Richard Andrews (Texas)

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

Richard Andrews

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

March 3, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

Indiana University

Graduate

Johns Hopkins School of Public Health

Medical

University of Connecticut

Personal

Birthplace

Providence, R.I.

Religion

Secular humanist

Profession

Doctor

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Campaign YouTube

Personal Facebook

Richard Andrews (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Texas State Senate to represent District 13. He lost in the Democratic primary on March 3, 2020.

Andrews completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Richard Andrews was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and lives in Houston, Texas. He earned a bachelor's degree in geography from Indiana University, an M.D. from the University of Connecticut, and an M.P.H. from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Andrews' career experience includes working as a medical doctor.

Elections

2020

See also: Texas State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for Texas State Senate District 13

Incumbent Borris Miles defeated Milinda Morris in the general election for Texas State Senate District 13 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Borris Miles (D)	80.5	200,195
		Milinda Morris (R)	19.5	48,581

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 248,776
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Texas State Senate District 13

Incumbent Borris Miles defeated Melissa Morris and Richard Andrews in the Democratic primary for Texas State Senate District 13 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Borris Miles	55.4	36,514
		Melissa Morris	34.7	22,840
		Richard Andrews	9.9	6,525

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 65,879
= 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 State Senate District 13

Milinda Morris defeated William Booher in the Republican primary for Texas State Senate District 13 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Milinda Morris	65.0	5,363
	Submit photo	William Booher	35.0	2,884

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,247
= 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

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

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

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I was born in New England, but grew up in Spain because my parents worked for the US Navy. I grew up speaking both English and Spanish. My schools have included Indiana University (BA in geography), University of Connecticut (MD), Georgetown University (family medicine) and Johns Hopkins University (preventive medicine & public health).

I have never held elected office, but I was a County Democratic Party chair in Virginia for two years and volunteered in several Democratic campaigns in New York, Virginia and Texas, over the years.

For 11 years I've worked as a Houston family doctor in a community clinic that provides affordable medical care to both uninsured and insured patients. I thoroughly enjoy Houston's impressive diversity, which I see reflected in my patients and friends.

My political views are progressive and I try to make them evidence-based. I believe in maintaining dialogue with and respect for people who might initially disagree with me. People generally have more commonalities than differences.

I am single and have no children. I am a secular humanist. I respect the beliefs of other people, and I love to discuss religion and philosophy.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Good governance needs adequate resources -- new revenue strategies should involve wealthier Texans paying a larger share.
• Texas leads the nation in people without health insurance -- we should accept Medicaid expansion and adopt policies to reduce other health care costs.
• Legislative policies must support Texas communities and businesses in rapidly moving away from fossil fuel production & use.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I'm interested in how state policies on drug use and possession affect the health of individuals and communities. Non-white Texans don't use more drugs, but they do get arrested and imprisoned for it more often. Texas has historically had harsh penalties in this area, and this has had an especially harmful impact on black and brown communities. In 2017 conservative Oklahoma, right next door to Texas, reduced the charge for simple drug use/possession from a felony to a misdemeanor. This is saving their taxpayers money by reducing jail and prison overcrowding and avoiding the need for new prisons.

I think Texans would benefit from legalizing recreational marijuana use, changing other drug use charges from felony to misdemeanor, and issuing citations ("parking tickets") rather than arresting people for such non-violent infractions.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

All members of society should be treated fairly, but people who are powerful or wealthy will always have extra advantages. Hence, a state senator should advocate forcefully for policies that ensure, if not a "level playing field", at least one that is less UN-even.

State senators have an even larger bully pulpit than state representatives, which they should use effectively, whether they are in session or not.

I believe in term limits for all elected officials. I feel it is the responsibility of all legislators to stay a maximum of eight years (total) in the legislature. This allows for rejuvenating turnover and reduces the unfair advantage of incumbents over challengers.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to have a beneficial impact on the lives of Texans that are relatively less able to fend for themselves, whether due to health problems, system-level factors over which they had no control, needing second chances, or other factors.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

At 16 years old I began a summer job working with Spanish warehouse workers at the naval base in Spain where we lived. The most exciting aspect of the job was learning how to drive a forklift, but my longest-lasting impression was of the conversations I had with the workers.

I had to wrestle with the fact that my new-found friends and co-workers had some views that were extremely macho. But by the time I learned their views they were already my friends. I still find this kind of situation an important one to come to terms with. How do we act toward friends and loved ones that we vigorously disagree with?

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Bruce Springsteen's "Factory"

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

I think it is one example of a background that could be beneficial to a state legislator, just as numerous other backgrounds might help the legislator in other ways. I suspect that a careful analysis of the data on background and legislator performance would not show (for example) greater overall integrity, or greater empathy with the governed. There are so many ways that one could measure what is "beneficial" that it would be challenging to reach meaningful conclusions.

I have a fair amount of experience in politics, for example, having been the chair for a county Democratic Party in Virginia for 2 years. But I feel that I am more likely to draw on my 33 years of experience as a medical doctor and 20 years of experience as a public health specialist.

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

1. The Houston area, also known as the "Petro Metro", is in a curious position as both a principal facilitator of the fossil fuel lifestyle and as the home of the greatest rainfall event in US history (Hurricane Harvey, 2017). We have reaped what we sowed. We owe it to all Texans and all humans to adopt far more sustainable industries, technologies and lifestyles. Systemic changes that are this large and this rapid will require unprecedented leadership in the political realm.


2. The book Texas Tough, among others, documents how the harsh Texas prison system influenced the rest of the American penal system. We need to stop arresting and imprisoning so many people, especially for nonviolent offenses. This will require legislative leadership in order to develop more humane laws and practices.

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

In the last Texas legislative session there were 7 physicians, all Republicans, and all but one were specialists. If I'm elected to the senate there would be at least 1 progressive Democratic family doctor providing input on health policy. Over the last 3 decades I have always had pleasant interactions with my Republican physician colleagues, because we have so much in common. I think it is important for people with different perspectives to be able to respect each other enough to keep a dialogue going.

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

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Footnotes

[show]

Current members of the Texas State Senate

Leadership

Senators

District 1

Bryan Hughes (R)

District 2

Bob Hall (R)

District 3

Robert Nichols (R)

District 4

Brandon Creighton (R)

District 5

Charles Schwertner (R)

District 6

Carol Alvarado (D)

District 7

Paul Bettencourt (R)

District 8

Angela Paxton (R)

District 9

Vacant

District 10

Phil King (R)

District 11

Mayes Middleton (R)

District 12

Tan Parker (R)

District 13

Borris Miles (D)

District 14

Sarah Eckhardt (D)

District 15

Molly Cook (D)

District 16

Nathan Johnson (D)

District 17

Joan Huffman (R)

District 18

Lois Kolkhorst (R)

District 19

Roland Gutierrez (D)

District 20

Juan Hinojosa (D)

District 21

Judith Zaffirini (D)

District 22

Brian Birdwell (R)

District 23

Royce West (D)

District 24

Peter Flores (R)

District 25

Donna Campbell (R)

District 26

José Menéndez (D)

District 27

Adam Hinojosa (R)

District 28

Charles Perry (R)

District 29

César Blanco (D)

District 30

Brent Hagenbuch (R)

District 31

Kevin Sparks (R)

Republican Party (19)

Democratic Party (11)

Vacancies (1)