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Mikal Williams

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Mikal Williams
Image of Mikal Williams
Elections and appointments
Last election

November 8, 2022

Education

Bachelor's

University of Houston, Clear Lake, 2010

Law

South Texas College of Law, 2013

Personal
Birthplace
Baytown, Texas
Religion
Agnostic
Profession
Attorney
Contact

Mikal Williams (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Texas' 14th Congressional District. He lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Williams completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Mikal Williams was born in Baytown, Texas. Williams earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Houston at Clear Lake in 2010 and a law degree from South Texas College of Law in 2013. His career experience includes co-founding Central Texas Allied Health Institute and working as an investigator with Galveston County CPS, a child and family advocate, a mediator, and an attorney. [1][2]

Elections

2022

See also: Texas' 14th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House Texas District 14

Incumbent Randy Weber defeated Mikal Williams in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 14 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Randy Weber
Randy Weber (R)
 
70.2
 
149,543
Image of Mikal Williams
Mikal Williams (D) Candidate Connection
 
29.8
 
63,606

Total votes: 213,149
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 14

Mikal Williams defeated Eugene Howard in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 14 on March 1, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Mikal Williams
Mikal Williams Candidate Connection
 
50.2
 
10,691
Image of Eugene Howard
Eugene Howard Candidate Connection
 
49.8
 
10,619

Total votes: 21,310
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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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 14

Incumbent Randy Weber defeated Keith Casey and Ruben Landon Dante in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 14 on March 1, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Randy Weber
Randy Weber
 
89.3
 
58,439
Image of Keith Casey
Keith Casey
 
7.9
 
5,178
Image of Ruben Landon Dante
Ruben Landon Dante Candidate Connection
 
2.8
 
1,854

Total votes: 65,471
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

2020

See also: Texas' 14th Congressional District election, 2020

Texas' 14th Congressional District election, 2020 (March 3 Republican primary)

Texas' 14th Congressional District election, 2020 (March 3 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Texas District 14

Incumbent Randy Weber defeated Adrienne Bell in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 14 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Randy Weber
Randy Weber (R)
 
61.6
 
190,541
Image of Adrienne Bell
Adrienne Bell (D) Candidate Connection
 
38.4
 
118,574

Total votes: 309,115
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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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 14

Adrienne Bell defeated Eddie Fisher, Sanjanetta Barnes, Mikal Williams, and Robert Thomas in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 14 on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Adrienne Bell
Adrienne Bell Candidate Connection
 
61.8
 
26,152
Image of Eddie Fisher
Eddie Fisher Candidate Connection
 
11.7
 
4,967
Image of Sanjanetta Barnes
Sanjanetta Barnes
 
10.6
 
4,482
Image of Mikal Williams
Mikal Williams Candidate Connection
 
9.6
 
4,055
Robert Thomas
 
6.2
 
2,640

Total votes: 42,296
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 U.S. House Texas District 14

Incumbent Randy Weber defeated Joshua Foxworth in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 14 on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Randy Weber
Randy Weber
 
