Pete Chambers
Pete Chambers (Republican Party) ran for election for Governor of Texas. He lost in the Republican primary on March 3, 2026.
Chambers completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Pete Chambers served in the Texas Army National Guard and U.S. Army. He earned a medical degree from the University of New England. His career experience includes working as a surgeon, soldier, and nonprofit CEO.[1]
Elections
2026
See also: Texas gubernatorial election, 2026
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
General election for Governor of Texas
Incumbent Greg Abbott (R), Gina Hinojosa (D), and Jenn Mack Raphoon (Independent) are running in the general election for Governor of Texas on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Greg Abbott (R) | |
 | Gina Hinojosa (D) | |
 | Jenn Mack Raphoon (Independent)  | |
| ||||
| = 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
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
Democratic primary for Governor of Texas
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Governor of Texas on March 3, 2026.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Gina Hinojosa | 59.9 | 1,012,218 |
 | Chris Bell | 9.6 | 163,007 | |
 | Angela Villescaz | 6.5 | 109,308 | |
| Patricia Abrego | 5.5 | 92,840 | ||
 | Andrew White | 5.3 | 89,383 | |
 | Bobby Cole | 5.2 | 87,284 | |
 | Jose Navarro Balbuena | 2.9 | 48,395 | |
| Carlton Hart | 2.7 | 45,559 | ||
 | Zach Vance | 2.5 | 41,637 | |
| Total votes: 1,689,631 | |||
| = 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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Nick Pappas (D)
- Faizan Syed (D)
- Meagan Tehseldar (D)
Republican primary
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
Republican primary for Governor of Texas
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Governor of Texas on March 3, 2026.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Greg Abbott | 82.4 | 1,457,558 |
 | Pete Chambers | 10.9 | 192,863 | |
 | Evelyn Brooks | 2.0 | 35,560 | |
| Arturo Espinosa | 1.0 | 18,278 | ||
 | Charles Crouch | 0.7 | 12,185 | |
 | Kenneth Hyde | 0.7 | 11,981 | |
| Nathaniel Welch | 0.5 | 9,562 | ||
 | Stephen Samuelson | 0.5 | 8,484 | |
 | Ronnie Tullos | 0.5 | 8,052 | |
 | Mark Goloby | 0.5 | 8,035 | |
 | R.F. Achgill | 0.4 | 7,139 | |
| Total votes: 1,769,697 | |||
| = 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
- Davy Hobson (R)
Campaign finance
Endorsements
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Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Pete Chambers completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Chambers' responses.
| Collapse all
- I am running because I believe that Texas can and must do better. We must fully address the border crisis, secure our elections, and protect our children from harmful policies and curricula. We must stand up for religious freedom and the right to homeschool, support natural health and alternative medicine, and foster a strong, Godly economy that lifts up all Texans. In contrast to Governor Abbott's more independent or neutral approach, I offer a clear, conservative vision for Texas – one that is grounded in Biblical principles, fiscal responsibility, and a commitment to limited government. I am not a career politician, and I am not afraid to challenge the status quo or stand up for what most conservative Texans believe in.
- Dr. Pete “Doc” Chambers is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, Special Forces Green Beret, and physician who has dedicated his life to defending freedom and serving others. From combat zones to the Texas border, Doc has always shown up where leadership is needed most. With over 30 years of service, multiple combat tours, and a proven track record of standing for truth—even under pressure—Doc is stepping up once again. This time, to fight for Texas.
- Why Doc Chambers? Proven in Crisis – Doc made life-and-death decisions under fire as a Green Beret and combat medic. He knows how to lead when it counts. He has experience as a statesman and a warrior diplomat. No Nonsense. No Compromise. – He stood up to government overreach during COVID—even when it cost him his career. Not a Politician – Doc’s loyalty is to the people, not party donors or political elites. Texas First, Always – He’ll secure our border, defend medical and parental rights, and protect our way of life. Texas doesn’t need another politician. It needs a warrior with integrity. That’s Doc.
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
Chambers' campaign website stated the following:
Secure the Border & Stop Human Trafficking
Border Security: Repelling the Invasion
Allowing cartels, human traffickers, and foreign adversaries to exploit our borders is cowardly, unacceptable, and threatens the sovereignty our Founders fought to secure. Texans have been facing an invasion that burdens our communities, drains resources, and endangers lives—all while the federal government has failed its duty under Article IV, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution to protect states from invasion. Doc Pete Chambers will SECURE Texas borders and repel this threat with a phased approach rooted in his military and foreign diplomatic experience, adapting proven doctrines to restore control.
Doc will secure the border in the same manner he treated wounded Soldiers on the battlefield: stop the bleeding, treat the wounds, and stabilize for long-term care:
- Stop the Bleeding: Declare a hybrid threat emergency and deploy Texas State Guard and National Guard forces under Title 32 to immediately secure key terrain, deny access to cartels, and interdict smuggling routes. Partner with willing county sheriffs and federal agencies like USNORTHCOM for real-time ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance), biometric tools, and joint task forces to achieve 100% domain awareness and halt unlawful crossings within the first 100 days.
- Treat the Wounds: Reform fragmented authorities by integrating Titles 10, 32, and 50 for seamless federal-state collaboration, including intelligence sharing and counterintelligence against cartel networks. Establish Special Missions Units (SMUs) modeled on elite forces to disrupt hybrid threats, while passing state legislation to shield local enforcers from litigation and mandate 287(g) participation for data access.
