Gary Hale
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Gary Hale (Republican Party) ran in a special election to the Texas House of Representatives to represent District 28. Hale lost in the special general election on November 5, 2019.
Hale completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Hale earned his B.S. in computer science from Franklin Pierce University in 1985 and his LL.M. in European law and judicial policy from the Universidad de Almería in Spain in 2011. He also attended the JFK School of Government at Harvard University in 2001 and the Darden School of Leadership at the University of Virginia in 2006. Hale's career experience includes working as a U.S.-Mexico border security and public safety expert. He served in the U.S. Army from 1972 to 1978.[1]
Elections
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 | ||
| ✔ |  | Gary Gates (R) | 58.1 | 17,484 |
 | Elizabeth Markowitz (D)  | 41.9 | 12,629 | |
| Total votes: 30,113 | |||
| = 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
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 | ||
| ✔ | | Elizabeth Markowitz (D) | 39.1 | 11,356 |
| ✔ | | Gary Gates (R) | 28.5 | 8,275 |
 | Tricia Krenek (R) | 18.1 | 5,272 | |
 | Anna Allred (R) | 9.3 | 2,705 | |
 | Gary Hale (R) | 2.4 | 712 | |
| Sarah Laningham (R) | 1.7 | 503 | ||
| Clinton Purnell (R) | 0.9 | 256 | ||
| Total votes: 29,079 | |||
| = 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
Gary Hale completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Hale's responses.
| Collapse all
Soldier, Statesman, Scholar. Gary J. Hale is a policy expert who completed a thirty-seven year career within the U.S. federal government and specializes in Mexican and United States national and border security issues. He retired from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 2010. Hale began his federal career as a radio intercept operator while serving in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and also worked on Soviet, Communist Bloc, Middle East and North Africa issues. Hale served a total of six years in the Army (1972-1978) and is a decorated service-disabled veteran. Hale joined the DEA in 1979 and rose to the rank of the senior Intelligence Officer operating on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border during his last posting in Houston where he reported both to the DEA and to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in Washington, D.C. During his career, Hale worked in tactical, operational, strategic and policy positions. Hale holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Sciences and an LL.M. in Judicial Policy. Hale is an alumnus of the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government and the University of Virginia's Darden School of Leadership. He is currently a Drug Policy Fellow and Mexico Studies Scholar at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. Hale owns Voir Dire International, LLC based in Katy, Fort Bend County, Texas. His business provides operational and analytical products to government, academia, attorneys and the courts as well as the public. The operational side of the business provides employment screening and polygraph services, Spanish language translations and international security related investigations. The analytical side of the business provides research and analysis, studies, risk and threat analysis and the works are published in academic journals and mainstream media outlets.
- Infrastructure. The State of Texas needs to help local governments to provide the infrastructure necessary to assimilate growth. This includes planning for new or expanding roadways, building additional schools or mitigating water run-off and floods to due to increased real estate development or weather events. In the latest report of 2017, the Texas section of the American Society of Civil Engineers gave Texas a C- grade overall for infrastructure development. Once elected, I will make sure that the legislature does everything possible to improve our infrastructure so we may meet our growth challenges and keep the Texas economy competitive.
- The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees a fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms that applies to all law-abiding Americans, regardless of where they live in the United States. Our constitution and all of its amendments are sacrosanct. The 2nd Amendment anchors our right to possess arms. My thought on mass shootings and the guns used to commit those crimes is - "it's the killer, not the gun, that makes a life end." Just like it is a driver, not the car, that causes the crash; it's the smoker, not the smoke, that provokes his own death.
- Immigration. The saying goes: "good fences make good neighbors." This is a truism. We are a nation of laws and our respect for those laws is evident in the way we administer our country. This makes us a country that everyone from around the world wants to be a part of. I will work to secure our borders from threats and from illegal immigration, and at the same time, I will ensure that Texas welcomes those who come here legally to contribute to the growth and well being of the Lone Star State.
