' terms in office, Texas passed a right-to-work law and decentralized the public school system while appropriating funding for for raising teacher salaries and for the “Texas State University for Negroes,” Texas Southern University, where I attended the Thurgood Marshall School of Law.
I have participated in published interviews and responded to various questionnaires, so you can read my answers.
I will say it again, I care about kids.
Meanwhile, I still subscribe to and embody the Air Force values of Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence in All We Do; the Army values of Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage; the Navy values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment; the Boy Scout Law tenets of Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent; and another 14 military leadership traits I learned with the acronym J-J-DID-TIE-BUCKLE: Justice, Judgment, Dependability, Integrity, Decisiveness, Tact, Initiative, Enthusiasm, Bearing, Unselfishness, Courage, Knowledge, Loyalty, and Endurance.
I believe I can prove that learning, living, and loving character values are more important to me than to the other candidates.
At Parker University, I translated the school's value statements, called the Parker Principles, into Spanish, so that the staff who did not speak English could learn them, too. In doing so, I can prove the translation is mine.
At Thurgood Marshall School of Law, I ushered a resolution to adopt a new set of core values through the Student Bar Association, the Student-Faculty Relations Committee, and the law school's faculty senate.
The old values were neither known by any professor nor incorporated into the culture and programming.
How they were selected was unknown, spelling the acronym C-LIFE, C-FILE, or FICLE, all of which represent aspirations to mediocrity.
The board designates procedures for schools to follow and how the money is spent to pay to provide the mandated instruction.
I want to see application of skills be emphasized over filling kids' heads with trivia that they are not likely to actually use.
I want to mentor a protégé to take over at the end of one term so I can leave the office in good hands after having gotten the proverbial ball rolling on redirecting the emphasis from college-ready to career-ready.
I want to ensure that students are taught SMART goal-setting and decision-making skills, time-management, and budgeting.
I want to ensure that students learn strategies like active, conscious, deep breathing to improve their physical health, mental focus, athletic performance, and emotional stability.
I remember in the second grade, I saw some of the news and got to ask my mother her views while listening to what candidates had to say.
I thought the best candidate then was Ross Perot, and my mother had seemed to agree.
With the Gulf War, Bush seemed too dead set on military engagement with the rest of the world, and I believed invading other countries on the far side of the globe seemed like a bad idea.
I don't remember how early I heard that Clinton had bribery scandals and allegations of abuse of office, nor what it was that made me like Ross Perot better than Clinton or Bob Dole, but I do remember being disappointed she did not vote for Ross Perot after she said she preferred Ross Perot, because she didn't believe he could win.
First, I had a neighborhood delivery route for a local newspaper, https://www.thenewsherald.com/, from 1999 to 2000.
My second job was as BSA camp staff at Northwoods Scout Reservation, https://www.camplowdenhistory.org/northwoods.html, during the summer of 2000.
My third job was during my junior year of high school, when I worked at Gecko's Mexican Grill in South Jordan, UT, which is now closed down.
My fourth job was as a senior in high school, when I worked for about a month as a fundraiser at a call center in Augusta, GA, for Civic Development Group, LLC, which is also closed down.
During my undergrad years of college, I worked in the Duncan dining hall, then as help desk in the computer labs, and as a tutor for freshmen engineering students.
I do like to go to read words of wisdom.
I have favorite passages like Psalms 118:24, John 14:27, and Matthew 6:34.
Sometimes reading in other languages helps nuances of meaning to stand out.
Instead, I would probably go with a different kind of fictional superhero, Aslan, from the Chronicles of Narnia.
Even though I am a man, I have been a victim in verbally and physically abusive relationships.
I had to call 911 more than once, knowing that if I defended myself, I would have been arrested and not believed.
Even being attacked from behind, I have had to overcome being falsely accused.
I am on the autistic spectrum.
Educators are second only to parents who should be every child's first teachers.
Educators in the school system have more of an impact on the future of the rising and future generations than any other segment of society.
The State Board of Education is enshrined in Article 7, Sec. 8 esp., of the Texas Constitution.
From Chapter 7, Sec. 7.102(c) esp., of the Texas Education Code, the duties of the State Board of Education that I am most eager to execute include to "develop and update a long-range plan for public education," to "establish curriculum and graduation requirements," and to "adopt rules to carry out the curriculum[.]"
To me, supporting the school system largely means supporting individual parents in raising their children, recognizing that theirs are the primary right, duty, and authority to direct the moral and religious training of their child and to make decisions concerning their children's education.