- Stabilize for Long-Term Care: Build sustainable, whole-of-society defenses through Homeland Defense Compacts, community engagement to counter cartel influence, and contingency plans to "future-proof" Texas against federal inaction—leveraging Article 4, Section 7 of the Texas Constitution to call forth Texas forces and repel invasions if needed. Push for federal reforms like offshore asylum processing and sanctions on migration facilitators to eliminate pull factors. Address internal enablers by enforcing Texas laws against aiding cartels, launching education programs to deter participation, and using counterintelligence to deny them societal footholds, protecting vulnerable Texans from exploitation.
The Why Cartels and transnational networks operate as hybrid insurgents, controlling territory, infiltrating economies, and weaponizing migration to destabilize Texas. This invasion has led to over 10 million unlawful entries nationwide since 2021, costing Texans billions in healthcare, education, and public safety while enabling fentanyl deaths and human trafficking. The bulk of our societal issues are downstream of unchecked migration, overburdening populations and systems that are not built to take on the numbers we’ve had forced upon us. Throughout our history, the federal government has abdicated its responsibility under Article IV, Section 4 to protect states from invasion, leaving Texas vulnerable. As Commander-in-Chief of Texas forces, the Governor must act to restore sovereignty and protect our people.
Through improper federal policies and lack of enforcement, adversaries exploit seams in our defenses, turning the border into a gray-zone battlefield. Doc's experience in Foreign Internal Defense (FID) abroad shows that adapting this to Domestic Internal Defense (DID) is essential to neutralize these threats without ceding ground.
The How Adapting FID to DID is both lawful and effective. No longer will Texas rely on optics like made-for-TV barriers that fail to stop crossings; instead, we'll build unified command with total access across domains—land, air, cyber, and more. Doc will achieve immediate relief by declaring an emergency, pushing legislation through the 2027 legislative session, and calling a Special Legislative Session (if needed) to enact a State Homeland Defense Act, defining hybrid threats, creating SMUs, and authorizing compacts with USNORTHCOM for ISR and funding. This will integrate local sheriffs as operational commanders, ensure seamless communication, and impose consequences through rapid interdiction and prosecution.
Additional sessions will pass reforms for data fusion, counterintelligence, and sustainment infrastructure like forward bases. To future-proof against federal failures, Doc will execute contingency operations under Texas Constitution Article 4, Section 7, mobilizing Texas forces (National and State Guard) to execute laws and repel invasions while collaborating with favorable federal entities now. Exemptions for humanitarian cases will align with statutory protections, but asylum will be rechanneled offshore to collapse cartel incentives.
Doc will also advocate federally for withdrawing from exploitable treaties, imposing remittance fees on non-cooperative nations, and sanctioning TCOs (Transnational Criminal Organizations)—ensuring Texas leads a national restoration of border integrity. Doc Pete Chambers is committed to repelling the invasion and returning sovereignty to The People. In Texas, you shouldn't live in fear of unchecked threats; under Doc's leadership, you won't. We want your feedback on securing our borders! Join our discussions on social media so we can make Texas safe for all future generations.
Abolish Property Taxes
Property Taxes: Eliminating the Burden
Renting personal property from the State until one loses the property or passes away is unacceptable and in no way is how our Founders intended for us to live. As it stands, Texans are being taxed out of their homes to fund out-of-control local spending; and it’s being propped up by the State. Doc Pete Chambers will ELIMINATE this practice in Texas with a phased approach to total elimination. Doc will eliminate property taxes in the same manner he treated wounded Soldiers on the battlefield; stop the bleeding, treat the wounds, and stabilize for long-term care:
- Stop the Bleeding: Provide an immediate 26% relief on the bill you already owe while expanding the Homestead Exemption to 100%, eliminating property taxes for single-family owner-occupied homes & land and small-scale long-term rental homes. This will be put to a vote for The People of Texas in May of 2027, four months after Doc swears-in.
- Treat the Wounds: The State has enabled local municipalities to arbitrarily assign property values through local CAD (Central Appraisal District) boards with vague rules that incentivize large year-over-year increases. Doc will include CAD rule reforms to stop this practice in the immediate Legislative Session and any Special Session he calls to address Property Taxes.
- Stabilize for Long-Term Care: Doc will move local municipality funding to consumption-based systems and eliminate remaining property taxes through legislation agendas pushed through in his term.
The Why
Local municipalities assess and collect property taxes for local municipality use to the tune of $87.2 billion each year. This is exclusively through local municipalities; the State does not collect property taxes to fund State budgets. Under the current system, Texans are being taxed out of their homes, and the ever-increasing property tax burden is acting as a barrier for potential new homeowners. Because the State has enabled this unsustainable abuse, it is the responsibility of the Governor and the State to address this problem. Through improper Texas laws and regulations governing CAD boards, the State has (*All figures based on official Texas Comptroller Reports that can be found at https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/reports/index.php) disenfranchised 12% of Texans (3,676,617) who have no legal right to citizen representation on their local CADs. These CADs are exclusively chosen by the taxing entities (counties, cities, school districts, etc.). The taxing entities and CADs have no incentive to reduce how much they take from their neighbors each year. History has proven that no entity levying and using a tax has willingly decided to reduce their own budget without a forcing function. The remaining 88% of Texans receive meager representation on their CADs; only enough to give the illusion of representation, but not enough to ensure a majority vote on any issue.
