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Elizabeth Markowitz

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Elizabeth Markowitz
Candidate, Texas House of Representatives District 26
Elections and appointments
Last election
May 7, 2022
Next election
March 3, 2026
Contact

Elizabeth Markowitz (Democratic Party) is running for election to the Texas House of Representatives to represent District 26. She declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on March 3, 2026.[source]

Markowitz was a candidate for Texas State Board of Education District 7. Markowitz lost the general election on November 6, 2018, after advancing from the primary on March 6, 2018.

Elections

2026

See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2026

General election

The primary will occur on March 3, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 26

Daniel Lee (D) and Elizabeth Markowitz (D) are running in the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 26 on March 3, 2026.


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Republican primary

Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 26

Incumbent Matt Morgan (R) is running in the Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 26 on March 3, 2026.

Candidate
Image of Matt Morgan
Matt Morgan

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Endorsements

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2022

See also: Katy Independent School District, Texas, elections (2022)

General election

General election for Katy Independent School District, Position 1

Victor Perez defeated incumbent Donald Keller Jr., Elizabeth Markowitz, Cicely Taylor, and Saki Krishnamurthy in the general election for Katy Independent School District, Position 1 on May 7, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Victor Perez (Nonpartisan)
 
51.3
 
5,730
Donald Keller Jr. (Nonpartisan)
 
24.2
 
2,709
Image of Elizabeth Markowitz
Elizabeth Markowitz (Nonpartisan)
 
18.5
 
2,067
Cicely Taylor (Nonpartisan)
 
4.6
 
509
Saki Krishnamurthy (Nonpartisan)
 
1.5
 
165

Total votes: 11,180
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2020

See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Texas House of Representatives District 28

Incumbent Gary Gates defeated Elizabeth Markowitz in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 28 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Gary Gates
Gary Gates (R)
 
55.3
 
66,619
Image of Elizabeth Markowitz
Elizabeth Markowitz (D)
 
44.7
 
53,908

Total votes: 120,527
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 28

Elizabeth Markowitz advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 28 on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Elizabeth Markowitz
Elizabeth Markowitz
 
100.0
 
16,303

Total votes: 16,303
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 28

Incumbent Gary Gates defeated Schell Hammel in the Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 28 on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Gary Gates
Gary Gates
 
95.3
 
19,451
Schell Hammel
 
4.7
 
963

Total votes: 20,414
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Campaign finance


2019

See also: Texas state legislative special elections, 2019

General runoff election

Special general runoff election for Texas House of Representatives District 28

Gary Gates defeated Elizabeth Markowitz in the special general runoff election for Texas House of Representatives District 28 on January 28, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Gary Gates
Gary Gates (R)
 
58.1
 
17,484
Image of Elizabeth Markowitz
Elizabeth Markowitz (D) Candidate Connection
 
41.9
 
12,629

Total votes: 30,113
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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General election

Special general election for Texas House of Representatives District 28

The following candidates ran in the special general election for Texas House of Representatives District 28 on November 5, 2019.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Elizabeth Markowitz
Elizabeth Markowitz (D) Candidate Connection
 
39.1
 
11,356
Image of Gary Gates
Gary Gates (R)
 
28.5
 
8,275
Image of Tricia Krenek
Tricia Krenek (R)
 
18.1
 
5,272
Image of Anna Allred
Anna Allred (R)
 
9.3
 
2,705
Image of Gary Hale
Gary Hale (R) Candidate Connection
 
2.4
 
712
Sarah Laningham (R)
 
1.7
 
503
Clinton Purnell (R)
 
0.9
 
256

Total votes: 29,079
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2018

See also: Texas State Board of Education election, 2018

General election

General election for Texas State Board of Education District 7

Matt Robinson defeated Elizabeth Markowitz in the general election for Texas State Board of Education District 7 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Matt Robinson
Matt Robinson (R)
 
59.5
 
369,752
Image of Elizabeth Markowitz
Elizabeth Markowitz (D)
 