Beyond improving the current academic standards to be better focused on preparing students for life after school, supporting parents may look like stewardship of taxpayer dollars to avoid inducing unnecessary financial stress on families.
Similarly, parental support may look like prudent allocation of funds to provide ancillary services and extended-hours facility access so that students and their families can access school resources on their own time, flexibly and as needed.
Furthermore, the legislature has delegated the power to allocate funding to a notable variety of accounts under the discretion and oversight of the State Board of Education.
However, the power and responsibility that I wish the Board acted as though they were more aware of is the power to correct existing deficiencies in current standards without further delay.
The Board has the power to directly address failures to meet TEKS standards by recognizing that some of those curriculum objectives hold little relevance to skills used in life beyond school walls.
Fortunately, I have experience as a precinct, district, and state convention delegate for both major parties.
I have made successful motions and arguments in committees and from convention floors.
Being bilingual will also help with communication with constituents.
You'd be surprised how many people find that last one can be quite controversial.
People have argued heatedly about how to fold socks, towels, and t-shirts.
There are strong opinions on whether you should sleep on your back, stomach, or side, along with what the optimal number of pillows is.
I have also heard debates over the number of hours of sleep you need.
Really, the main point to me of what goes on in a bedroom seems to be getting and being comfortable.
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.
2022
Daniel Caldwell did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2021
Video for Ballotpedia
| Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released February 24, 2021 |
Daniel Caldwell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Caldwell's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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My name means "Judged by God." This means approved, and not condemned, and I intend to give others the same grace and mercy that I have received. As a law school graduate, I am grateful to have been the beneficiary of generosity from scholarship donors who made my education possible. With a Civil Engineering degree, my interests in project permitting extend to facilitating or implementing high quality standards for infrastructure development and growth while preserving our natural resources. Similarly, the poverty in which I was raised by a single mother taught me the importance of parks, programs to participate in, and provident living. As a Christian and an educator now, I reflect on my time earning the Eagle Scout rank and in ROTC leadership training to become an officer and later as a sergeant in the Texas State Guard (attending drills in order to be prepared to deploy in any capacity or emergency). Albeit using sometimes outside-the-box uncommon sense, I leave, unique, lasting, positive contributions at the institutions of which I become a part. Those considering voting for me should do so because I genuinely strive to be honest and decent. I have seen elected officials treat their positions as a part-time gig, and I will diligently treat the office as a full-time profession from which I won't be clocking out early. I know that I have plenty of room for improvement, like our city.
The responsibility of public servants includes faithful stewardship to protect community resources and trust.
- The responsibility of public servants includes to improve on the condition and quality of life of residents in their community.
- The responsibility of public servants includes to leave their legacy in good hands for the next generation.
I am running for Mayor because I simply believe I should.
I care about preserving fundamental rights that allow private citizens to provide for their own needs.
By this I mean that our city should maintain a safe, healthy environment, with (1) clean air and water, (2) public places for rest and refreshment, (3) free access to markets and employment, and (4) centers for gathering and learning.
I am concerned by how much money governments consider necessary to collect revenue to operate and protect these assets.
The City of Fort Worth spends almost three thousand dollars per person per year, so I am prompted to examine the need for careful planning and budgeting to properly allocate spending on priorities to (ideally) benefit the greatest number possible.
Similarly, zoning restrictions and some local ordinances drive up housing costs and homelessness by prohibiting residential use, which particularly bothers me.
Another pet peeve of mine is politicians picking their voters and not the other way around, so both term limits and prevention of gerrymandering at redistricting time are personal passions.
I also find wisdom in the words of philosophers such as Confucious, Francis of Assisi, and, as a Christian, the apostles and prophets.
For political inspiration, I look to the achievement of Governor Shivers, who earned the nomination of both the Democratic and Republican parties, at the same time.
That kind of unity is admirable, and something I would like to repeat.
Let me say to be clear that no role model is perfect, and that I can admire some of a politician’s achievements while staunchly disagreeing with some of their decisions.
Gov. Allan Shivers is infamous for his opposition to decisions in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, and he was wrong for delaying integration efforts.
Conversely, he still holds the record for youngest member ever of the Texas Senate, and he established precedent for unifying enemies by gaining the nomination from both the Democratic and Republican parties.
That said, I recognize that divisive political polarization generally surrounds a relatively small handful of policies, and that most Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Independents, and others tend to share more in common than they actually argue about, so I recommend actually reading to compare and contrast the state and national platforms of the Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian parties.
All leaders must have and live by a set of values such as these or those that are taught to each of our servicemen and women in the military.