The How Moving local municipality funding to a consumption-based funding system is both sustainable and fair. No longer will one group of society shoulder the burden of providing funding for municipalities where all groups get or use municipality services. By implementing a final 3.82% VAT and a sales tax rate of 9.19%, we can fully eliminate property taxes for Texans while ensuring local municipalities still have funds to operate. Doc will achieve a 26% reduction of the tax bill you already owe from the 2026 tax year by declaring an emergency and passing legislation through the 2027 Legislative Session to exclusively deal with property taxes. In this session, bills will be pushed through to retroactively reduce the tax burden, fix the rules and guidelines on CADs, and extend the homestead exemption for single-family owner-occupied homes to 100% through a Constitutional amendment to be voted on by The People in May of 2027. Additional Special Legislative sessions will be called to pass replacement funding mechanisms, via a 50/50 split VAT & sales tax. Exempted categories through the tax law on sales tax will continue and be extended to be exempt from VAT so lower and average earning Texans will not be disproportionally burdened. Through these sessions Doc will also push the legislature to pass a bill providing a Constitutional amendment to fully exempt small businesses from property taxes with a proposed vote by The People in November 2027. This effectively eliminates property taxes for Texans within the first year of Doc’s term while still ensuring local municipalities can function.
Doc Pete Chambers is committed to returning true ownership of property to The People and getting government spending in check. In a truly free Texas, you shouldn’t be renting from the government for the rest of your life; under Doc Pete Chamber’s leadership, you won’t be. We want your feedback on fixing these issues in Texas! Join our discussion on social media so we can make Texas a prosperous place for all future generations.
Energy and Water Security: Powering Texas Forward
Energy and Water Security: Powering Texas Forward
Depending on unreliable grids and dwindling water supplies until blackouts hit or droughts devastate is disastrous and a societally destructive way of governing. As it stands, Texans are facing power outages from extreme weather and water shortages that threaten farms, homes, and businesses; and it's being propped up by outdated systems. Doc Pete Chambers will SECURE these essential resources in Texas with a strategic rollout to achieve total energy and water independence and reliability.
Doc will secure energy and water in the same manner he treated wounded Soldiers on the battlefield: stop the bleeding, treat the wounds, and stabilize for long-term care:
- Stop the Bleeding: Roll out portable natural gas (NG) units immediately to add 1-2 GW of backup power in vulnerable zones, averting outages like those in 2021's Winter Storm Uri.
- Treat the Wounds: Initiate coastal desalination projects and grid hardening to supply 1 million acre-feet of fresh water and stable electricity within four years.
- Stabilize for Long-Term Care: Scale micro-nuclear reactors and full desalination networks statewide, ensuring 7 million acre-feet of water and baseload power for decades through legislation pushed in his term.
The Why Texas is on the brink of a dual crisis: Texas Water Development Board's 2022 State Water Plan projects water supplies falling 18% by 2070 while demand surges 9% amid population growth to 51.5 million, demanding $154 billion in investments to avoid $100-200 billion in yearly economic hits. Energy-wise, Electric Reliability Council of Texas reports demand climbing from 464 billion kWh in 2024 to 487 billion kWh in 2025 – a 5% jump – driven by data centers and expansion, with grid failures like Uri costing $90-130 billion in 2021 alone. Under the current setup, unreliable power disrupts lives and water shortages hammer agriculture practices, leading to loss of generational livelihoods and lives. Since the State oversees ERCOT, TWDB, and Public Utility Commission (PUC), it's the Governor's duty to tackle this growing threat.
Through outdated planning and underinvestment, the State has left most Texans exposed to blackouts and water deficits in critical basins. Massive increases in energy and water reliant tech industry ventures in the State put further drains on an already thinly stretched system.
The How
Shifting to a resilient, integrated energy-water system is both sustainable and integral to the security of our State. No longer will rural areas shoulder droughts without relief or urban centers face blackouts; all benefit from reliable supplies of essential resources. By deploying portable NG, piloting and scaling desalination, and scaling micro-nuclear, we can add 1-2 GW power and 1-2 million acre-feet water initially, with full rollout preventing the projected 2050 catastrophic shortages.
Doc will deliver quick wins by declaring an energy-water emergency and advancing bills in the 2027 Legislative Session focused on grid and supply security. This will authorize portable NG fleets (50+ units at $1-5 billion total, with the State share at $0.5-2 billion) for fast deployment, generating 5,000-15,000 jobs in the process.
Any remaining necessary Special Sessions will fund 5-10 desalination pilot plants (50 MGD each, online in 2.5-4 years), handling brine through regulated offshore discharge or injection to minimize coastal impacts while powering sites with on-site NG (20-30 MW per plant). Brine as Economic Opportunity: Transform brine byproducts into revenue via co-located "brine mining" facilities recovering high-value salts, magnesium, lithium, and bromine (current facilities across the glove generate $5-20 million/year per facility). Data centers, as major water users (projected 399 billion gallons by 2030), will fund 30-50% through PPPs and incentives, creating 1,000+ jobs in mineral processing and offsetting state costs while boosting coastal economies. Water security through desalination will not come without a price. The projected State share in securing our water resources carries with it a $2 to 10 billion price tag (this figure includes the cost of piping and pumping the water to inland areas throughout the State). In order to prevent future administrations and potentially hostile legislatures and courts from overturning the investment in a micro-nuclear program and due to the strict Constitutional provisions on State spending, Doc will also push the legislature to pass a bill providing a Constitutional amendment for micro-nuclear incentives. This will total $2-10 billion, with the State share at $1-5 billion via Texas Energy Fund. The People of Texas will be able to vote on this Constitutional amendment within the first 12 months of Doc swearing in. This locks in foundational gains within Doc's first year, keeping systems operational and setting Texas on a path to long-term energy and water stability.