To protect and serve. It's what I've done and it's what I'll do. I have served the public my entire life and after military service, law enforcement and intelligence service, and I am ready to continue this legacy. My background has given me a unique perspective regarding several issues, including gun violence, combating crime, immigration and border security. As legislators we need to be innovative and plan for the future. Constituents have concerns about flood mitigation, education and teacher pay, immigration, human trafficking, veteran care and homelessness. Our constituents deserve that we take care of our own first, while we extend humanitarian assistance to others who may merit assistance.There is much work to be done in the 87th legislative session. We need to protect homes and properties from federal intervention. The State of Texas needs more autonomy over water drainage decisions. We must also work with the federal government to mitigate the cost of resettling thousands of migrants who enter the U.S. via Texas. Also, Texas education should be the best in the nation. That begins with finding good teachers and paying them better than well.Service is stewardship. Elected officials are given the conditional and temporary authority and responsibility to legislate and govern for the people of the State of Texas. I will serve the public needs and appropriately administer state finances, budgets and expenditures. I will be an accountable steward of the public trust.
I look to God and Jesus Christ as my guides. I have strong Christian beliefs that are anchored in the Bible because I do not believe in the theory of evolution and I do not believe the Bible is a work of fiction. The Bible thereby because the bedrock of my guidance.
Gary J. Hale is a policy expert who completed a thirty-seven year career within the U.S. federal government and specializes in Mexican and United States national and border security issues. He retired from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 2010. Hale began his federal career as a radio intercept operator while serving in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and also worked on Soviet, Communist Bloc, Middle East and North Africa issues. Hale served a total of six years in the Army (1972-1978) and is a decorated service-disabled veteran. Hale joined the DEA in 1979 and rose to the rank of the senior Intelligence Officer operating on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border during his last posting in Houston where he reported both to the DEA and to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in Washington, D.C. During his career, Hale worked in tactical, operational, strategic and policy positions. Hale owns Voir Dire International, LLC based in Katy, Fort Bend County, Texas.
Service a stewardship. Legislators are given the condition and temporary responsibility and authority to legislate and govern for the people. I will serve the public needs and appropriately administer state finances, budgets and expenditures as an accountable steward of the public trust.
To leave the state in better condition than when I enter the legislature. I endeavor to be innovative in looking for ways to fund the many needs of our people and I have many ideas that I can bring to the table.
The first historical event that I remember was the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. I was 8 years old. I remember it well because the newspaper headlines read" World War III" and this caused a lot of fear.
My first job of consequence was serving in the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps. I served for six years. I am currently a service-disabled veteran.
The Book of Job in the Bible. It is a story of having faith through adversity and of the redemption delivered by faith.
Thomas Jefferson (even though he is not fictional)
High Hopes by Panic at the Disco. Its pertinent and appropriate to my situation in life at this moment: "
Had to have high, high hopes for a living
Shooting for the stars when I couldn't make a killing
Didn't have a dime but I always had a vision
Always had high, high hopes (High, high hopes)
Had to have high, high hopes for a living
Didn't know how but I always had a feeling
I was gonna be that one in a million
Always had high, high hopes
[Verse 1]
Mama said, fulfill the prophecy
Be something greater, go make a legacy
Manifest destiny, back in the days
We wanted everything, wanted everything
Mama said, burn your biographies
Rewrite your history, light up your wildest dreams
Museum victories, every day
"Too much to do, not enough time." There are so many things that I would like to accomplish, personally and professionally. I would like to learn and become proficient in several more languages, I would like to spend more time conducting academic research and writing. It has become a challenge to multi-task but I have been successful in doing all that I wish to do, despite the struggle.
The legislature and the Senate of Texas are a legislative bodies. The Senate works with the governor establish a state budget and also passing laws regarding policy, taxes. They also vote to sustain or override gubernatorial vetoes.
I do believe that its is beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics. A legislator should not learn as they go but rather, hit the ground running with their background and experience service as the knowledge, skills and abilities that they need to succeed.
