Thomas Garcia (Texas)
Thomas Garcia (Democratic Party) is running for election to the Texas State Board of Education to represent District 2. He declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on March 3, 2026.
Garcia completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Thomas Garcia was born in McAllen, Texas. He graduated from Pharr-San Juan-Alamo North High School. Garcia earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University in 2016, a graduate degree from the University of California at Los Angeles in 2020, and a graduate degree from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in 2023. His career experience includes founding the College Scholarship Leadership Access Program (CSLAP) and working as its executive director, as an instructor at the University of California at Los Angeles, and a high school teacher at the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo (PSJA) Independent School District.[1][2]
Elections
2026
See also: Texas State Board of Education election, 2026
General election
The primary will occur on March 3, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas State Board of Education District 2
Thomas Garcia is running in the Democratic primary for Texas State Board of Education District 2 on March 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Thomas Garcia  | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2022
See also: Texas State Board of Education election, 2022
General election
General election for Texas State Board of Education District 2
LJ Francis defeated Victor Perez in the general election for Texas State Board of Education District 2 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | LJ Francis (R) | 50.2 | 194,976 |
 | Victor Perez (D) | 49.8 | 193,578 | |
| Total votes: 388,554 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary runoff election
Democratic primary runoff for Texas State Board of Education District 2
Victor Perez defeated Pete Garcia in the Democratic primary runoff for Texas State Board of Education District 2 on May 24, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Victor Perez | 56.1 | 20,769 |
 | Pete Garcia | 43.9 | 16,252 | |
| Total votes: 37,021 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas State Board of Education District 2
Victor Perez and Pete Garcia advanced to a runoff. They defeated Thomas Garcia, Michael Vargas, and Wayne Raasch in the Democratic primary for Texas State Board of Education District 2 on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Victor Perez | 29.6 | 21,702 |
| ✔ | | Pete Garcia | 24.3 | 17,856 |
| Thomas Garcia | 20.9 | 15,331 | |
 | Michael Vargas | 19.8 | 14,510 | |
| Wayne Raasch | 5.4 | 3,974 | ||
| Total votes: 73,373 | |||
| = 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 Board of Education District 2
LJ Francis defeated Hilda Garza-DeShazo in the Republican primary for Texas State Board of Education District 2 on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | LJ Francis | 57.5 | 38,009 |
 | Hilda Garza-DeShazo | 42.5 | 28,105 | |
| Total votes: 66,114 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
Campaign themes
2026
Video for Ballotpedia
| Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released September 7, 2025 |
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Thomas Garcia completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Garcia's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
At age 19, Thomas founded the College Scholarship Leadership Access Program. CSLAP offers courses and services on college readiness, financial aid, and leadership development for high school students. Through CSLAP’s near-peer mentor initiatives, Thomas empowered high school graduates to give back to their schools by providing students support on the college application process.
After incorporating as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, CSLAP introduced scholarship programs, expanded mentorship initiatives, and launched a five-figure community aid fund during the COVID-19 pandemic. As of 2025, CSLAP has directly impacted more than 2,000 students.
As a high school teacher, Thomas developed and taught lessons on critical writing, college readiness, and service learning. Aligned with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), these lesson plans continue to form CSLAP’s curriculum.
Currently, Thomas is an English professor at South Texas College, where he teaches both dual enrollment high schoolers and adult learners. As a community college professor, Thomas provides his students the guidance he once needed as a first-generation college student from a single-parent household.- Thomas Ray Garcia will fight for public schools. At the State Board of Education, he will improve statewide learning standards, approve high-quality instructional materials, and guide the Texas Education Agency on policies & procedures. Beyond his primary duties, he pledges to work with our state lawmakers and school board members to improve our public schools. He supports funding increases to Texas public schools by increasing the basic allotment. He supports pay increases for school workers. He supports investing in 21st-century safety measures. He supports enhancing family engagement programs. He supports expanding access to licensed mental health professionals. He supports improving the quality of early childhood programming.
- Thomas Ray Garcia wants to make Texas the nation's leader in math and reading. He will focus on K-5 math instruction that focuses on the basics: number sense, place value, fact fluency, patterns, and problem-solving. He will work to move our learning standards away from rote memorization and toward bringing math to life with practical and purposeful learning experiences. He will improve the way our schools teach phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. He supports more early childhood reading resources for students with disabilities, including dyslexia. He believes our statewide learning standards and textbooks should rely on research-based practices, not on political or religious beliefs.
- Thomas Ray Garcia believes we should be preparing our high school graduates for the 21st-century workforce. He supports moving away from high-stakes testing and toward integrating more 21st-century knowledge and skills into our core academic subjects. He categorizes 21st-century knowledge and skills into 4 pillars: Life Readiness Skills: soft skills, financial literacy, and digital literacy & safety. Mental Health & Wellness: mental health literacy, emotional intelligence, and digital media & wellness. Global Competitiveness: artificial intelligence readiness, service learning, and critical thinking. Creativity and Innovation: creative expression, practical innovation, and digital production.