Grid enhancements will complement ongoing infrastructure upgrades. Fixing multiple previous decades of neglect on our power grid carries a significant cost, but it’s important to be upfront and honest about the price of fixing our problems. The low-end estimates sit at $20 billion and the high-end at 50 billion total, with the State share of those costs at $5-20 billion. Enhancing a thousand miles of transmission lines, weatherizing and hardening the grid, providing storage capacity for peak grid strain times, and enhancing the grid with sensors and limited national grid interoperability in the event of catastrophic emergencies will require multiple years of dedicated focus and hard work. Our electric grid is both a State and national security concern and as the Commander in Chief of Texas, it is the Governor’s responsibility to ensure this security is addressed.
The steep price tag associated with securing our energy and water needs far into the future carry with it a silver lining and a potentially significant return on investment. All projects will create 50,000-200,000 jobs (20,000-100,000+ in construction, 10,000-20,000+ long-term operation and maintenance, plus 1,000+ in brine industries). The return on The People’s initial investment will be 2.5 to 5 times the initial costs between avoided losses, already existing tax revenues, and savings on energy bills. These projects stand to boost GDP by 2-3% annually, primarily benefiting our agriculture, tech, and energy sectors.
Doc Pete Chambers is THE commander to drive energy and water security for our State. Our children, the future (i) generations of Texans, will not inherit a 3rd world hellscape with daily brown & blackouts and dried up farms. That’s not the Texas dream or the American dream and Under Doc Pete Chambers’ leadership, he will ensure that bleak future never happens. We want your feedback on fixing these issues in Texas! Join our discussion on social media so we can make Texas a prosperous place for all future generations.
These are PROPOSED SOLUTIONS subject to the will of The People and specific implementation will occur with future energy and water task force guidance.
Answers to FAQs:
- This plan requires no new taxes to pay for any portion (would need long term legislation to prevent future administrations from adding unnecessary taxes related to it)
- Utility bill impact: Likely $2 to $5 dollar increase per household in short term (1 to 4 years) but long term cut of 10 to 20% on utility bills in years 5+ when more systems come online.
- Data centers would offset for the resources they are using (the data center issue is separate and a local municipality decision not at State level, but we are looking at ways to force transparency and local public consent since it impacts all locals in that municipality, and some municipalities are concealing deals to bring them in)
- Data centers would fund a significant portion through public private partnerships (PPP) since they are utilizing resources at scale.
-Environmental impact through brine management is dealt with through existing environmental protection regulations. No one will be pumping highly concentrated brine directly back into the ocean to kill off fishing and tourism industries. We also utilize on-site brine byproduct conversion facilities to provide jobs and much needed raw resources for Texas industries (salt, magnesium, chlor-alkali feedstock, lithium, bromine, KCI fertilizers, rare earths, gypsum, etc.)
(i) All figures based on official Texas Water Development Board, Electric Reliability Council of Texas, and Public Utility Commission reports, accessible at:
https://www.twdb.texas.gov/waterplanning/swp/index.asp
https://www.ercot.com/gridinfo/load/forecast
https://www.puc.texas.gov/industry/electric/reports/Default.aspx
Decentralizing and Reforming Texas Public Education
Decentralizing and Reforming Texas Public Education
Texas' K-12 public education system is struggling with persistent low student proficiency—only about 52% of students in grades 3-8 meeting grade level in reading and 45% in math on 2024 STAAR tests, with just 47% passing Algebra I—high teacher turnover at 21.4% in 2022-23, bloated administrative costs consuming 11% of the $65 billion annual budget, and fragmentation from charters and vouchers pulling resources from neighborhood schools. This inefficiency wastes taxpayer dollars through ever-increasing government bureaucracy, leaves teachers underpaid at an average of $60,000, and fails to prepare our 5 million students for success, demanding urgent reform to prioritize mastery, efficiency, and local strength.
Doc will reform the public education system that is failing our students, our teachers, and our taxpayers in the same manner he treated wounded Soldiers on the battlefield: stop the bleeding, treat the wounds, and stabilize for long-term care:
Stop the Bleeding:
In the first 100 days and Year 1, file bills to establish TSPSA and an education endowment, seed the endowment with $5B, announce +$10K teacher raises, freeze admin hiring, launch statewide platforms for HR and SIS, begin magnet conversions to Academies-Within, and pilot charter alignment while adopting phonics/math materials.
Treat the Wounds:
Over Years 2-5, deposit $1B annually to grow the endowment to $10.6B with initial payouts, implement the back-to-basics curriculum statewide, achieve ≤6% admin overhead through consolidations and shared services, end vouchers/ESAs, and track gains like +10 points in Grade-3 reading via public dashboards.
Stabilize for Long-Term Care:
From Year 6 onward, sustain $0.5B annual deposits to reach a $25B endowment yielding ~$1B non-tax revenue yearly by Year 20, maintain TRS reforms for ongoing savings, and ensure enduring student outcomes through mastery-based assessments and facilities upgrades via pooled lending.
The Why Texas needs this reform because our current system is letting down students and families, with proficiency rates stuck below 50% in key subjects like math and Algebra I, despite spending $13,000 per pupil annually. High teacher turnover—nearly double the rate from a decade ago—stems from low pay and excessive bureaucracy, leading to classrooms staffed by uncertified educators at a rate of 12%, up sharply since the pandemic. Good teachers have to put up with increasingly frustrating administrative requirements, required testing and curriculum that fails the students while enriching select individuals, and behavioral nightmares with zero support from administration and parents. Fragmentation from charters and vouchers drains resources from local zoned schools, wasting billions that could go toward instruction under the guise of “school choice” that ultimately doesn’t achieve what was sold to taxpayers and opens the door for government to interfere and dictate what happens in private and home schooling.