Air Force/Space Force: Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence in All We Do.
Army: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage.
Navy/Marine Corps: Honor, Courage, and Commitment.
Beyond that, my professional qualifications are on par with other candidates who have served as city staff, on the city council, or as chair of the local Democratic party.
In order to guide the City Council in accomplishing its priorities, the Mayor calls council meetings and determines the agenda of each according to the requirements and limits of state law.
Chapter 3, Section 2 of the City Charter designates these additional responsibilities:
He shall have a vote on all matters coming before the council, but no power of veto.
I would hope to improve the feasibility of accessing affordable housing and employment opportunities for the poor and homeless, by easing zoning restrictions in order to increase the availability of properties for residential use, by opening access to the toilet facilities in the areas around the city’s shelters and indigent service centers so that people are not urinating or defecating on the street, by legalizing camping in or around certain city parks for a token or nominal fee rather than maintaining a concentrated ghetto on Lancaster east of downtown, and so on.
As early as 7-years old in the second grade, I saw some of the news and got to ask my mother her views while listening to what candidates had to say.
With the Gulf War, Bush seemed too dead set on military engagement with the rest of the world, and I believed invading other countries on the far side of the globe seemed like a bad idea.
I don't remember how early I heard that Clinton had bribery scandals and allegations of abuse of office, nor what it was that made me like Ross Perot better than Clinton or Bob Dole, but I do remember being disappointed with my own mother when I was 11 for not voting for Ross Perot after she said she preferred Ross Perot, but that she was not voting for him because she didn't believe he could win.
On Saturdays during my junior year of high school, I also worked in the kitchen at a Mexican restaurant, and I worked evenings at an outbound call center during my senior year.
During my undergrad years of college, I worked in the dining hall, then as help desk in the computer labs, and as a tutor for freshmen engineering students.
Instead, I would probably go with a different kind of fictional superhero, Aslan, from the Chronicles of Narnia.
Say something, I'm giving up on you
I'll be the one, if you want me to
Anywhere, I would've followed you
Say something, I'm giving up on you
And I am feeling so small
It was over my head
I know nothing at all
And I will stumble and fall
I'm still learning to love
Just starting to crawl
Say something, I'm giving up on you
I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you
Anywhere, I would've followed you
Say something, I'm giving up on you
And I will swallow my pride
You're the one that I love
And I'm saying goodbye
Say something, I'm giving up on you
And I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you
And anywhere, I would have followed you
Ooh, ooh say something, I'm giving up on you
Say something, I'm giving up on you
I was raised in a broken home as the youngest of eight children, with the older siblings telling stories of my absent father as an abusive man.
Later, I completed four years of ROTC and enlisted in the US Army but the Army retroactively separated me and accused me of fraud because I neglected to check either yes or no on one line of a medical history form, and the Houston Recruiting Battalion did not give me a copy of the order until the deadline to appeal it had passed.
My unfaithful ex-wife divorced me and committed perjury five times under direct examination from her lawyer, but the judges just believed every one of her provable lies, and I suffered from situational depression as a result.
After she pushed for two CPS investigations that both ruled-out her false allegations of child abuse or neglect, the judges permanently and unlawfully terminated my parental rights (not the legal relationship, but the rights) while refusing to follow Texas Family Code sections 153.193, 153.258, 157.163(b) and 261.305(c), and then rules of procedure 18a, 18b, and 91a, and US Supreme Court precedents.
In addition to being summarily declared a frivolous and vexatious litigant in 2018 for suing to be allowed to see my son for the first time since 2013, courts unfairly ordered me to pay more than $30,000 in my ex's attorney fees *because I was unable to afford to hire a lawyer* to represent me.
After passing the Texas bar exam and graduating from TSU in 2019, the Board of Law Examiners denied me a law license because "your communication skills are extremely limited by your autism" (BLE Decision dated June 21, 2019) in violation of the ADA at 42 US Code section 12132, and the judge contradicted Texas Government Code Sec. 82.038(b) and Rule 15(k) of the Rules Governing
Leadership also refers to a period of tenure in an office or other position of authority.
I prefer the first definition, which focuses on functions and actions of a person rather than merely there place in an organization.
Official duties include coordinating agendas for the city council; speaking for the city in courts and legislative committees as a public and legal representative; and signing contracts, correspondence, and various policy memos.
However, the Mayor is just one person, and the real impact of a good leader comes from the actions of all those around them collaborating to accomplish ambitious common goals.
Second, the City Council must carefully steward the city budget levied from taxpaying residents to provide essential services including emergency responders; in recent years, we have seen hundreds of millions of dollars fund what I consider to be the Panther Island boondoggle.
