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Jon Rosenthal

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Jon Rosenthal
Image of Jon Rosenthal

Democratic Party

Texas House of Representatives District 135
Tenure

2019 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

6

Predecessor

Compensation

Base salary

$7,200/year

Per diem

$221/day

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

University of Texas at Austin, 1991

Other

University of Houston, 2016

Personal
Birthplace
Palo Alto, Calif.
Religion
Multi-Religious
Profession
Mechanical engineer
Contact

Official website

Official Instagram

Official YouTube

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Jon Rosenthal (Democratic Party) is a member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing District 135. He assumed office on January 8, 2019. His current term ends on January 12, 2027.

Rosenthal (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Texas House of Representatives to represent District 135. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Rosenthal was born on August 17, 1963, in Palo Alto, California. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor's degree in 1991. He received additional education from the University of Houston in 2016. Rosenthal's professional experience includes working as a mechanical engineer.[1]

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.

2023-2024

Rosenthal was assigned to the following committees:

2021-2022

Rosenthal was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Rosenthal was assigned to the following committees:


The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Elections

2024

See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Texas House of Representatives District 135

Incumbent Jon Rosenthal won election in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 135 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jon Rosenthal
Jon Rosenthal (D)
 
100.0
 
43,114

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 43,114
Candidate Connection = 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 Texas House of Representatives District 135

Incumbent Jon Rosenthal advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 135 on March 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jon Rosenthal
Jon Rosenthal
 
100.0
 
4,579

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 4,579
Candidate Connection = 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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Campaign finance

Endorsements

Rosenthal received the following endorsements.

2022

See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Texas House of Representatives District 135

Incumbent Jon Rosenthal defeated Mike May in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 135 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jon Rosenthal
Jon Rosenthal (D)
 
57.6
 
23,354
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Mike May (R) Candidate Connection
 
42.4
 
17,178

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 40,532
Candidate Connection = 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

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 135

Incumbent Jon Rosenthal advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 135 on March 1, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jon Rosenthal
Jon Rosenthal
 
100.0
 
4,788

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 4,788
Candidate Connection = 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 House of Representatives District 135

Stephen Hagerty defeated Mike May in the Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 135 on March 1, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Stephen Hagerty
 
51.4
 
2,112
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Mike May Candidate Connection
 
48.6
 
1,996

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

Total votes: 4,108
Candidate Connection = 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

Campaign finance

2020

See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Texas House of Representatives District 135

Incumbent Jon Rosenthal defeated Justin Ray and Paul Bilyeu in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 135 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jon Rosenthal
Jon Rosenthal (D) Candidate Connection
 
49.1
 
36,760
Image of Justin Ray
Justin Ray (R) Candidate Connection
 
48.7
 
36,460
Image of Paul Bilyeu
Paul Bilyeu (L) Candidate Connection
 
2.3
 
1,703

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 74,923
Candidate Connection = 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 135

Incumbent Jon Rosenthal advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 135 on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jon Rosenthal
Jon Rosenthal Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
9,553

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 9,553
Candidate Connection = 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 House of Representatives District 135

Justin Ray defeated Merrilee Rosene Beazley in the Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 135 on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Justin Ray
Justin Ray Candidate Connection
 
83.9
 
7,412
Image of Merrilee Rosene Beazley
Merrilee Rosene Beazley
 
16.1
 
1,427

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

Total votes: 8,839
Candidate Connection = 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 135

Paul Bilyeu advanced from the Libertarian convention for Texas House of Representatives District 135 on March 21, 2020.

Candidate
✔
Image of Paul Bilyeu
Paul Bilyeu (L) Candidate Connection

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

Candidate Connection = 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

Endorsements

To view Rosenthal's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.

2018

See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for Texas House of Representatives District 135

Jon Rosenthal defeated incumbent Gary Elkins and Paul Bilyeu in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 135 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jon Rosenthal
Jon Rosenthal (D)
 
50.8
 
28,473
Image of Gary Elkins
Gary Elkins (R)
 
47.6
 
26,701
Image of Paul Bilyeu
Paul Bilyeu (L) Candidate Connection
 
1.5
 
867

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 56,041
Candidate Connection = 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 135

Jon Rosenthal advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 135 on March 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jon Rosenthal
Jon Rosenthal
 
100.0
 
5,273

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

Total votes: 5,273
Candidate Connection = 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 House of Representatives District 135

Incumbent Gary Elkins advanced from the Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 135 on March 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Gary Elkins
Gary Elkins
 
100.0
 
5,984

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 5,984
Candidate Connection = 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

Jon Rosenthal did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Jon Rosenthal did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Video for Ballotpedia

Video submitted to Ballotpedia
Released September 16, 2020

Candidate Connection

Jon Rosenthal completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Rosenthal's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I'm Jon Rosenthal. I'm a family man with a lovely wife and 2 adult children first. I'm a Mechanical Engineer who worked in Oil & gas for over 25 years doing everything from equipment design to engineering management to large scale project engineering and project management. I first ran for office in 2018 and unseated a 24-year GOP incumbent. I'm a fierce advocate for public education with the long term goal to overhaul how we test children in schools. I'm all-in with labor and believe all workers deserve a fair shot! I also prioritize access to healthcare and criminal justice reform, and I am driven to fight against bigotry and discrimination in all forms.
  • I left industry and got in to politics to serve our district and the people of Texas. I'm an engineer before being a politician!
  • Integrity and values are my best qualifications. I'm guided by logic, kindness, honor, decency, and respect.
  • My focus is on policy to benefit ALL of the people of Texas, and that is why I was named Freshman of the Year by the Legislative Study Group Caucus
I originally got in to politics to advance public education in Texas. Education must be properly funded from the State side so that we can reduce the burden of individual property taxes. And we MUST overhaul the standardized testing system, and replace STAAR with a meaningful and valid measurement . I'm also passionate about access to healthcare, especially for women and ESPECIALLY for women of color. And I am driven in life to fight against bigotry and discrimination in all forms. We need equity justice and we must seriously confront systemic racism. Disadvantaged communities must get a fair shot! I also am committed to work for criminal justice reforms. ALL humans deserve the same basic HUMAN rights and I will always fight for you ALL.
I would like to help revolutionize the way we test students in our public schools
The first major historical event I remember was the Lunar Landing in 1969. I was almost 9 years old and I was filled with wonder and excitement and I was inspired to pursue a career in Science. At first I wanted to be a rocket scientist and I got into model rocketry. I learned to design and build model rockets and even entered a few competitions when I was a pre-teen. of course I eventually shifted to Mechanical Engineering and have truly loved my career in industry and all the diverse experiences I've had.