40.5
 
252,158

Total votes: 621,910
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Texas State Board of Education District 7

Elizabeth Markowitz advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas State Board of Education District 7 on March 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Elizabeth Markowitz
Elizabeth Markowitz
 
100.0
 
50,781

Total votes: 50,781
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Texas State Board of Education District 7

Matt Robinson advanced from the Republican primary for Texas State Board of Education District 7 on March 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Matt Robinson
Matt Robinson
 
100.0
 
99,875

Total votes: 99,875
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

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You can ask Elizabeth Markowitz to fill out this survey by using the buttons below or emailing Eliz@Eliz4TX.com.

Twitter
Email


2022

Elizabeth Markowitz did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Elizabeth Markowitz did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2019

Candidate Connection

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

Expand all | Collapse all

Dr. Eliz Markowitz is a native Texan, raised in Sugar Land by a teacher and an oil worker. Dr. Eliz is an expert on healthcare technology and education and has spent her career advocating for reforms to Texas standardized testing. She currently works as an instructor and textbook author with the Princeton Review, where she trains other teachers across the nation. Dr. Eliz earned her Bachelor's in Computer Science from Trinity University, two Master Degrees in Technology and Healthcare from UT San Antonio and UT Health Science Center Houston, and her doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Houston.
  • We deserve a public education system that provides high-quality education to all Texans, regardless of race or zip code.
  • We deserve a Texas where everyone has access to high-quality, affordable healthcare.
  • We deserve a state that fights for its citizens in times of crisis, rather than withholding emergency funding for arbitrary reasons.

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 website

Education​

All Texans have the right to receive high-quality, publicly-funded education from pre-kindergarten through either college or vocational programs. High-quality public schools that meet the needs of all individuals should be accessible.

-STAAR Testing

Studies show that standardized testing is an ineffective metric of both student and teacher performance, discourages higher-level critical thinking and creativity, and penalizes underserved populations. The problems associated with standardized testing are so great that the Texas Education Agency has been sued over flaws in the STAAR test, and many parents have determined that the best approach to testing is to have their children "opt-out" of the experience. Accordingly, high-stakes standardized tests should be replaced with alternative performance measures that address the strengths and weaknesses of students, educators, and institutions. Furthermore, the use of a statewide, test-based "Value Added Measure" as a teacher evaluation metric should be uniformly rejected, as such measures have been proven invalid. Students with disabilities must take assessments designated in individual education plans and no longer be subject to inappropriate testing.
​ -Finance

The state should immediately establish a school finance system with sufficient revenue to provide every individual with accessible, high-quality education. Comprehensive reform of the Texas public school system includes not only the rejection of approaches that lead to persistent failure, but also the adoption of new strategies that improve the state of education. Institutions should be held accountable for student progress, meet established standards of educational excellence, and repeal "home rule" and "innovation" statutes that allow institutions to lower standards and simply push students through the system. Public charter schools must be held to identical standards of accountability in order to receive financial support. Above all, the $5.4 billion of public school funding that was eliminated by the Republican legislature in 2011 must be restored to fund improvements in Texas education.
​ -Teachers and Support Staff

The success of our children is dependent upon the success of our teachers, counselors, librarians, aides, and other support staff. Due to meager wages, deficient funding, and the increased emphasis on standardized testing, which is improperly used as a teacher performance metric and monopolizes class time, educational institutions suffer from low teacher retention rates and are often forced to staff unqualified individuals. If we wish to recruit superior, certified teachers that have the training and tools necessary to support all students throughout their educational journey, we must increase teacher pay and provide quality, affordable healthcare and retirement options.

-Vocational Training

College is not for every student. For students who do not wish to attend college, vocational education programs can provide high school students with occupational training, unrelated to traditional academic skills. Accordingly, it is imperative that every Texas school provide and fund high-quality career and technical educational programs. The implementation of hands-on training programs will prepare students for a specific career or trade. The establishment of career programs has been shown to reduce the number of students who drop out of high school and benefit at-risk students, while also providing all students with an alternative to college or university.