Flood control and water run-off mitigation; immigration and infrastructure. These recurring themes impact on our daily lives because we are a border state that is the entry point for hundreds of thousands on migrants arriving from Central America on a daily basis and we are also at the end of the bowling alley of hurricanes that arrive in Texas almost yearly. More work needs to be done to protect homes and properties from federal intervention regarding the release of water from reservoirs. The State of Texas needs more autonomy over water drainage decisions, and I would propose to make Texas independent from federal authority over water drainage issues. Water drainage and flood control issue decisions are not being made with haste. Every year that we wait on a deciding whether a proposal is sound or valid is another year that we risk going underwater again. We must be innovative, and we must be quick to develop short-term, medium-term and long-term solutions such as are employed in Holland or other flood prone areas of the world. I propose the "Hale Innovation" ... If we can move oil and gas thousands of miles from Mexico and Canada, and across the US. To refineries in the Houston area, why can't we move water out of the Houston area to drought-prone areas like California or Mexico? I suggest we either multi-use the existing pipeline network or build others to move massive amount of water quickly and efficiently. Once elected, I will sponsor such legislation to fund and build water transmission pipelines. Our constituents deserve that we take care of our own first, while we extend humanitarian assistance to others who may merit assistance.
The Governor should set the goals for the state. The legislature should develop the road map on how to reach those goals.
Yes, there is no one-man show in a legislature. One must form meaningful relationships with other legislators such that they have productive communications, cooperation and coordination. Only by doing this can the legislature work as a team on behalf of their constituents.
Appropriations
Corrections
Criminal Jurisprudence
Defense & Veterans' Affairs
Higher Education
Homeland Security & Public Safety
International Relations & Economic Development
Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence
Juvenile Justice & Family Issues
Licensing & Administrative Procedures
Mass Violence Prevention & Community Safety, Select
Public Education
Public Health
Redistricting
I would be interested in serving as the State Speaker of the House, State House Speaker Emeritus, State Vice Speaker of the House, State House Speaker Pro Tempore or other similar leadership positions for the purpose of providing guidance and continuity to my legislative cohorts.
Thomas Jefferson
Yes, possible the U.S. Congress.
The most impactful story I heard was of my neighbor who was stranded on the upper floor of her home during Hurricane Harvey. Her family and pets had no food and water and had to be rescued. My heart went out for them since we were able to evacute prior to the rising waters.
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
2019 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 21, 2019
Current members of the Texas House of Representatives
Leadership
Speaker of the House:Dustin Burrows
Representatives
District 1
Gary VanDeaver (R)
District 2
Brent Money (R)
District 3
Cecil Bell (R)
District 4
Keith Bell (R)
District 5
Cole Hefner (R)
District 6
Daniel Alders (R)
District 7
Jay Dean (R)
District 8
Cody Harris (R)
District 9
Trent Ashby (R)
District 10
Brian Harrison (R)
District 11
Joanne Shofner (R)
District 12
Trey Wharton (R)
District 13
Angelia Orr (R)
District 14
Paul Dyson (R)
District 15
Steve Toth (R)
District 16
Will Metcalf (R)
District 17
Stan Gerdes (R)
District 18
Janis Holt (R)