Moreover, administrative overhead at 11% diverts funds from essentials like teacher support and facilities, while outdated curricula overloaded with tech and tests fail to build foundational skills in reading, writing, and math. Without change, Texas risks perpetuating cycles of underachievement, as seen in widening proficiency gaps. This reform shifts focus to mastery, efficiency, and sustainability, ensuring every child gets a strong start in neighborhood schools without the burden of high-stakes fragmentation.
The How To accomplish these reforms, we start by replacing the Texas Education Agency with the Texas School Performance & Support Authority (TSPSA), a practitioner-led body with divisions for accountability, educator growth, innovation, and regional hubs. These 20 regional hubs—upgraded from existing Education Service Centers (ESCs)—decentralize control by providing tailored support like professional development, special education assistance, and technical guidance directly to local districts, enabling them to adapt statewide standards to community-specific needs without every decision being dictated from Austin. TSPSA ensures representation from these regions on its board, focusing on coordination rather than top-down mandates, while local boards gain educator-trustee seats, single-member districts, and community councils for enhanced transparency and input.
Next, we'll implement a back-to-basics curriculum: K-5 emphasizes 120 minutes daily on phonics-based reading and 60 on math mastery, with no state tests but teacher-scored unit checks triggering interventions. No more will parents be frustrated when they help their children with math and phonics homework that make no sense. The TSPSA will be key in keeping teacher-scored checks free from administrative pressure. Grades 6-8 limit to 6-8 courses with protected core time and practical electives like CTE surveys; high school requires a strong core plus choices, including work-release programs for juniors and seniors to gain credit-bearing job experience. Technology is minimized—no devices in K-5 classrooms—to focus on print materials and movement, like daily PE and recesses.
For student services, schools will contract community providers for counseling to keep focus on instruction, while a tiered discipline code includes progressive sanctions, restorative practices, and potential felony referrals for severe threats starting at age 13. Each region will have autonomy to determine appropriate school/community guidelines and correlating disciplinary measures. TSPSA will be there to support regions in implementation of their disciplinary measures. This aligns with decentralization of schools and returning the power to their local communities. Student criminal law enforcement history will be communicated to the statewide systems via DPS.
Facilities and operations get streamlined through a state-backed capital pool for low-interest lending to poor or growing districts, phased projects with independent audits, and statewide procurement for efficiencies like farm-to-school rebates. We'll consolidate small districts, convert standalone magnets to "Academies-Within" every secondary campus for preserved programs, and phase charters to align with standards for full funding, deferring full integration to later years based on data.
Financially, an Education Replacement Fund (ERF) will centralize costs, backed by general revenue, efficiencies, and non-tax sources like endowment payouts and curriculum licensing. Prospective TRS reforms cap pensionable pay and anti-spiking to save $65 million yearly, while the endowment—seeded at $5B and growing to $25B by Year 20—provides sustainable funding without new taxes, ensuring long-term stability and teacher raises, with a long-term intent of completely funding State public education.
Doc Pete Chambers is committed to decentralizing education away from inefficient systems that are letting our kids and our teachers down. We must rebuild a strong education system that empowers students, supports teachers, and serves The People. More government involvement is never associated with increased efficiency or effectiveness and when we’re dealing with something as important as our children’s future, we can’t sit on the sidelines and maintain the current status-quo.
H1B/Foreign Labor Policy
Texans First: The Trillion Dollar Jobs Plan
Texas is facing a workforce crisis fueled by the overuse and abuse of H-1B visas and other foreign labor programs, which displace Texans from high-paying tech jobs and give public colleges cover for failing to teach critical, federally mandated Enterprise Applications (EAs). H-1B programs suppress wages by 10-20%—and in some sectors 30-50%—while naturalized and imported workers, earning some of the highest salaries in the world, intensify housing shortages by adding more than 500,000 high-income homebuyers to already strained markets. This crisis is the direct result of both public colleges failing to train Texans in essential EA systems and decades of H-1B program abuse, which allowed foreign labor to fill roles that should belong to Texas workers. As a result, Texans have been denied access to thousands of high-wage EA careers, contributing to an estimated $110–120 billion in lost wages over the last 25 years and $4–5 billion annually diverted out of the State’s economy.
Urgent reform is needed to prioritize Texans, align education with real market demands, and eliminate dependence on foreign labor so the State can finally correct a broken workforce pipeline and allow Texans—for the first time—to compete for high-wage jobs in federally mandated (SOX) Enterprise Applications (EAs) that have been systematically exploited through H-1B programs.
Doc will end Texas’ foreign labor addiction in the same manner he treated wounded Soldiers on the battlefield: stop the bleeding, treat the wounds, and stabilize for long-term care:
Stop the Bleeding:
- Create a Texas First Workforce Tax Benefit rewarding employers who hire Texans within their IT, software, data, cloud, cybersecurity, and EA departments.
- Count all labor from staffing agencies, subcontractors, and offshore vendors toward compliance.
- Provide procurement preference only to Texas First employers.
- 10% transaction fee for all visa and non-citizen foreign money wire transfers
- Ban H-1B in State hiring and contracting
Treat the Wounds:
- Require full transparency from employers and staffing vendors on their use of foreign labor in technical departments.