-Special Education

Individuals of all abilities are entitled to receive a high-quality education at any publicly-funded Texas educational institution. Both gifted students and those with disabilities are entitled to receive appropriate, high-quality early, secondary, and postsecondary education and access to all services and support indicated in their individual education plans. Furthermore, we believe that all institutions should provide a safe-haven for students of all abilities, and disparities in instruction or discipline based on such factors should be eliminated.

-School Choice

The state should not support "school choice" schemes that use public school funds to support either private or sectarian schools. Indeed, public tax money should only be used to support a system of free public schools. Furthermore, we should oppose the implementation of any school voucher or tax credit program that would financially and academically harm the Texas public school system.

Disaster Management

Every Texan should be assured that the state has comprehensive plans for handling the occurrence and aftermath of natural and man-made disasters. Following the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, many counties in Texas were left without sufficient support. The state must develop, fund, and implement processes to ensure the welfare of Texan residents, including plans to manage emergency transportation, both the temporary and permanent housing of displaced individuals, both the short-term and long-term health care needs of displaced individuals, the educational needs of displaced students, debris and hazardous material removal, testing physical locations prior to repopulation, and securing funding to rebuild. The state must also pass legislation that will prohibit the sale of residential land located in a flood-plain without the buyer's knowledge.

Health Care

Health care is a human right and every Texan should have access to high-quality, affordable health care. As a state, we must ensure that we provide comprehensive health care options to all Texans, including the most vulnerable, our children, veterans, and seniors. No individual should be denied access because of a pre-existing condition or inability to pay an exorbitant hospital bill.

Texans should support legislation that expands upon the principles of the Affordable Care Act, providing preventative and primary care treatment for medical, dental, and vision issues. We must support a system that allows Texans to choose their providers, yet replaces high insurance premiums, deductibles, and co-pays with progressive financing. We must also ensure that Texans have access to quality, affordable prescription drugs. No individual should be the victim of a corporation's desire to manipulate the cost of health care treatment.

Texans must ensure that women have autonomy over their own bodies and are provided access to medically sound reproductive health services. In turn, crisis pregnancy centers that misrepresent their services should be stripped of funding and designation as a licensed medical facility. Every woman should have the opportunity to make her own decision regarding childbirth and should have access to contraception, counseling, family planning services, pre-natal and post-natal care, affordable childcare, and all forms of reproductive care.

​Texas is a diverse state and we must work to eliminate the health disparities that exist amongst minority populations. In order to ensure that all Texans live long, healthy lives, we must support policy and legislation that will reduce the disparities that exist among racial, socioeconomic, and geographic lines.

Gerrymandering

In Texas, gerrymandering has compromised the ability to hold fair elections. Gerrymandering is the process where district lines are drawn in a way that provides an advantage to a single party. The result is that the party that draws the district line ends up with more elected officials than they would if the district lines were fairly drawn. In turn, politicians are choosing their voters instead of voters choosing their politicians.

A US District Court found that Texas districts are drawn with racially discriminatory intent, to minimize the power of minority populations. The Texas legislature must also establish an independent redistricting committee that will remove the redistricting process from the hands of political parties and put voters in control. An independent redistricting committee will make elections more competitive and, in turn, allow constituents to hold their elected officials accountable.

Criminal Justice Reform

We must reform the broken criminal justice system and put an end to mass incarceration. Specifically, we must end the failed "war on drugs," which disproportionately affects minority populations. We must be proactive when handling drug incidents and substance abuse cases by prioritizing prevention and treatment over prison. We must implement drug courts, veterans' courts, and diversionary programs that provide nonviolent offenders with rehabilitation opportunities, rather than mandated incarceration.

We must eliminate for-profit prisons and detention centers in the state of Texas, which have been found to be corrupt, racist, and inhumane in their treatment. By ending both the "war on drugs" and eliminating for-profit prisons and detention centers, we can end the school-to-prison pipeline by investing in jobs and education, rather than in jails and incarceration.