85.4
 
51,837
Image of Joshua Foxworth
Joshua Foxworth Candidate Connection
 
14.6
 
8,856

Total votes: 60,693
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

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Mikal Williams completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Williams' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I was born and raised in Baytown, Texas, and moved to Galveston County as a teenager and have called it my home ever since. I received my Bachelor of Science in Sociology from the University of Houston-Clear Lake and my Juris Doctorate from South Texas College of Law. I am a former Galveston County CPS worker, and I am a child and family advocate, mediator, attorney, and co-founder of Central Texas Allied Health Institute, a nonprofit college that exists to create opportunities where vulnerable communities have access to world-class quality education in the areas of allied health at an affordable price. I act as general counsel for our nonprofit and I teach a course in Medical Law and Ethics. I am a single father of a special needs child that is my world. When I was 8, my father suffered a massive heart attack, and my life changed forever. I spent most of my formative years with the overwhelming reality that my father would be living in the Medical Center at Methodist Hospital in Houston. Between December 1, 1989, and January 1, 1990, my father had two open-heart surgeries in which two donor hearts were simultaneously placed inside of his body to keep him alive. This experience shaped the trajectory of my life to one of service to others.
  • Infrastructure and job creation. As your representative I will spearhead getting federal funding for projects to move flood waters and protect against the gulf waves. With this project we can tackle other dire needs like renewable energy and job creation. As we build drainage infrastructure, we can include hydrodynamics in order for that moving water to also generate renewable and useable electricity. We can store and use that energy to power vital institutions like hospitals, police and fire stations, and shelters when inevitably the Texas Power Grid fails again, not unlike the Tennessee Valley Authority. These bold projects will also create jobs and direct economic growth in our district.
  • Election and Government integrity. When I am your representative in Washington, I will introduce legislation to overturn Citizens United and remove the dark money from our elections. No more will representatives spend over 75% of their time soliciting contributions from 0.5% of the population. Our government is Of, For, and By the People. We must place a cap on political election spending. We must make it more accessible for citizens to run for office. We must get rid of pay-to-play. Also, I will also reintroduce legislation to implement Congressional Term Limits. It is time to say no more 40 plus years of holding a seat. I believe that 20 years of service is enough for someone to get work done, make their mark and go home.
  • Child Tax Credit and Wealth Tax. With extending and maintaining the child tax credit, our most vulnerable citizens see immediate relief. These CTC expansions would reduce child poverty in the United States by 45 percent, according to Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy, lifting nearly 5 million children out of poverty. The wealth tax would have a great impact on funding government assistance programs with little to no effect on the average citizen's wallet. Only families with wealth holdings above $35 million would be taxed. If we get 180,000 of the wealthiest American’s to pay their fair share in taxes, we could not only provide a permanent child tax credit, we could also provide universal healthcare for all Americans
Stable and sustainable workforce solutions. Stable and Sustainable Workforce Solutions. Presently, allied health solutions and renewable energy technologies are the high-growth job markets in our country and projections are they will remain that way for the foreseeable future. As your Congressman, I would bring energy market leaders from the oil and gas, renewable, environmental, and educational sectors to the table to create good middle-class jobs that will stimulate our economy and increase the quality of life for all residents of the district, while also building the infrastructure, in an environmentally sound manner, that will utilize our renewable coastal resources to support our coastal ecosystem. By doing this, we will preserve our way of life on the Texas coast while continuing to propel the Texas 14th US House District into this century as the energy leaders of the United States. Criminal Justice Reform. I believe our police officers should have at least two years, or an associate's degree equivalent, of training before they put on the badge. I believe we need to demilitarize the police and invest in social and mental health "officers" to assist in these kind of crises. I believe Congress should continue to work for H.R. 7120 George Floyd Justice in Policing Act until it is enacted. As a representative, I would fight for these as well as introduce or co-sponsor legislation to nationally legalize marijuana use and expungement of all marijuana arrest records.
I am the only democratic candidate for Texas Congressional District 14 that lives in the district and has the voting record to prove it.
The first historical event that left scarring lifetime memory was the Challenger explosion in January 1986. I was in the fourth grade and I was 10 years old. I was sitting on the floor in the classroom with my classmates watching the launch live. It was a historic flight since it included the first non-astronaut, a teacher, a regular citizen, As the countdown began the excitement in the room and from our own teacher was palpable. The engines ignited and the boosters blew huge glorious fire plumes from the back of the craft as it lifted off. They were a minute into the flight and everything looked great. My classmates and I began to chatter excitedly with big smiles and a sense of accomplishment. All of a sudden the spacecraft was gone! There was a large smoke cloud where the craft should be and booster rockets propelling forward, out of control. The mood in the room changed immediately and drastically. We had just experienced a national tragedy, live on TV, and the images will forever be seared into my memory. However, what had the most impact on me and drove my later pursuits was the aftermath of the tragedy. We did not close down the space program. We didn't put a permanent hold on space flight. We continued with our space endeavor. We learned from the tragedy and improved our safety process. Seeing the aftermath of that event, the national unity, the drive to learn, adapt, and achieve. It also taught me that service to others, especially the nation, was and is the most selfless pursuit.
Anything by Rush, but especially Red Barchetta, Wolf Totem - The Hu, Paralyzed - Arkansauce, Strangletage - Umphrey's McGee.
There are certain committees I want to serve on as representative for TX 14. I want to serve on the Education and Labor Committee. The commitment of the Education and Labor Committee is putting workers first, affordable healthcare for all, education and opportunity for every student, and holding the government accountable. Those are the core tenets of my campaign and exactly what I am running for Congress to do. I also want to serve on the Ethics committee, again to hold the government, especially agents and officeholders, accountable for financial and ethics violations. The third committee I want to serve on is the Judiciary Committee, especially the Government Oversight subcommittee.
Career politicians were not the original intent of our founders. Our government has become stagnant. Politicians are happy to embrace titles such as obstructionist and “the grim reaper.” Representatives are elected to do work; if they choose not to, we must hold them accountable. Too often, we see our so-called leaders destroy legislation that is good for constituents and the country just so they can score political points with their corporate donors and attempt to maintain power. It is time to put a stop to this!

