Donovan Boson

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Donovan Boson

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

March 3, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

Texas Southern University, 2011

Graduate

, 2013

Personal

Birthplace

Houston, Texas

Religion

Agnostic Theist

Profession

Nonprofit program director

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Personal Facebook

Donovan Boson (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Texas' 18th Congressional District. He lost in the Democratic primary on March 3, 2020.

Boson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Boson was born in Houston, Texas. He earned his bachelor's degree from Texas Southern University in 2011 and his master's degree from the University of St. Thomas from 2013. His career experience includes working as a nonprofit program director.

Elections

2020

See also: Texas' 18th Congressional District election, 2020

Texas' 18th Congressional District election, 2020 (March 3 Republican primary)

Texas' 18th Congressional District election, 2020 (March 3 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Texas District 18

Incumbent Sheila Jackson Lee defeated Wendell Champion, Luke Spencer, and Vince Duncan in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 18 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sheila Jackson Lee (D)	73.3	180,952
		Wendell Champion (R)	23.5	58,033
		Luke Spencer (L)	1.8	4,514
		Vince Duncan (Independent)	1.4	3,396

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 246,895
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary runoff election

Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 18

Wendell Champion defeated Robert Cadena in the Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 18 on July 14, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Wendell Champion	71.8	4,000
		Robert Cadena	28.2	1,570

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,570
= 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 election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 18

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 18 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sheila Jackson Lee	77.1	49,729
		Marc Flores	8.3	5,353
		Bimal Patel	3.8	2,456
		Jerry Ford Sr.	3.7	2,417
		Stevens Orozco	3.4	2,180
		Michael Allen	2.6	1,672
		Donovan Boson	1.1	709

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 64,516
= 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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Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 18

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 18 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Wendell Champion	35.1	3,428
✔		Robert Cadena	20.5	2,005
		T.C. Manning	18.7	1,823
		Nathan Milliron	11.0	1,076
		Ava Pate	8.1	794
	Submit photo	Nellie Heiskell	6.5	638

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 9,764
= 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

• Whitney Hatter (R)

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 18

Luke Spencer advanced from the Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 18 on March 21, 2020.

		Candidate
✔		Luke Spencer (L)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= 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 themes

2019

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Donovan Boson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Boson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am Houston native who is a career Nonprofit Program Director and Public Administrator with years of experience across this nation leveraging programs and government dollars to solve the most pressing needs of youth, families, and our local community. I am fighting to increase our pay, get better schools for our kids, bring medical bills down, and to make sure the next storm doesn't wipe us out.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• I believe if you care about something you should do something and if Sheila Jackson Lee cared she would do something about minimum wage, unemployment, the current and multiple health crises spread across our district, and our failing schools. I care and I am fighting for us and running for us!
• Minimum wage has stayed put at $7.25 for over a decade but our costs of living have in many areas tripled. I am fight to not only increase our pay but change the way employers pay because I believe America's greatest strength is found in its workers not in its billion dollar businesses and corporations.
• We need to place term limits on all our elected officials and we need to guarantee and enshrine everyone's right to vote barring any state from disenfranchising any citizen. Voting should be a right and readily accessible for all tax paying citizens.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Income inequality, education, the military industrial complex, and social justice reform are near and dear to my heart. I believe fixing each of them will resolve to make our nation and it's people stronger and better equipped.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I take inspiration from a lot of people but typically beat to my own drum. I admire Bernie Sanders' commitment to principles which is why I think my birthday twin, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, gravitates to him as well. I also admire all the single parents, especially my mother, who work extremely hard to provide for their families. It's applauding considering the tremendous headwinds they face raising knucklehead black and brown boys like myself.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

To understand my political philosophies I recommend people watching PBS' documentary on MLKs Poor People's Campaign and reading Karl Polanyi's book, For a New West, on social market capitalism.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

The ability to understand that their is no failure or loss in compromise and showing empathy. I feel there is a severe lack of compromise and empathy in the house.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I am empathetic and believe in leveraging the resources of the government to build and protect our communities.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