We must invest in educational training for officers in order to end racial profiling that targets individuals on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion. Officers must also be required to wear body cameras, taught methods of de-escalation, and trained on the appropriate use of force. All of the above will work to improve police-community relations. Environment​

In order to ensure that we pass on a viable earth to our children, we must take immediate action to stem the negative impacts of pollution, fossil fuel use, and climate change. First and foremost, we must reduce energy waste within our existing infrastructure by implementing energy-efficient alternatives, modernizing our current power systems, and investing in mass transit options across our state. We must also invest in clean energy research and development, reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and providing incentives for companies and households that minimize carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions. We must also ensure that our public lands and waterways are protected from pollution and fossil fuel extraction in order to maintain the unique levels of biodiversity and ensure that our natural resources are available for future generations.

Gun Reform

Individuals should not worry whether or not they will return home safely or end up as a victim of gun violence. We can reduce the scourge of gun violence, while still allowing responsible gun owners the right to bear arms.

Texas should immediately institute universal background checks when an individual goes to purchase a gun, and close the gun-show loophole, in order to ensure that such weapons are not acquired by violent criminals, abusers, or terrorists. We must institute red-flag laws that will allow action to be taken to remove weapons from the hands of individuals who have exhibited behavior that could be dangerous to themselves or others.

Our state should eliminate campus carry, abandon the idea of arming educators, and invest more money in providing mental health services to our students in order to reduce the possibility of another school shooting. Furthermore, we must address gun violence as a public health crisis and invest in understanding the causes of, and stemming, further gun violence.

Immigration

The state of Texas is great because of the contributions of immigrants. The multitude of cultural and ethnic backgrounds only contribute to the economic prosperity and richness of our state.

As a state that shares its southern border with an ally, it would be in our best interests to enact fair and equitable immigration reform. As Texans we must support a secure border that protects Texans, and Americans, from bad actors. However, we must balance that by treating immigrants humanely, considering the pleas of asylum seekers and refugees with the utmost seriousness. We must support the passage of the DREAM Act, which will allow those here under DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) to achieve their citizenship and their American dream.

​We cannot allow the current policies of child separation, 'tender age' shelters, and a zero-tolerance approach to immigration to continue. We should not support using taxpayer money to build a border wall, which experts have stated will be ineffective. We must repeal Senate Bill 4, or the "Show Me Your Papers" law, which has simply led to an increase in xenophobic, racist, and bigoted behavior. We must value the power that is associated with the diverse skillsets of our immigrant population.

Voting Rights

We believe that voting is a fundamental right, and all Texans must be guaranteed the right to vote and be assured that their vote counts. Texans must adopt laws to eliminate barriers to voting and ensure that all citizens have the right to cast their votes. We must adopt regulations for automatic voter registration, same-day voter registration, and online voter registration. Furthermore, we must repeal the restrictive Texas photo Voter ID law, which requires voters to show a government-issued photo ID and has been found to penalize minority populations. The state must also pass legislation that penalizes those found guilty of voter intimidation tactics, which includes questioning an individual's voter qualifications, falsely presenting oneself as an elections official, spreading false information regarding voter requirements, or harassing voters of color, those with disabilities, or non-English speakers. [1]

—Elizabeth Markowitz[2]


Campaign finance summary


Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.


Elizabeth Markowitz campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2020Texas House of Representatives District 28Lost general$613,436 N/A**
2019Texas House of Representatives District 28Lost general runoff$727,568 N/A**
Grand total$1,341,004 N/A**
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  2. eliz4tx.com, "Platform," accessed December 13, 2019


Current members of the Texas House of Representatives
Leadership
Speaker of the House:Dustin Burrows
Representatives
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Jay Dean (R)
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Pat Curry (R)
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Ken King (R)
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Toni Rose (D)
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Ray Lopez (D)
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John Bucy (D)
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Gene Wu (D)
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Hubert Vo (D)
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Republican Party (88)
Democratic Party (62)