Practicing faithful stewardship, the Mayor is responsible for voting against wasteful spending during annual budget reviews.
Third, the City Council must fashion and revise public policy in the city code of ordinances as their legacy which will continue to shape the culture, identity, and role of the city for years after the councilmembers have returned to private life.
My second priority is to balance the city budget so that we are paying our debts and our bills just like any household is responsible to do.
My third priority is to amend or repeal unnecessarily restrictive city ordinances which get in the way of
fundamental liberty or “Fort Worth [being] the most livable and best managed city in the country.”
While in office, the mayor is responsible for identifying sections of the City Code that should be repealed or revised.
They mayor also serves several ceremonial or formality functions and sets items on the council's agenda.
If I could only accomplish one priority, I have to stick to the first one, because (even if city
operations go over budget and the City Council falls short on time or consensus to pass improvements to existing ordinances) staying the course to make sure the city
The Mayor is fundamentally the chairman of a committee that decides what the local ordinances will be and which projects and programs local tax dollars will fund.
Informally, the Mayor and city council members should usually, but not always, be like-minded and have common objectives to be able to work in harmony with each other.
I moved to Fort Worth because I had a friend here like a brother to me.
Around the same time, another family member moved to DFW, and I made other friends.
Having lived in and become familiar with four states and four other areas of Texas, I chose Fort Worth for several reasons, including favorable economic opportunities, climate, rich cultural landscape, and diverse demographics.
In recent years, public outcry has emphasized racial tensions, particularly brutality in police enforcement which indicates discriminatory profiling or systemic racism.
Alongside movements to pass police reforms addressing disparities, I try to focus on diplomacy and recognize that some reforms may already be in policy, even if poorly implemented.
Other challenges include demands to expand programs for educational equity outside
of schools, to which I have to say that the city government's role is not to do the school district's job, but to provide support when invited so that we're not stepping on each other's metaphorical toes.
Meanwhile, housing prices are rising as the city grows and attracts residents faster than developers build new homes, which prompts me to recommend re-zoning commercial properties to allow residential use.
On a related note, Fort Worth seems to have a growing transient homeless population, and we can take steps to manage our shelters more effectively, including toilet facilities accessible from building exteriors in order to alleviate the number of indigent adults urinating or defecating in the street.
Another measure I have seen employed elsewhere (in San Antonio) is to provide sleeping pads rather than assigning bed spaces, which improves the ability to sanitize bedding and reduce pests while also reducing one deterrent to seeking services at shelters: a frustratingly long intake process.
On yet another note, and without even considering the road closures or delayed construction, I just look at the planned vs. current maps of downtown to see a decade(s)-old dream I would have never voted to approve or invest many millions of local tax dollars into: the billion-dollar Panther Island project which is reported in the news as “a poster child for government boondoggles.”
The state government rightly has agencies that oversee assets extending out of the city, like roads and waterways, and city and state governments should cooperate to ensure those assets are well-managed.
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.
2018
Caldwell provided the following description of his political philosophy to Ballotpedia:
| “ | I seek to promote an awareness of the principles (1) that the state exists to preserve freedom, (2) that the separation of governmental powers is central to our Constitution, and (3) that it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be.[13][14] | ” |
| —Daniel Caldwell I, 2018 | ||
Campaign finance summary
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See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate Texas State Board of Education District 10 |
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Footnotes
- ↑ LinkedIn, "'DC' Daniel Caldwell," accessed August 6, 2019
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on March 22, 2021
- ↑ Email communication with the cochair of the Green Party of Texas on May 21, 2024
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "Qualifications for Office," accessed January 14, 2016
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Texas; Limited Jurisdiction Courts," archived October 3, 2014
- ↑ Houston Chronicle, "Houston Community College Vice Chair Convicted of Bribery," July 7, 2017
- ↑ Houston Chronicle, "Houston Community College Board Votes to Reprimand Trustee Chris Oliver," July 14, 2017
- ↑ Houston Community College, "Houston Community College Trustee Elections 2017," accessed October 12, 2017
- ↑ City of Dallas, "Upcoming Elections," accessed September 19, 2014
- ↑ City of Dallas, "Notice of Deadline to File," accessed January 6, 2015
- ↑ Dallas County Elections, "2015 Unofficial Election Results," accessed May 9, 2015
- ↑ City of Dallas, "2015 Official Candidate List," accessed March 18, 2015
- ↑ Information submitted on Ballotpedia’s biographical information submission form on DATE
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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