- Implement departmental workforce ratio standards to reveal where Texans are being replaced.
- Identify college programs that do not align with real workforce needs and map statewide skills gaps.
- Implement the Texas Workforce Resilience Fee on companies with high foreign worker ratios who refuse to comply
Stabilize for Long-Term Care:
- Fund EA training pipelines in high schools, community colleges, and public universities.
- Align education with real industry demand and build a sustainable domestic talent pipeline.
- Restore career access for Texans who were locked out by the foreign labor system.
The Why Texas, the 8th-largest economy and one of the world’s top technology economies, was left open by public colleges that failed by every meaningful metric—and in doing so, failed multiple generations of Texans. Most notably, these institutions ignored federally mandated (SOX) Enterprise Applications, leaving students unprepared for the systems that govern modern industry. That failure opened the door for offshore outsourcing firms to flood the market with foreign labor pipelines. This must stop.
According to USCIS data, Texas accounts for roughly 12% of all national H-1B demand, with more than 50,000 visa workers brought in each year to fill roles Texans could perform if education aligned with market needs. Public colleges played a direct role in this displacement: they chose not to teach federally mandated (SOX) Enterprise Applications, ignoring a $100 million-per-year industry that continues to grow as more companies relocate and expand into Texas. Every one of those companies needs workers trained in EA systems, yet Texas graduates have almost no pathway into these careers because the required skills were never taught to them. This vacuum allowed outsourcing firms such as Infosys and Cognizant to supply foreign labor pipelines for cost savings, resulting in $4–5 billion in lost wages annually.
Visa-driven population inflows have added an estimated 200,000–500,000 households in high-growth regions such as Austin, Dallas–Fort Worth, and Houston, intensifying affordability crises and pushing rents and home prices higher. Not only does a substantial volume of remittances leave our State each year, but the continual influx of workers through the visa pipeline places significant strain on local communities—driving housing shortages and making real estate increasingly unaffordable for Texans.
Without reform, Texas risks perpetuating a self-reinforcing dependency cycle that erodes community cohesion and limits mobility for native residents, especially young adults. Public colleges will continue producing degrees disconnected from real workforce needs while a $100 million annual EA wage market remains largely untapped by Texans. Reform is essential to restore Texas’ competitive edge, ensure that educational investments lead to real employment outcomes, and rebuild a workforce system grounded in Texas values of opportunity, self-reliance, and accountability.
The How Stopping the bleeding: Create a Texas First Workforce Tax Benefit to shift employer behavior away from foreign labor and toward Texans. Companies must meet Texas First workforce benchmarks within their technology, IT, software, data, cybersecurity, cloud, and Enterprise Application (EA) departments, not merely across total corporate headcount. All indirect labor sourced through subcontractors, staffing agencies, and offshore vendors will be counted. Employers who meet these standards will qualify for reduced State taxes and preferred procurement status. This structure prevents large corporations from hiding thousands of foreign contractors behind a massive domestic workforce and directly targets the departments where H-1B and outsourcing abuses occur.
Treat the Wounds: Texas must clearly understand the sources of workforce failure before long-term solutions can take effect. This begins with full transparency from employers—and from any staffing agencies, subcontractors, or offshore vendors they rely on—so the State can quantify the true extent of outsourced and imported labor in Texas. Texas will implement a workforce ratio standard, measured at the departmental level, to identify exactly where foreign labor has replaced domestic workers.
We will introduce financial deterrents to curb H-1B abuse by enacting the Texas Workforce Resilience Fee—a sliding-scale surcharge on State franchise taxes for companies where foreign workers exceed 10% of the workforce, capped at $5,000 per worker equivalent, with exemptions for those hiring Texans from state-approved EA programs. We’ve all witnessed large corporations mostly ignore the pleas of the people and gorge themselves on the broken H-1B system. While their size may allow them to disregard the carrot that is the Texas Workforce Tax Benefit, they will not be able to ignore the stick that is the Texas Workforce Resilience Fee. This paired with an initial 10% fee on outbound money wire transfers from visa holders and non-citizens (remittances) will make it costlier for firms to rely on foreign labor while encouraging local hiring and keeping Texas money circulating in Texas communities.
At the same time, the State will evaluate which college programs do not align with real workforce needs, identify misaligned pathways, and map the skills gaps that have kept Texans out of SOX-mandated and other high-demand technical careers. These actions expose the structural disconnect between academia and industry and provide the evidence base needed to rebuild a workforce system that finally serves Texans.
Stabilize for Long-Term Care: Texas will build a long-term workforce pipeline that gives Texans—for the first time—direct access to the careers they were never trained for. The State will fund competitive-grant pilot programs in high schools, community colleges, and public universities to teach federally mandated (SOX) Enterprise Applications (EAs) and related high-demand technical skills. These programs will be designed in partnership with Texas First employers, ensuring that training aligns with real-world hiring needs and leads directly to employment opportunities. Texas will expand these pilots into a statewide workforce model that prioritizes programs linked to verifiable, in-demand career paths. By aligning education with industry needs and creating direct pipelines from training to employment, Texas will develop a self-sustaining domestic talent engine that eliminates dependence on foreign labor and secures stable, long-term opportunities for Texas workers.
The How – In Detail: First, Texas will introduce a Texas First Workforce Tax Benefit to shift employer behavior away from foreign labor and toward Texans. Companies must meet Texas First workforce benchmarks within their technology, IT, software, data, cybersecurity, cloud, and EA departments, not merely across total corporate headcount. All indirect labor from subcontractors, staffing agencies, and offshore vendors will be counted. Employers who meet these standards will receive reduced taxes and procurement preference. A 10% transaction fee will be imposed at the point of transfer for all visa and non-citizen foreign money wire transfers, deterring the billions in wages that leak from Texas each year.