When I am your representative in Washington, I will introduce legislation to overturn Citizens United and remove the dark money from our elections. No more will representatives spend over 75% of their time soliciting contributions from 0.5% of the population. Our government is Of, For, and By the People. We must place a cap on political election spending. We must make it more accessible for citizens to run for office. We must get rid of pay-to-play.

As your representative, I will also reintroduce legislation to implement Congressional Term Limits. It is time to say no more 40 plus years of holding a seat. We have 88-year-old Senators running for another 6-year term. I believe that 20 years of service is enough! That is why I want to propose 3 Senatorial terms and 9 Congressional terms. That gives leaders time to do the work that is so desperately needed. Leave their mark, so to speak, then hand it off to the next generation to continue to form a more perfect union.
As a mediator and family law attorney, I have participated in hundreds of negotiations regarding the most precious possessions and heirlooms and the most precious beings, children. The most successful outcomes are ones that involved compromise from both sides. Compromise is necessary for policymaking. However, there is a line of demarcation of policymaking. There is an art to negotiation, whether advocating or mediating, to get to an agreement. Knowing how to navigate that dance and not compromise the desired outcome is a skill that is learned only by being behind those doors and doing the work. I have spent over a decade honing those skills.

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

Williams' campaign website stated the following:

Mikal's Causes

Infrastructure

Drainage, Renewable Energy, Job Creation

If you have been a resident of District 14 for any amount of time, you know that if it rains an inch the water rises 3”. Hurricane Ike devastated our district in 2008 and we have had many weather disasters in our district since then. What we haven’t had is leadership driven to get the bold infrastructure projects to protect against rising sea levels and to effectively move and drain flood waters. NASA has released a study that shows a three-to-five-foot rise in high tides gulf waters due to the Moons gravitation effects. Along with increasing intensity of tropical weather in our region, these are problems that must be faced immediately, or we will suffer the disastrous consequences.

As your representative I will spearhead getting federal funding for projects to move flood waters and protect against the gulf waves. With this project we can tackle other dire needs like renewable energy and job creation. As we build drainage infrastructure, we can include hydrodynamics in order for that moving water to also generate renewable and useable electricity. We can store and use that energy to power vital institutions like hospitals, police and fire stations, and shelters when inevitably the Texas Power Grid fails again, not unlike the Tennessee Valley Authority.

This bold project will also create many employment opportunities for our district. We will need local workers to work on construction. It will create training facilities to train our constituents in the operation and maintenance of these systems. This will also lead to tidal generated electricity projects ensuring District 14 is on the cutting edge of innovation and a leader in America’s workforce and continued economic success.

