Joe Roberts

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

Joe Roberts

Libertarian Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Texas Tech University, 1993

Graduate

University of North Texas, 2002

Personal

Birthplace

Irving, Texas

Profession

Professor

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Joe Roberts (Libertarian Party) ran for election to the Texas House of Representatives to represent District 100. He was disqualified from the general election scheduled on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Joe Roberts was born in Irving, Texas. Roberts earned a bachelor's degree from Texas Tech University in 1993 and a graduate degree from the University of North Texas in 2002. His career experience includes working as a professor. Roberts has served as the vice chair of the Libertarian Party of Dallas County and on the state executive committee of the Libertarian Party of Texas. He has been affiliated with the Bastiat Society.

Elections

2024

See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Texas House of Representatives District 100

Incumbent Venton Jones won election in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 100 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Venton Jones (D)	100.0	34,119

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 34,119
= 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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Joe Roberts (L)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 100

Incumbent Venton Jones defeated Barbara Mallory Caraway, Sandra Crenshaw, and Justice McFarlane in the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 100 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Venton Jones	50.7	3,832
		Barbara Mallory Caraway	25.8	1,952
		Sandra Crenshaw	16.9	1,282
		Justice McFarlane	6.6	498

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 7,564
= 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 House of Representatives District 100

Joe Roberts advanced from the Libertarian convention for Texas House of Representatives District 100 on March 16, 2024.

		Candidate
✔		Joe Roberts (L)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Roberts in this election.

2022

See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Texas House of Representatives District 100

Venton Jones defeated Joe Roberts in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 100 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Venton Jones (D)	85.1	23,567
		Joe Roberts (L)	14.9	4,131

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 27,698
= 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 Texas House of Representatives District 100

Venton Jones defeated Sandra Crenshaw in the Democratic primary runoff for Texas House of Representatives District 100 on May 24, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Venton Jones	68.3	3,130
		Sandra Crenshaw	31.7	1,456

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 4,586
= 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 House of Representatives District 100

Sandra Crenshaw and Venton Jones advanced to a runoff. They defeated Daniel Davis Clayton and Marquis Hawkins in the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 100 on March 1, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sandra Crenshaw	34.2	2,928
✔		Venton Jones	25.6	2,193
		Daniel Davis Clayton	23.0	1,971
		Marquis Hawkins	17.1	1,460

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,552
= 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 House of Representatives District 100

Joe Roberts advanced from the Libertarian convention for Texas House of Representatives District 100 on March 12, 2022.

		Candidate
✔		Joe Roberts (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

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Joe Roberts did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Joe Roberts completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Roberts' 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.

Joe Roberts is a DFW native who has made Far East Dallas his home for the last ten years. He embraces the ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversity of House District 100, and he looks forward to offering its residents the opportunity to vote for their freedom this November. Joe holds a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from Texas Tech University and a Master of Arts in Spanish from the University of North Texas. He served students and their families as a teacher in traditional North Texas school districts and charter schools for 25 years, and he has been a professor at Dallas College since 2011. Having been “on the front lines” of the educational issues facing our communities, he recognizes the value of families being able to make their own choices with regard to the education of their children, instead of being shackled to a particular school based on one’s address. Joe and his wife Sarah made the choice to homeschool their own three young children, and he is an advocate for new and innovative ways to prepare the children of Texas for life in our contemporary world.

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 am the only "anti-mandate" candidate on the ballot this November. I will fight in Austin to make sure that the jobs and businesses of Texans are protected from being ruined by over-reaching "emergency mandates."
• I will lead the fight to end our expensive, oppressive prison system by decriminalizing marijuana and other "victimless" crimes. Non-violent drug offenders should not be incarcerated, and limited police resources should be directed to true threats to our safety.
• I support Texas becoming an immigrant-friendly state. Peaceful people from other countries should be allowed to come here without all the expensive "red tape," and they should be able to work and create economic value for everyone.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

As a lifelong educator, I am extremely aware of how our traditional government school system fails Texas families. Our children should not be locked into attending substandard, dangerous schools based on their ZIP codes. Parents should be able to access innovative educational solutions for their children, including affordable private alternatives and homeschooling, without government interference.

We have to reform our criminal justice system. The War on Drugs has created far more violent crime than it has ever prevented, and the result is that non-violent Texans (predominantly poor people of color) find themselves "in the system" for nothing more than possessing a controlled substance. It's costly to all of us, and it tears families apart unjustly. Also, we have to do a better job of holding bad cops accountable by ending "qualified immunity" laws that protect criminal behavior while on-duty.

Most importantly, freedom from goverment meddling enables individuals and communities to work together to thrive. We need to break the cycle of dependence on the government and the generational poverty that comes from it. I believe in "the power of us," and I will get government out of the way of what is already working in our communities, so that Texans everywhere can help one another to prosper.

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

Harry Browne ran for President in 1996 and 2000 on the Libertarian ticket. One of his best contributions to understanding what liberty is all about is his book How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World. In it, he explains how we do not have to wait for government to stop interfering in our personal lives in order to find ways to thrive and prosper. Of course, like me, he supported scaling back government to allow this to happen more easily. However, the idea of individuals and communities taking charge of their own lives and understanding that bigger government always means less liberty, not more, is one that resonates with me.

As far as my economic philosophy, I always recommend Henry Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson, which spells out very clearly how every heavy-handed government response to solve one problem, no matter how well-intended it may have been, inevitably creates more (and often greater) problems as a result. In Austin, I will always take into account the likely consequences and "side effects" of any piece of legislation I am considering.

