Aaron Reitz
Republican | Texas
Candidate Profile
Conservative
BIOGRAPHY
Name
Aaron Reitz
Party
Republican
Election Year
2020
Election
Primary
Race
State Rep., Dist. 47
Incumbent
No
Links
EDUCATION
The University of Texas School of Law, Austin, J.D., 2017
Texas A&M University, College Station, B.S., 2009
WORK & MILITARY
United States Marine Corps, Captain, 2009-2014
United States Marine Corps Reserve, Captain, 2018-present
AFFILIATIONS
Tex. Pub. Pol. Found. - Liberty Leadership Council, Chairman (current), Cub Scouts - Pack 25 (Regents)
Cubmaster (current), Texas Review of Law & Politics, Editor in Chief (2016-2017)
Texas Federalist Society, President (2015-2016), Claremont Institute
Marshall Fellow (2018), James Wilson Institute, Fellow (2018)
John Jay Institute, Fellow (2014), St. John Neumann Catholic Church
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
(Candidate did not provide)
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
(Candidate did not provide)
Race
Previous Races
ENDORSEMENTS
CONSERVATIVE (3)
Texas Home School Coalition
Texas Right to Life
Young Conservatives of Texas
REPORTED BY CANDIDATE (1)
Texas Home School Coalition
SELECTED CONTRIBUTIONS
CONSERVATIVE
GIVEN BY CANDIDATE (4)
Jeff Brown (2017)
Local, County, and District Republican Organizations (2019)
Republican Women's Organizations (2019)
Ted Cruz (2015)
RECEIVED BY CANDIDATE (1)
Mayes Middleton (2019)
OTHER INFORMATION
QUESTIONNAIRE
RIGHT TO LIFE
Human life begins at conception and deserves legal protection at every stage until natural death.
Strongly Agree
Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should not receive taxpayer funds or grants from federal, state, or local governments.
Strongly Agree
Under what circumstances should abortion be allowed?
Never. Human life begins at conception. There are no circumstances--even the difficult ones--that warrant willful violence against an unborn child.
ECONOMY
It is the government’s responsibility to ensure everyone has a livable income.
Strongly Disagree
Free enterprise and the right to private property are essential elements of a productive economic system.
Strongly Agree
What government spending would you reduce in order to balance the budget?
I’d cut the expanding web of regulations, commissions, and agencies. I also want Texas to adopt program-based and zero-based budgeting, which would require the budget to be written with particularity and specificity. Other tax-cutting/spending-reduction efforts I favor: requiring an independent audit of local gov’t spending, eliminating taxpayer-funded lobbying, restricting the authority of special taxing districts, eliminating the franchise tax, and requiring a supermajority for tax increases.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
Governments should not discriminate against individuals, organizations or small businesses because of their belief that marriage is only a union of one man and one woman.
Strongly Agree
Governments should define marriage as between one man and one woman; no other definition of marriage should be legalized or supported with taxpayer or public funds.
Strongly Agree
Religious liberty is at risk in the United States and deserves the highest level of protection in the law.
Strongly Agree
I promise to protect the freedom of Christians to share the Gospel and to practice Biblical principles.
Yes
What does "separation of church and state" mean to you?
It means that the state cannot influence the Church, but not the other way around. In fact, the Church and the believers who comprise it have an affirmative duty to influence the state. It's a one-way "wall," so to speak. This phrase, penned by Thomas Jefferson but taken wildly out of context by today's secularists, does NOT mean what the left claims it to mean.
HEALTHCARE
It is the government’s responsibility to ensure everyone has health insurance.
Strongly Disagree
How would you promote healthcare coverage that is adequate, affordable and accessible for all?
I will work with federal officials to maximize health care choice and encourage a market-based and transparent system, enact right-to-try legislation for experimental medications and procedures, work to create a Texas Health Savings Account, expand parental consent rights, fight to block the expansion of Medicaid, and ensure that the government cannot mandate specific medical procedures,
NATIONAL SECURITY
The best way to maintain peace is through a strong military.
Strongly Agree
IMMIGRATION
I am in favor of construction of a wall and other necessary infrastructure on our border that gives complete control over entering and exiting the United States.
Strongly Agree
State and federal funds should be denied to any public or private entity, including but not limited to sanctuary cities, that are not in compliance with immigration laws.
Strongly Agree
Who should be allowed to immigrate to the U.S. and under what circumstances?
We should stop the flood of unskilled immigration, end our immigration lottery system, prevent the hiring of illegal aliens, close loopholes in welfare programs that are exploited by non-citizens, and employ extreme vetting for those seeking entry into the United States. We should welcome genuine asylum-seekers, but should use great discernment in distinguishing between real and fake cases. We must also secure our southern border, which is largely controlled by the cartels. The United States has a right to--and should--be very selective about who comes here. And once new America-loving immigrants have arrived, assuming all else is in place, we should welcome them with open arms while expecting and encouraging them to assimilate into our political, historical, linguistic, and cultural values.