Second, Texas will apply this standard to all State-linked employment and contracting, measured at the departmental level. H-1B and foreign labor will be prohibited in all State agency technology units, university IT departments, and any contractors performing technical work for the State. These roles must be filled with Texans whenever Texans are available.
Third, Texas will require full transparency from employers and staffing vendors. Companies must publicly disclose workforce composition within their technical departments, including contractors and offshore labor. Texas will establish a Texas First Certification for employers who meet these standards. Certified companies will receive procurement preference, public recognition, and access to EA-trained Texas graduates. A public dashboard will show which companies qualify and which rely on foreign labor pipelines.
Fourth, Texas will address the failure of public colleges. The State will launch competitive-grant programs to teach (SOX) Enterprise Applications (EAs) in high schools, community colleges, and public universities. To ensure compliance, Doc Chambers will use the Governor’s bully pulpit to elevate and support Texas-First legislators—especially like-minded Senators—to leadership positions on the Senate Committee on Higher Education, surrounding academia with Texas-First governance. All boards, commissions, and education bodies must be awash in Texas-First ideology, ensuring institutions serve Texans—not foreign labor markets. Public colleges will also be required to provide a simple, one-page degree cost disclosure, modeled after the Credit CARD Act, showing total program cost, expected borrowing, and monthly repayment obligations. This would steer college students away from degrees that are going to debt-trap them and cause many long-term problems for both the student and society. These reforms will pressure public colleges to adopt a Texas-First approach—delivering the EA and technical training needed to prepare Texans for the very roles that foreign labor pipelines have dominated.
Fifth, Texas will scale these reforms statewide and advocate for federal visa modernization. Although immigration authority is federal, Texas can eliminate pull factors by building a domestic talent pipeline. As Texas First programs scale, foreign labor demand will fall naturally by 20–30% without confrontation. Texas must create the incentives and conditions that drive a Texas-First workforce—ensuring our laws, institutions, and employers align with the interests of Texas workers. By implementing these reforms, Texas will become a model of self-sufficiency and restore opportunity to Texans.
Take a stand and defend us all.
Doc Pete Chambers will:
✅ Direct DPS to enforce the law and aggressively end non-Constitutional demonstrations.
✅ Direct DPS to intervene in threats to public safety, including investigations into the networks and funding of individuals pushing these vile practices.
✅ Designate, via executive order, organizations that fund and support individuals and groups who subvert Texas society as "Foreign terror organizations" under SB 1900 (2003).
✅ Fast-track DPS/ICE coordination for repatriation of non-citizens, who SB 1900 applies to, in these areas.
✅ Direct the Attorney General and Secretary of State to prioritize enforcement of HB 4211 restrictions on all "no-go" exclusive communities.
✅ Instruct State agencies to deny permits for communities described in HB 4211.
HB 45 is a law already on the books. It bars Texas courts from applying foreign laws like sharia. The need to even have HB 45 on the books is a disgusting demonstration of how far our culture and law systems have been manipulated and abused for foreign entities who refuse to assimilate. It shouldn’t remotely be in any legal calculation to take into account foreign culture and law. The fact that Texas had to spell those instructions out is a stunning rebuke and display of the state of the Texas legal system and how easily it has been manipulated against The People of Texas.
The message is crystal clear: Individuals and groups who come to Texas and subvert our culture, values, and way of life will be dealt with swiftly and aggressively. Gone are the days of unsustainable go-along-to-get-along cowardice while our people suffer.
For too long, the apparatus of the State has been weaponized against normal Texans. We have a right to preserve and prioritize our culture over cultural ways of life that are completely incompatible with our own. You deserve a leader who prioritizes Texas culture and the Texan way of life over foreigners and special interests. Doc Pete Chambers is that leader, and as our next Governor, we finally have someone who will take a stand and defend us all.
Medical Freedom & Health First
Texans will put people before profits.
We are decentralizing medicine by dismantling bureaucratic overreach and empowering individuals, doctors, and communities to pursue health on their terms. From pre-birth to elder care, we prioritize life and liberty, not pharmaceutical agendas.
Our medical freedom agenda includes:
Protecting the doctor-patient relationship from government interference • Ensuring informed consent for all medical procedures and treatments • Supporting alternative and preventive healthcare approaches • Opposing vaccine mandates and medical coercion • Promoting transparency in healthcare pricing and outcomes • Defending parental rights in children's healthcare decisions • Supporting healthcare choice and competition
Healthcare decisions should be made by patients and their doctors, not by government bureaucrats or pharmaceutical companies. We will restore medical freedom and put Texans back in control of their healthcare choices.
Election Integrity
Texans deserve to trust their vote.
We will secure our elections through transparency, technology audits, local control, and a newly formed Election Integrity Task Force. Every legal vote must count—nothing more, nothing less.
Our election integrity plan includes:
Establishing comprehensive voter ID requirements • Implementing regular audits of voting systems and procedures • Ensuring accurate and up-to-date voter registration rolls • Providing transparency in election processes and vote counting • Training election workers and poll watchers • Securing voting equipment and systems from cyber threats • Strengthening penalties for election fraud
Free and fair elections are the foundation of our republic. Texans must have complete confidence that their votes are counted accurately and that election results reflect the will of the people. We will implement the strongest election integrity measures in the nation.