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

I am not seeking this office in order to gain political power. As a Libertarian, my goal will always be to empower individuals and communities by keeping government from micro-managing every detail of our lives.

A vote for me is a vote to set you and your neighbors free to prosper, and that will come from me limiting the power that others have wielded in this office in the past.

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

I was in elementary school in the late 1970s, and I remember the effects of bad government economic policy: the inflation, the long lines for gas, etc. Although I was too young at the time to understand the causes of all of the financial problems I saw around me, I saw the results all around me and the crisis it created. It wasn't until I was much older that I learned how government attempts to control the free market - even with the best of intentions - steers us toward unfortunate, yet predictable negatiove consequences.

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

I have been a fan of Doctor Who since I was a young child. The idea of being able to visit anywhere at any point in history has always fascinated me, as has the notion of time travel itself. The Doctor is a rebel against authoritarianism and a peace lover who lives by a set of principles. Who wouldn't want to fill those shoes?

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

Just like in our federal government, the Texas Constitution spells out the roles and responsibilities of the governor, the state legislature, and the state judiciary. Ideally, the Texas House and the Texas Senate will set the legislative agenda, and expensive special sessions will be called by the governor only when there is a pressing, immediate need, and not merely to force the legislature to consider something the governor considers to be important.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

The people of Texas are going to have to face the consequences of the heavy-handed mandates of national, state, and local governments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Congress and the past two Presidents have worked with the Federal Reserve to create trillions of dollars out of thin air in the space of a few months, leading to the inflation that we are going to be experiencing for some time to come. In addition, the halting of economic production here and around the world, along with destructive economic sanctions that disrupt free trade, is going to continue to create shortages in Texas, just like everywhere else. The government of our state must create conditions where Texans are free to create, to innovate, and to take care of themselves and their communities as we weather the economic storm that is, at this point, unavoidable.

One crucial aspect of that need for innovation is the state's approach to education. The standardization and uniformity that characterizes the majority of our public school districts does not lead to free and independent thinkers who will come up with the ideas we need to face this future. Many of the jobs that today's students will have in twenty years' time don't even exist yet. We have to do more than get them ready for college and the careers available in 2022. In order for Texas to lead, we need to give families the freedom to try new approaches to education, including homeschooling.

Lastly, the crisis at our southern border has to be addressed properly. The vast majority of immigrants, including those who break existing laws to come here, want nothing more than a better life for themselves and their families. We need to make immigration a simple, quick, inexpensive procedure like it was in the days of Ellis Island, and allow peaceful people from other countries to come here and be contributors and producers in our economy and in society.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

There are 150 members of the Texas House of Representatives, and 31 State Senators. I believe that good ideas don't require force, but good ideas won't make it out of committees and get passed with the efforts of only one of those 181 legislators. These men and women are the ones chosen by people from all over our great state to represent them. As the laws that we pass affect Texans in every region and in every walk of life, building relationships and coalitions with those who are like-minded in making Texans more free is an essential part of making that a reality.

Should the legislature oversee or grant the use of emergency powers?

The state legislature is the body empowered to write the laws governing the day-to-day lives of Texans. While there may be a extenuating emergency (such as an unprecedented natural disaster) that may require the decisive action of a governor or county judge or mayor, those should be limited in scope and in time (a week or less), with the state legislature involved in the design and approval of any emergency measures past that point.

In almost every circumstance, however, the most qualified people to devise an emergency response are those who have the most "skin in the game": those who are most invested in the areas affected and who have the greatest personal knowledge and expertise to manage their own lives. Therefore, executive emergency powers must be curtailed to a degree that they are used only in the most dire, immediately life-threatening circumstances.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

As someone who is will be serving neither as a Democrat or a Republican, I will be able to communicate with those on both sides of the aisle where our priorities overlap without the pressure to conform to bad policy just for the sake of party unity. I look forward to working with my fellow Respresentatives to serve the interests of Texans

Nevertheless, I am a man who stands by my principles of free markets, self-ownership, and the right to live free, and I will never compromise those values for the sake of expediency or for personal gain.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

---

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.

---

Joe Roberts campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	Texas House of Representatives District 100	Disqualified general	$1,248	$588
2022	Texas House of Representatives District 100	Lost general	$4,747	$4,230
Grand total			$5,995	$4,818
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

See also

2024 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

Newsletters

The Daily Brew The Weekly Brew The Ballot Bulletin Checks and Balances Economy and Society Hall Pass Number of the Day Robe & Gavel

External links

Search Google News for this topic

Candidate

Texas House of Representatives District 100

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Footnotes

[show]

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

Denise Villalobos (R)

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

Maria Luisa Flores (D)

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

Keresa Richardson (R)

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

Giovanni Capriglione (R)

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

Cassandra Garcia Hernandez (D)

District 116

Trey Fischer (D)

District 117

Philip Cortez (D)

District 118

John Lujan (R)

District 119

Elizabeth Campos (D)

District 120

Barbara Gervin-Hawkins (D)

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

Charles Cunningham (R)

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

Charlene Ward Johnson (D)

District 140

Armando Walle (D)

District 141

Senfronia Thompson (D)

District 142

Harold Dutton (D)

District 143

Ana Hernandez (D)

District 144

Mary Perez (D)

District 145

Christina Morales (D)

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)