The chief job of a representative is to listen to constituents' needs and put the people who elected you before party. By people I don't mean the donors but the voters. To often people are beholden to donors, lobbyist, their party, and in today's day and age the president.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to be known as the guy who fought for the people and helped ushered in a wave of economic parity.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The first major event that left a impact on me was the terrorist attacks that took place on 9/11. I was in the 8th grade in history class the morning it happened.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My very first job was at a local law firm downtown - Weil, Gotshall, & Manges. I got the position through, Communities In School, a program that paired black and brown under-resourced youth with other black white color professionals as mentors. I worked there throughout the summer and fall of my senior year in high school.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Margaret Atwood's book Handmaid's Tale because its dystopia is eerily similar to our current iteration of America. It in a sense showcases what we can become if fanatics have free reign and the people stay politically ambivalent.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

I always wanted to be a Planeteer who wouldn't want to kick bad guys' butts and save the planet at the same time!

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Lizzo's Juice

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Life in and of itself is a struggle. Having to pull yourself out of a host of mental, emotional, financial, and physical pits is often times overlooked and underappreciated.

What qualities does the U.S. House of Representatives possess that makes it unique as an institution?

I believe in the House you have a greater opportunity for coalition building because representatives are so varied which is a good thing. There is an exhaustive amount of room for building relationships if people are willing to set aside their indemnity and differences to see the greater good.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

No. I think as the name suggests, it's a house of representatives and should represent and be reflective of the populace and most people haven't served in office.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Income inequality and how we handle the climate crisis are probably the two greatest challenges we will have to contend with over the coming years.

If you are not a current representative, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

Yes, I would love to sit on Ways & Means, Education, and the subcommittee for Housing, Transportation, and Community Development

Do you believe that two years is the right term length for representatives?

Yes, two years is enough with term limits.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

We should definitely employ term limits because simply voting someone out is not always easy especially considering the way districts are gerrymandered making it easier for lawmakers to pick their voters instead of voters being able to pick their lawmakers.

If you are not currently a member of your party’s leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives, would you be interested in joining the leadership? If so, in what role?

I do not aspire to join leadership however, if presented with the opportunity to do so, I welcome any role that champions the people and does the most good.

Is there a particular representative, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

I would like to be as principled as Bernie Sanders, poignant as Maxine Waters and Ayanna Pressley, and as bold as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Both sitting representatives and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

I listened to a lot of people who are struggling to get by. On the trail I recall speaking with a barber with a criminal background and was unable to provide for his family with his minimum wage job so he took on student loan debt to go to barber's college. He works upwards of 70hrs per week working both his minimum wage job and cutting hair.

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.

See also

2020 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. President U.S. Congress U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

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External links

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Footnotes

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Texas' current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

John Cornyn (R)

Ted Cruz (R)

Representatives

District 1

Nathaniel Moran (R)

District 2

Daniel Crenshaw (R)

District 3

Keith Self (R)

District 4

Pat Fallon (R)

District 5

Lance Gooden (R)

District 6

Jake Ellzey (R)

District 7

Lizzie Fletcher (D)

District 8

Morgan Luttrell (R)

District 9

Al Green (D)

District 10

Michael McCaul (R)

District 11

August Pfluger (R)

District 12

Craig Goldman (R)

District 13

Ronny Jackson (R)

District 14

Randy Weber (R)

District 15

Monica De La Cruz (R)

District 16

Veronica Escobar (D)

District 17

Pete Sessions (R)

District 18

Vacant

District 19

Jodey Arrington (R)

District 20

Joaquin Castro (D)

District 21

Chip Roy (R)

District 22

Troy Nehls (R)

District 23

Tony Gonzales (R)

District 24

Beth Van Duyne (R)

District 25

Roger Williams (R)

District 26

Brandon Gill (R)

District 27

Michael Cloud (R)

District 28

Henry Cuellar (D)

District 29

Sylvia Garcia (D)

District 30

Jasmine Crockett (D)

District 31

John Carter (R)

District 32

Julie Johnson (D)

District 33

Marc Veasey (D)

District 34

Vicente Gonzalez (D)

District 35

Greg Casar (D)

District 36

Brian Babin (R)

District 37

Lloyd Doggett (D)

District 38

Wesley Hunt (R)

Republican Party (27)

Democratic Party (12)

Vacancies (1)