District 19
Ellen Troxclair (R)
District 20
Terry Wilson (R)
District 21
Dade Phelan (R)
District 22
Christian Manuel (D)
District 23
Terri Leo-Wilson (R)
District 24
Greg Bonnen (R)
District 25
Cody Vasut (R)
District 26
Matt Morgan (R)
District 27
Ron Reynolds (D)
District 28
Gary Gates (R)
District 29
Jeffrey Barry (R)
District 30
A.J. Louderback (R)
District 31
Ryan Guillen (R)
District 32
Todd Hunter (R)
District 33
Katrina Pierson (R)
District 34
District 35
Oscar Longoria (D)
District 36
Sergio Munoz (D)
District 37
Janie Lopez (R)
District 38
Erin Gamez (D)
District 39
Armando Martinez (D)
District 40
Terry Canales (D)
District 41
Robert Guerra (D)
District 42
Richard Raymond (D)
District 43
J.M. Lozano (R)
District 44
Alan Schoolcraft (R)
District 45
Erin Zwiener (D)
District 46
Sheryl Cole (D)
District 47
Vikki Goodwin (D)
District 48
Donna Howard (D)
District 49
Gina Hinojosa (D)
District 50
James Talarico (D)
District 51
District 52
Caroline Harris (R)
District 53
Wesley Virdell (R)
District 54
Brad Buckley (R)
District 55
Hillary Hickland (R)
District 56
Pat Curry (R)
District 57
Richard Hayes (R)
District 58
Helen Kerwin (R)
District 59
Shelby Slawson (R)
District 60
Mike Olcott (R)
District 61
District 62
Shelley Luther (R)
District 63
Ben Bumgarner (R)
District 64
Andy Hopper (R)
District 65
Mitch Little (R)
District 66
Matt Shaheen (R)
District 67
Jeff Leach (R)
District 68
David Spiller (R)
District 69
James Frank (R)
District 70
Mihaela Plesa (D)
District 71
Stan Lambert (R)
District 72
Drew Darby (R)
District 73
Carrie Isaac (R)
District 74
Eddie Morales (D)
District 75
Mary Gonzalez (D)
District 76
Suleman Lalani (D)
District 77
Vincent Perez (D)
District 78
Joseph Moody (D)
District 79
Claudia Ordaz (D)
District 80
Don McLaughlin (R)
District 81
Brooks Landgraf (R)
District 82
Tom Craddick (R)
District 83
Dustin Burrows (R)
District 84
Carl Tepper (R)
District 85
Stan Kitzman (R)
District 86
John Smithee (R)
District 87
Caroline Fairly (R)
District 88
Ken King (R)
District 89
Candy Noble (R)
District 90
Ramon Romero (D)
District 91
David Lowe (R)
District 92
Salman Bhojani (D)
District 93
Nate Schatzline (R)
District 94
Tony Tinderholt (R)
District 95
Nicole Collier (D)
District 96
David Cook (R)
District 97
John McQueeney (R)
District 98
District 99
Charlie Geren (R)
District 100
Venton Jones (D)
District 101
Chris Turner (D)
District 102
Ana-Maria Ramos (D)
District 103
Rafael Anchia (D)
District 104
Jessica Gonzalez (D)
District 105
Terry Meza (D)
District 106
Jared Patterson (R)
District 107
Linda Garcia (D)
District 108
Morgan Meyer (R)
District 109
Aicha Davis (D)
District 110
Toni Rose (D)
District 111
Yvonne Davis (D)
District 112
Angie Button (R)
District 113
Rhetta Bowers (D)
District 114
John Bryant (D)
District 115
District 116
Trey Fischer (D)
District 117
Philip Cortez (D)
District 118
John Lujan (R)
District 119
Elizabeth Campos (D)
District 120
District 121
Marc LaHood (R)
District 122
Mark Dorazio (R)
District 123
Diego Bernal (D)
District 124
Josey Garcia (D)
District 125
Ray Lopez (D)
District 126
Sam Harless (R)
District 127
District 128
Briscoe Cain (R)
District 129
Dennis Paul (R)
District 130
Tom Oliverson (R)
District 131
Alma Allen (D)
District 132
Mike Schofield (R)
District 133
Mano Deayala (R)
District 134
Ann Johnson (D)
District 135
Jon Rosenthal (D)
District 136
John Bucy (D)
District 137
Gene Wu (D)
District 138
Lacey Hull (R)
District 139
District 140
Armando Walle (D)
District 141
District 142
Harold Dutton (D)
District 143
Ana Hernandez (D)
District 144
Mary Perez (D)
District 145
District 146
Lauren Simmons (D)
District 147
Jolanda Jones (D)
District 148
Penny Shaw (D)
District 149
Hubert Vo (D)
District 150
Valoree Swanson (R)
Republican Party (88)
Democratic Party (62)