Citizen-Led Government
Texans want a voice, not just a vote.
We are establishing Citizen Participation Task Forces to involve everyday Texans in shaping policy, oversight, and local governance. No more top-down rule—this is grassroots, bottom-up accountability.
Our citizen participation plan includes:
Creating Citizen Participation Task Forces across Texas • Implementing regular town halls and public forums • Establishing citizen oversight committees for government agencies • Providing direct input channels for policy development • Ensuring transparency in government decision-making processes • Empowering local communities to shape their own governance • Creating mechanisms for citizen-initiated legislation and referendums
Government should serve the people, not rule over them. We will break down the barriers between citizens and their government, ensuring that every Texan has a meaningful voice in the decisions that affect their lives and communities.
End Lawfare & Restore Justice
Texans are done with political prosecutions.
Our Lawfare Task Force will investigate, expose, and dismantle weaponized legal tactics that undermine our liberties. Justice must be blind, not bought or biased.
Our justice restoration plan includes:
Creating a Lawfare Task Force to investigate political prosecutions • Implementing safeguards against weaponized legal proceedings • Ensuring equal justice under the law for all Texans • Protecting citizens from prosecutorial overreach and abuse • Reforming the justice system to eliminate political bias • Defending constitutional rights and due process protections • Holding corrupt officials accountable for abuse of power
The legal system should serve justice, not political agendas. When law enforcement and prosecutors become tools of political warfare, our entire system of justice is threatened. We will restore integrity to our legal system and ensure equal justice for all.
Governor's SITREPs: Transparency in Action
Texans deserve real-time leadership.
The Governor will deliver daily Situation Reports (SITREPs) to the people during the first 90 days, then weekly. These updates will cover progress on key goals and ensure the people stay informed and involved.
Our transparency commitment includes:
Daily SITREPs for the first 90 days in office • Weekly SITREPs thereafter to keep Texans informed • Real-time updates on key policy initiatives and their progress • Direct communication without media filtering or spin • Honest assessments of challenges and obstacles • Regular reporting on campaign promise fulfillment • Open dialogue with citizens about government priorities
Texans deserve to know what their government is doing and why. We will establish unprecedented transparency and direct communication between the Governor's office and the people of Texas. No more political games—just honest, straightforward leadership.
Texas First, Not California 2.0
Texans are drawing the line.
We will not let failed policies from California infiltrate our great state. From education to energy, Texas will preserve its unique identity, values, and freedoms. We're sounding the cry: "Don't California Our Texas!"
Our Texas First agenda includes:
Rejecting California-style regulations and bureaucracy • Protecting Texas energy independence and production • Defending traditional Texas values and way of life • Preventing the implementation of failed progressive policies • Maintaining low taxes and business-friendly environment • Preserving individual liberty and limited government • Keeping Texas affordable and opportunity-rich
Texas became great by doing things differently than failing states like California. We will not allow the failed policies that destroyed California to take root in Texas. Our state will remain a beacon of freedom, opportunity, and prosperity.
Right to Life: From Conception to Natural Death
Texans protect life in every stage.
Our Right to Life Task Force will defend the unborn, support young families, care for the vulnerable, and oppose all forms of state-sanctioned harm. Life is sacred—always.
Our pro-life commitment includes:
Defending the rights of the unborn at every stage of development • Supporting mothers and families with resources and assistance • Protecting the elderly and disabled from exploitation and harm • Opposing euthanasia and assisted suicide • Strengthening adoption services and support systems • Ensuring quality healthcare for pregnant mothers • Defending parental rights and family integrity
Every human life has inherent dignity and worth. We will create a culture that protects and values life from conception to natural death, providing support and resources for mothers, families, and the most vulnerable among us.
Term Limits for Career Politicians
Texans want public servants, not permanent rulers.
We support strong term limits to end entrenched power and restore accountability. Elected office should be a season of service, not a path to profit.
Our term limits agenda includes:
Implementing strict term limits for state elected officials • Supporting federal term limits through state initiatives • Eliminating career politician advantages and benefits • Encouraging citizen legislators who return to private life • Preventing the accumulation of political power and corruption • Ensuring fresh ideas and new perspectives in government • Restoring the founding principle of citizen representation
The founders never intended for elected office to become a lifelong career. When politicians spend decades in office, they become disconnected from the people they serve and focused on maintaining power rather than serving the public good. We will restore citizen government to Texas.
Texas DOGE Task Force
Texans demand smarter, leaner government — and we’re delivering.
We're launching the Texas DOGE — Department of Government Efficiency — to identify and implement bold reforms that streamline public services, eliminate waste, and restore trust in government. From modern technology to common-sense accountability, we’re focused on making Texas government faster, simpler, and more efficient for the people it serves.
Our agenda includes:
- Cutting bureaucracy and reducing redundant systems
- Exploring blockchain and digital tools to modernize record-keeping and transparency
- Piloting decentralized identity and secure verification to reduce fraud and overhead
- Creating tamper-proof, auditable systems for voting and public records
- Enhancing transparency and responsiveness across all levels of government
- Promoting innovation that simplifies government — not expands it
- Protecting Texans’ privacy and economic freedom while increasing efficiency
Texas has always been about freedom and results. The Department of Government Efficiency will lead the way in showing how a modern, tech-savvy, and disciplined government can better serve Texans — without growing it.
— Pete Chambers' campaign website (January 15, 2026)
Campaign finance summary
Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from OpenSecrets. That information will be published here once it is available.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
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Candidate Governor of Texas |
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Footnotes