Election and Government Integrity

Tackling corruption by implementing Congressional term limits and stopping the flow of dark money into election.

Career politicians were not the original intent of our founders. Our government has become stagnant. Politicians are happy to embrace titles such as obstructionist and “the grim reaper.” Representatives are elected to do work; if they choose not to, we must hold them accountable. Too often, we see our so-called leaders destroy legislation that is good for constituents and the country just so they can score political points with their corporate donors and attempt to maintain power. It is time to put a stop to this!

When I am your representative in Washington, I will introduce legislation to overturn Citizens United and remove the dark money from our elections. No more will representatives spend over 75% of their time soliciting contributions from 0.5% of the population. Our government is Of, For, and By the People. We must place a cap on political election spending. We must make it more accessible for citizens to run for office. We must get rid of pay-to-play.

As your representative, I will also reintroduce legislation to implement Congressional Term Limits. It is time to say no more 40 plus years of holding a seat. We have 88-year-old Senators running for another 6-year term. I believe that 20 years of service is enough! That is why I want to propose 3 Senatorial terms and 9 Congressional terms. That gives leaders time to do the work that is so desperately needed. Leave their mark, so to speak, then hand it off to the next generation to continue to form a more perfect union.

Child Tax Credit and Wealth Tax

Protecting our youth and funding those services

Children are our most vulnerable and most precious investment. Too many children go hungry in the wealthiest nation on the planet. It is estimated that 17 million children are in a nutrition crisis, which is a 6 million increase since before the Covid-19 pandemic. We need to commit to providing the resources our children need for basic survival. That’s why I support extending and maintaining the Child Tax Credit and a Wealth Tax.

With extending and maintaining the child tax credit, our most vulnerable citizens see immediate relief. These CTC expansions would reduce child poverty in the United States by 45 percent, according to Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy, lifting nearly 5 million children out of poverty. President Biden’s full COVID-19 American Rescue Plan, the other key elements of which are also incorporated into the FY 2021 budget reconciliation bill, would cut child poverty in half, according to Columbia University researchers.

The wealth tax would have a great impact on funding government assistance programs with little to no effect on the average citizen's wallet. Only families with wealth holdings above $35 million would be taxed. That is only 182,000 United States Residents. So, if we get 180,000 of the wealthiest American’s to pay their fair share in taxes, we could not only provide a permanent child tax credit, we could also provide universal healthcare for all Americans.[3]

—Mikal Williams' campaign website (2022)[4]