EDUCATION
Taxpayer-funded public education should be guaranteed through college.
Strongly Disagree
VALUES
Judeo-Christian values established a framework of morality which is necessary for our system of limited government.
Strongly Agree
I support adding sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression as protected classes in non-discrimination laws.
Strongly Disagree
Promotion of the LGBT agenda in public schools, including teaching of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity”, is completely inappropriate and should be opposed at the state and local level.
Strongly Agree
I support allowing public high school students to participate in athletic competition based on the gender with which they identify instead of biological sex.
Strongly Disagree
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
I am a Christian. Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. I was made in the image God but alienated from Him by sin. Unable to fix that relationship on my own, God sent his Son Jesus Christ to reconcile me to Him. Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life and died an undeserved death in order to pay the sacrifice that I myself should bear. After His death and burial, Christ was resurrected, and in doing so conquered death and provided me (and you!) a path to God and eternal life with Him. I owe everything to God. My relationship with Him through Christ is deepened through daily Christian living, and I intend to live out my Christian walk while serving in office.
ABOUT YOU
When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and immigration, which of the following best describes you overall?
Very Conservative
Please provide publicly available information validating your answer to the previous question.
My years of fighting for conservative causes is the best evidence. After leaving the Marine Corps, I was a fellow at the John Jay Institute and then at the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF). In law school, I was selected by my peers as the Lino Graglia Conservative Student of the Year. I was also a Blackstone Fellow with the Alliance Defending Freedom. I then served as President of the Texas Federalist Society and Editor in Chief of one of the country's few conservative law journals. After law school, I was selected to serve as conservative Texas Supreme Court Justice Blacklock's first law clerk. During my clerkship, I was a fellow at both the Claremont and James Wilson Institutes. I currently serve as the volunteer chairman of TPPF's Austin Liberty Leadership Council. And now I'm running as a conservative for public office. One can review the ideas I express daily on my website, social media, email, and campaign materials and see they’re all deeply conservative
What education or experience qualifies you to hold the office for which you seek election?
My education and experience makes me the most qualified candidate in this race. I'm a former Marine Corps officer and Afghanistan War veteran. I'm the only service member in the race and, if elected, I'll be the only Marine in the House. I'm a former Texas Supreme Court clerk, which gives me major credibility in tackling our state's most serious issues and in crafting durable legislation that will survive legal challenges. If elected, I'll be the only Texas Supreme Court clerk in both chambers of the Texas Legislature. I have degrees from both Texas A&M and UT, so I can appeal to "both sides of the aisle"! And, importantly, see question 27 above regarding all my other credentials and experience--at each step along the way in my career, I have been leading the charge on every front to advance our country's and our state's values and ideals.
Have you ever been convicted of a felony or been penalized for sexual misconduct? If so, please explain.
No.
Is there anything else you would like voters to know about you?
I'm running for state representative because Texas's political future is on the brink. The left is funded, staffed, and focused in a serious bid to take the Texas House before redistricting in 2021. If they succeed, they will undo all of the progress conservatives have brought about in Texas over the past few decades and ensure our great state falls down the same path as California. If we're going to keep Texas flourishing under Republican governance--and, more so, if we're going to win the hearts and minds of Texans, which are slipping ever more rapidly to the left--we need serious conservatives to step up and carry our banner forward. We have a monumental task ahead of us. We need someone with the right ideas, experience, background, and ability to lead the way. I stand ready to do just that from House District 47.
JUDICIAL PHILOSOPHY
I support the use of Sharia law as a basis for legislation and judicial decisions in the United States.
Strongly Disagree
CRIMINAL JUSTICE & PUBLIC SAFETY
Mandatory minimum sentencing should be required and enforced for violent crimes.
Strongly Agree
2ND AMENDMENT
Should teachers be allowed to carry guns at school?
Yes
What restrictions on gun ownership are needed to protect public safety?
Violent felons should not have guns. But in general, what's really needed to protect public safety are not more, but LESS restrictions on gun ownership. Gun rights should be strengthened and expanded for law-abiding citizens. I believe we have a natural right to use the means necessary to protect our lives, families, friends, communities, and property. And that's why I support Constitutional Carry legislation.
OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES
People should be able to vote without photo identification.
Strongly Disagree
I support the legalization of recreational marijuana.
Strongly Disagree
The Electoral College should be abolished.
Strongly Disagree
In priority order, what three areas of legislation do you propose to author or sponsor if elected?
Pro-life, property tax relief, and reining in big liberal cities that are taking Texas down the path of California.
Is racism a threat to domestic security in the United States? Why or why not?
The racism that truly threatens to tear our country apart is the left's "intersectional" or "woke" racism.