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.
2022
Thomas Garcia completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Garcia's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
I grew up in a single-parent household. Through many financial hardships, my mother and I persevered by believing there was a brighter future we could work toward. My mother believed the pathway out of poverty was education, so she instilled in me a passion for learning at a young age. Despite being a first-generation college student who struggled during college applications, I worked hard to get accepted into Princeton University on a full-ride financial aid package.
After graduating from Pharr-San Juan-Alamo North High School in 2012 as class valedictorian, I felt a strong desire to give back to my community. I didn't want to wait until after college to make a difference. After meeting with PSJA ISD administrators, I founded CSLAP in 2013 at age 19. It all began with a group of PSJA alumni who wanted to give back to their schools - all on a volunteer basis.
With over 6 years of teaching experience, I have now incorporated CSLAP as a 501(c)3 nonprofit to teach college access lessons at Rio Grande Valley high schools and connect students to near-peer mentors from the region.- 21st Century Learning Standards: To truly prepare our students for the 21st century, we must expand curricula and programs involving digital literacy, computer science, dual language, ethnic studies, and service learning. On the SBOE, I will advocate for updated TEKS, practical implementation plans, and funding that will allow school districts to introduce and/or expand these initiatives.
- Mental Health and School Safety: The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on the mental health of our students, families, teachers, and staff. On the SBOE, I will be a vocal advocate on this issue by soliciting input from school districts to ascertain which resources are necessary and fight to secure them. In addition, I support funding initiatives that reduce the administrative workload of teachers and counselors, many of whom are experiencing burnout, leaving the profession, or retiring early.
- Transparency and Oversight: We need more transparency on how tax dollars are spent in our public education system and easier accessibility to this information. Families need to be engaged by the state on bureaucratic decisions involving school funding and academic standards. Families must be provided more relevant, accessible information on what these standards mean for their children. I will work hard to do so on the SBOE.
Since age 19, I have learned pedagogical methods involving reading and writing, creative writing, and service learning through my college access nonprofit. Near-peer mentorship is central to my work; I believe in high school graduates mentoring high school students so more post-secondary pathways can be made available to our young people. I believe in college access for all, which means I will work hard to ensure college is an option for all students no matter their background; college access for all means a student's choice not to attend college would not result from a lack of resources, but rather the student making an informed choice based on quality mentorship.
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
Garcia's campaign website stated the following:[3]
| “ |
MENTAL HEALTH The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on the mental health of our students, families, teachers, and staff. I believe the Texas Education Agency must do more to address this growing mental health crisis in our schools by granting more financial, educational, and professional resources. On the SBOE, I will be a vocal advocate on this issue by soliciting input from school districts to ascertain which resources are necessary and fight to secure them. In addition, I support funding initiatives that reduce the administrative workload of teachers, many of whom are experiencing burnout, leaving the profession, or retiring early. In November 2021, the SBOE approved instructional materials by QuaverEd that include mental health instruction for K-5 students. I support this, and I believe such initiatives must be expanded and cultivated. Mental health should be taught in schools, period. SCHOOL SAFETY Students, teachers, and staff must feel safe at school in order to learn and work. That is why I support adding the COVID-19 vaccine to the list of required school immunizations, just like polio and tetanus, with medical and religious exemptions permitting. On the SBOE, I will advocate to the state health officials to make this a reality so we can save lives and finally live in a post-pandemic world. More information on currently required immunizations can be found on the Department of State Health Services website. Find a vaccine provider near you here. TRANSPARENCY AND OVERSIGHT We need more transparency on how tax dollars are spent in our public education system and easier accessibility to this information. A prime example of this issue occurred in October 2021, when the Texas Education Agency opened testimony for revising the Charter School Performance Framework. The SBOE and Texas education organizations should have been more than advocates in this process. The elected SBOE should have had a hand in revising this framework from the beginning, and the education organizations should have been more involved. Moreover, families need to be engaged by the state on these bureaucratic decisions. Families must be provided more relevant, accessible information on what decisions like these mean for their children. I will work hard to do so on the SBOE. 21ST CENTURY LEARNING STANDARDS: DUAL LANGUAGE As a graduate and former teacher of Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD, I have seen first-hand the power and impact of dual language instruction. I support the expansion of dual language programs throughout the state of Texas so our students can graduate from high school prepared to participate in an increasingly globalized society. The bilingual student will have greater career opportunities, enhanced cognitive functions, and more cultural awareness. We need more bilingual students. 21ST CENTURY LEARNING STANDARDS: DIGITAL LITERACY To truly prepare our students for the 21st century, we must actively teach our students how to discern facts from fake information on the internet. This is a crucial skill that should be taught in all core courses. From statistics on websites to misleading news articles, the digital age requires students to understand objectivity and truth. In addition, teaching our students to identify bias in online spaces, such as social media headlines or editorial blogs, is necessary to understand our overflow of information online. On the SBOE, I aim to implement these curricular standards into core courses. 