Also, I was almost 11 years old when President Nixon was impeached in 1974. I remember his landslide election and how upset my parents were because they thought Nixon was "a crook". And I've always taken that moment in history as a lesson that personal integrity is much more important and valuable than winning at any cost. Nobody can ever take away your personal integrity, but it can be shattered in an instant if you choose to give it up!
It's Your Thing (Isley Bothers)
In Texas, we are faced with some serious and complex challenges right now. The first of which is getting the Covid pandemic under control so that our economy can again flourish. Of course I believe the path to defeating Covid is to rely on science, trust the experts, and evolve our approach as the science evolves. We need to relentlessly pursue expanding testing and reducing turnaround times for test results and we must implement effective contact tracing as well. .

Other challenges for the near future include budgeting for the next biennium in the face of a massive $4.7 Billion dollar shortfall. We need creative solutions and we must broaden and strengthen our revenue streams in order to preserve the gains we've made in funding public education. .

And of course the redistricting exercise is slated for 2021 and that will be a major challenge. I always advocate for FAIR maps that collect communities of common interest within geographic areas. Again, we must end partisan gerrymandering for the health of our democracy!
Absolutely, it is vital to build these relationships. I value the friendships I've already made in the legislature and I look forward to strengthening those and also to developing new relationships as well. I especially value the friendships I have with legislators who have very different views from my own. It broadens our perspective to engage with others who think differently, and it helps us find areas of commonality and bipartisanship. We must be able to engage in respectful discourse, especially when we disagree.
Ideally, redistricting should be conducted by an independent nonpartisan board that also relies on input from communities. Open source computer programs should draft maps, and district boundaries can have small manual adjustments if necessary. Partisan gerrymandering must be ended in Texas, and in the USA. I see gerrymandering as a great threat to our system of democracy because ALL people should have a fair shot at representation.
No. Not at all. I want to accomplish some tangible goals (such as overhaul of the testing system for students in public schools), and then I'd respectfully like to return to my career as an engineer.  :)
I decided to work full time as the Representative for my District and I am committed to helping constituents at every opportunity. I have so many stories to tell about people I've worked with and how I've been able to help, and also stories of people who are trying to accomplish wonderful goals and stories of working with younger kids and students to help inspire and engage them. It is the best part of this job in many ways!

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

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's candidate surveys
Candidate Connection

Jon Rosenthal participated in Ballotpedia's candidate survey on March 27, 2018. The survey questions appear in bold, and Jon Rosenthal's responses follow below.[2]

What would be your top three priorities, if elected?

“ 1) Public Education - Finance and Governance

2) Infrastructure - Flood Prevention and Highway Construction
3) Healthcare - Lowering cost and improving access[3][4]

”

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Why?

“ Public schools first - because this is our future. We must provide the best education possible to ALL of our kids, and that also means taking care of our teachers. You never know where the next MLK, Marie Curie, or Elon Musk will come from, we don't want to miss that! Also, our schools should better prepare our young people to enter the workforce. Not every child will go to college, but every one can make an honest living and contribute. And the state must once again pay a fair share for school finance, and not lean ever more heavily on private citizens' property taxes - so we must overhaul the public education finance system. Next - Healthcare has become prohibitively expensive for too many people in Texas, we need to care for our citizens. Too many folks will forgo necessary preventive care because they can't afford it, and lives will ultimately be lost because of this. Lastly - we in Houston have felt the effects of flooding too many times, so we know we need to be better prepared. Projects and programs have been in planning stages for far too long, it's time to take action.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many[4] ”

Ballotpedia also asked the candidate a series of optional questions. Jon Rosenthal answered the following:

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

“ Our elected officials need to operate with strong and positive values, and strive to represent and benefit *ALL* of the people they represent. It is important to embrace values like Honesty, Integrity, Decency, and Respect.[4] ”
What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?
“ I'm a career engineer, so my training is all about seeking reasonable, data-based solutions to complex issues. I will always make the highest priority of taking care of our PEOPLE, and helping to solve the problems that face our communities.[4] ”

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.

Jon Rosenthal campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* Texas House of Representatives District 135Won general$125,441 $114,456
2022Texas House of Representatives District 135Won general$194,206 $157,387
2020Texas House of Representatives District 135Won general$1,045,858 N/A**
2018Texas House of Representatives District 135Won general$114,007 N/A**
Grand total$1,479,512 $271,843
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
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Texas

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Texas scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.


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2020


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External links

Candidate

Texas House of Representatives District 135
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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 17, 2020
    2. ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
    3. ↑ Ballotpedia's candidate survey, "Jon Rosenthal's responses," March 27, 2018
    4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.

    Political offices
    Preceded by
    Gary Elkins (R)     		Texas House of Representatives District 135
    2019-Present    		 Succeeded by
    -


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