2020

Candidate Connection

Mikal Williams completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Williams' 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 a father, a son, a brother, a friend, a lawyer, a child advocate, former social worker and union member. I am a single father who has put himself through college and law school while working full time. I am a member of the Special Education Parents Advisory Committee and the Watch D.O.G.S (Dads of Great Students). I am past Senior Warden of Goose Creek Lodge 1192 AF&AM and chairman for the high-school scholarship committee. In 2018, Mikal joined the founding team for a new, non-profit allied health professions career college in Central Texas whose mission is to create a world where vulnerable communities have access to a world class, quality education in the areas of allied health at an affordable price. He teaches one online course in Medical Law and Ethics for the college. Mikal uses his own family's experience of struggling to keep their heads above water after experiencing a medical emergency, therefore he felt joining an organization whose purpose is to help lift those on the margins of society out of poverty was his life's calling. Mikal wants to bring this same expertise to, and usher in the next generation of middle-class workers through workforce education and training for the constituents of the US House of Representatives Texas District 14.
  • Stable and sustainable workforce solutions through renewable energy infrastructure building and allied health technologies. By providing middle skill, high income opportunites to our most economically depressed communities, we will create economic stimulas and pathways to a sustainable future.
  • I believe that all children in grades Pre-K-12 have the right to a free, high-quality, public school education, especially our students with special needs. We must provide all campuses, no matter what zip code, the adequate funding necessary to produce well-rounded, competent students who can graduate and compete in the ever-changing global economy. We must raise our teachers' salary levels to ones that reflect the significant amount of work it takes to be a great teacher. This enables educators to stay abreast of the latest in classroom innovations and technologies.
  • I believe freedom of choice is a right enshrined in our Constitution for every American. This includes the right to make the decision on what type of healthcare plan fits your family needs best. Therefore, if your current plan works, you should be allowed to keep it. If not, you should have access to an affordable, high-quality universal health plan backed by the federal government. With this model, we create competition and use market forces to bring down the cost of private insurance plans to a rate that is more affordable to all consumers. Those in our vulnerable communities should have access to a government-backed Medicare Plan that includes medical, dental and vision plans.
Building stable and sustainable workforce solutions for our most economically depressed communities. For decades, District 14 has been a leader in providing good middle-class jobs to its constituents, but lately we see large segments of our friends and neighbors being left behind. Decreased access to job training and job opportunity leads to wage stagnation and the inability for communities to reach their full potential. Presently, Allied Health Solutions and Renewable Energy Technologies are the high-growth job markets in our country and projections are they will remain that way for the foreseeable future. As your Congressman, I would bring energy market leaders from the Oil and Gas, Renewable, Environmental, and Educational Sectors to the table to create good middle-class jobs that will stimulate our economy and increase the quality of life for all residents of the district, while also building the infrastructure, in an environmentally sound manner, that will utilize our renewable coastal resources to support our coastal ecosystem. By doing this, we will preserve our way of life on the Texas coast while continuing to propel the Texas 14th US House District into this century as the energy leaders of the United States.
The most important characteristics or principles of an elected official are honesty and integrity, accountability, and choosing citizens over self. Our elected officials should be above reproach, they should serve with integrity and be open and honest with their constituents. Most importantly, our elected officials should serve selflessly and work in the best interests of their districts and not for personal gain.
I have education, training, and experience in Constitutional Law and legal drafting. I am honest, compassionate, and a staunch advocate. I will work tirelessly for my district and to build a better future.
The first historical event in my lifetime that I remember is the space shuttle Challenger disaster. It was January of 1986, I was in the 4th grade, and I had just turned 10 the previous November. Our classroom was seared in front of the classroom television watching the first civilian and teacher Christa McAuliffe join the crew on a historic flight. We watched as the shuttle took off and then the horrific explosion. I remember the teacher immediately turning off the television and the school being dismissed for the day not too long afterwards. I talked with my father that evening about the tragedy and I remember telling him I wanted to fly the space shuttle so I could make sure that didn't happen again. I was young, naive, and didn't really understand what had happened. However, that experience was one of many that directed my calling to service of others.
My very first job was when I was 15 years old and I worked for my best friend's father. He owned a communication installation company and installed all the phone lines and systems for several small and large businesses. I worked during my summer break from school pulling phone and data cables through buildings, installing phone and data receiver boards, and all-around shop "go for." This experience taught me the meaning of hard work and the importance of trade skill education.
As a representative I would want to be on the Education and Labor Committee, Energy and Commerce Committee, Financial Services Committee, Science, Space, and Technology Committee, Small Business Committee, and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. These committees are integral to the many needs that face our district.
I do believe two years is the right term length for representatives. I believe our founding fathers specifically designed the house of representative with two-year term lengths so that the average citizen could have the opportunity to represent their district in congress. This also allows the citizens to determine the proper course of their district and provide proper checks and balances to unruly administrations.
I believe that the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate should have term limits. I believe that 3 terms as a U.S. Senator, totaling 18 years, and 9 terms as a U.S. Representative, totaling 18 years, is a sufficient time to serve.

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


External links

Footnotes

  1. Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on January 30, 2022
  2. Mikal Williams for Congress, "Meet Mikal," accessed February 7, 2022
  3. Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  4. Mikal Williams for Congress, “Causes,” accessed January 22, 2022


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