21ST CENTURY LEARNING STANDARDS: COMPUTER SCIENCE AND PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES Programming languages like JavaScript and Python are becoming increasingly necessary to learn. As our society becomes more reliant on the internet, our students must get ahead so they can fully participate in the 21st century and achieve high-paying jobs. I support expanding computer science courses to more middle schools throughout the state. Moreover, it is not enough to merely offer computer science courses. Texas needs a plan for K-12 computer science that clearly outlines learning outcomes, course goals, and implementation strategies for making computer science truly an essential and effective course. I will be a vocal advocate on this issue. 21ST CENTURY LEARNING STANDARDS: ETHNIC STUDIES I am a vocal supporter of ethnic studies, and I will continue to be so on the SBOE. I support expanding Mexican-American Studies and African American Studies to more schools. I support adding Asian American Studies to our state's ethnic studies offerings. I also support making ethnic studies courses eligible for social studies credits, not just elective credits. I am against Texas SB3, which removes requirements to study specific works by minorities and women. This bill is a step backwards on all fronts, but particularly for ethnic studies. We should be encouraging more, not less, studies of minorities and women. 21ST CENTURY LEARNING STANDARDS: SERVICE LEARNING We should attach our learning standards not merely to scores on a test, but to projects that actually make a difference in the world. That's why I will advocate for service learning curriculum development at any grade level and in any subject. My PSJA ISD course was founded on a "Change Agent" project that involved students researching an issue in their communities, gathering the data and means to address it, measuring the impact, reflecting on the impact in writing, and then advertising the impact to the community. The learning outcomes that emerged from this course are why are I support integrating service learning projects into our curriculum standards. 21ST CENTURY LEARNING STANDARDS: FINANCIAL LITERACY Texas needs to do better than offer "Personal Financial Literacy" as an elective course. The curriculum for PFL should be integrated into high school math courses so all students can be prepared to enter society with financial literacy. In their core math courses, students should learn the basics of budgeting, loans, and interest rates before graduating high school. I support implementing curricular standards in high school math courses focused on real-world applications of interest rates, such as comparing subsidized and unsubsidized student loans. MOVING AWAY FROM HIGH-STAKES TESTING High-stakes testing is counterproductive for students and educators alike. I support shifting educational accountability standards away from test scores and toward concrete learning outcomes based on Texas HB5 endorsements. For example, students in the public services endorsement should be doing service learning projects, not being subjected to drill-and-kill learning. Moreover, I support implementing research "capstone" projects in the arts & humanities endorsement courses. The learning outcomes from activities like these should reflect our true accountability standards, and tests like the STAAR should be used merely for diagnostic purposes. SUPPORTING OUR LGBTQ+ STUDENTS I am a proud ally of the LGBTQ+ community. No student should fear going to school and being harassed or bullied, especially our LGBTQ+ youth. That's why I support teaching students about topics such as sexual orientation and gender identity in health and science classes. Moreover, middle school students should learn about how to prevent forms of bullying and harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. In doing so, our students will learn tolerance and respect during a crucial period of growth and development. SUPPORTING OUR STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS Too often, we hear of miscommunication and lack of cooperation between school districts and families of students with special needs. The State Board of Education should serve a more active role in filling in these communication gaps by providing statewide resources in English and Spanish for families wishing to enroll students in special education. Moreover, the SBOE should establish guidance standards to school districts on how to provide recovery services for students previously denied access to special education. TEACHER EVALUATIONS AND T-TESS Since the 2016-2017 school year, T-TESS has served as the standard evaluation system for teachers in Texas public schools. T-TESS was developed by a committee of teachers, principals, and representatives from higher education and educator organizations. I believe the SBOE should be granted greater oversight and authority over the T-TESS so revisions can be implemented via an open and democratic process. When teachers are evaluated, their evaluator should always be a qualified individual in the subject matter. Moreover, the evaluation rubric should be focused on what the teachers have in their control; the T-TESS domains currently do not separate between teacher and student performances. Furthermore, teachers should not be penalized for low "school community involvement" if they cannot participate in school outreach activities because of disabilities, parental responsibilities, or other legitimate reasons. MR. MATT KRAUSE'S BANNED BOOK LIST I am an educator and a writer. I believe in freedom of speech and intellectual freedom. That is why I am wholly against state investigations into school districts' library books and subsequent book bans. There are far more pressing issues facing our state's educational system than which books occupy our libraries. Instead, we should be focused on increasing reading competencies and developing critical thinking skills.[4] |
” |
| —Thomas Garcia's campaign website (2022)[5] | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on December 21, 2021
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 10, 2025
- ↑ Thomas Garcia for State Board of Education, "On The Issues," archived November 8, 2022
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Thomas Garcia for SBOE, “On The Issues,” accessed January 22, 2022
