Dennis McCanless
Non-Partisan | Texas
Candidate Profile
Conservative
BIOGRAPHY
Name
Dennis McCanless
Party
Non-Partisan
Election Year
2023
Election
School Board
Race
Fredericksburg ISD Board of Trustees - At-Large Seat
Incumbent
No
Links
EDUCATION
Texas A&M University, College Station, Petroleum Engineering, 1989
University of Houston, Houston, MBA, 2000
WORK & MILITARY
Candidate did not provide
AFFILIATIONS
Gillespie County Republican Party, member, volunteer, County rep at State GOP Convention 2022, Gillespie County Republican Club
member, volunteer, Hill Country Church, member, contributor
World Outreach Church, Contributor, Prager U
Contributor, Turning Point USA, Contributor
Pacific Justice, Contributor, CCDF
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
Candidate did not provide
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
Fredericksburg ISD Board of Trustees, 2023-2026
Race
ENDORSEMENTS
CONSERVATIVE (2)
Moms for Liberty Gillespie County
Gillespie County Young Republicans
REPORTED BY CANDIDATE (3)
Gillespie County Young Republicans
Fredericksburg Tea Party
Former District 73 Texas State Rep. Kyle Biederman
SELECTED CONTRIBUTIONS
CONSERVATIVE
GIVEN BY CANDIDATE (6)
Bob Hall (2022)
Greg Abbott (2022)
Local, County, and District Republican Organizations (2022)
Marco Rubio (2016)
Mitt Romney (2013)
RECEIVED BY CANDIDATE (0)
SELECTED FINANCIAL SOURCE DOCUMENTS
- Campaign Finance Documents:
- Appointment of a Campaign Treasurer
- Please note: The following information was received by iVoterGuide after panel evaluations occurred and is for additional educational purposes only.
OTHER INFORMATION
- Election Voting History from Gillespie County Elections Department for Dennis McCanless during time of residence in district and/or at current address:
- 2022 Primary election: Republican
- Voted in the General election - 2022
**Voter history is not considered during panel evaluations.**
QUESTIONNAIRE
RIGHT TO LIFE
Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should be a resource for instruction or services in the school.
Strongly Disagree
Children need to be taught the value of human life and not encouraged to treat it as something to be discarded.
Human life begins at conception and deserves legal protection at every stage until natural death.
Strongly Agree
ECONOMY
Free enterprise and the right to private property are essential elements of a productive economic system.
Strongly Agree
School districts should be able to use taxpayer money for lobbying the state legislature.
Disagree
What is your position on government funding of public education from Pre-K through college?
I think the government should be the primary funding provider of public education at the K-12 level. Currently a majority of the cost for these schools comes from community property taxes, not the state government, and people are drowning in high property taxes. I think college should be paid for by the student.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
At school, students should be able to speak freely and civilly about matters of conscience and faith, including Christianity.
Strongly Agree
School districts 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
EDUCATION
What is the function of the local school board?
To hire the District School Superintendent, set school district vision, goals and strategy consistent with the values and priorities of the community, approve an annual budget encompassing that vision and strategy with accountability and transparency, provide advocacy for children in the schools, communicate that vision to the community, protect kids, respect parents, and set district property taxes for the ISD portion.
Who should have the authority to set curriculum and determine resources used in those curricula?
State lawmakers and school board trustees have a shared responsibility to make policy and curriculum that respects parent's rights and decisions in the education of their kids.
When should parents be restricted from speaking in school board meetings?
Never.
Please list in order the following priorities in relation to the role of a K-12 public school (omitting any that do not apply): Mathematics, Information Technology, Science, Political Activism, Personal Finances, Gender Identity, Physical Fitness, American History, Critical Race Theory, Language Arts, Art & Music, Vocational Learning, Sexuality, Foreign Language, Social Emotional Learning
In no particular order of importance, because they are all important to the fundamental education of kids: Mathematics, American History, Language Arts, Science, Physical Fitness, Art and Music, Foreign Language, Personal Finances, Information Technology, Vocational Learning
Which more closely matches your view of America's founding principles? A) Liberty and equality. B) Slavery and racism.
Liberty and equality.
What does "equity in education" mean to you?
Forced outcomes, not equal opportunities. It is the light narrative for Marxist views and is harmful to a free society.
Written parental consent (opt-in) must be obtained before students are taught courses such as Comprehensive Sex Ed (CSE) or Social Emotional Learning (SEL).
Strongly Agree
The loss of local control in education is too high a price to pay in exchange for federal dollars.
Strongly Agree
Parents are the ultimate authority in their child’s education and should be able to freely pursue whatever educational options they deem best for their child.
Strongly Agree
School choice brings free market competition which tends to make all market players better, if they choose to participate. Public schools have historically operated as monopolies and having competition will tend to make them better at the service they provide. However, care needs to be taken on this issue so that school choice does not allow government intervention in private or home schools.
School boards are accountable to parents and taxpayers.
Strongly Agree
Do you believe students should have access to materials that graphically depict and describe sexual acts?
No
All print and digital material available or presented to students should be easily accessible for public review.
Strongly Agree
VALUES
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
I am devoted to my Christian faith as believer in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who rose from the dead and sits at the right hand of God his father. My values are rooted in the belief that all men are created equal, that honesty, integrity and character matter. That merit, hard work, high moral character and competence are the main reasons for people to have opportunities and success in life. Not because they are a certain race, gender or sexual orientation.
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
No school official should be involved in the sexual transitioning of a student, including the use of alternative names and pronouns.
Strongly Agree
No healthcare diagnosis or treatment, whether mental, reproductive, or otherwise, should be given to a child without first receiving written consent from the parent.
Strongly Agree
Who is responsible for teaching sexual education to children, and what is the appropriate age when it should be taught?
Parents. When the parents think that they are mature enough to understand.
If you support the teaching of Sex Ed, please answer the following question: Sexual education should include these topics (list all that apply and add your own, if needed) -- Physical and emotional health outcomes; contraceptive methods; consent; abstinence; sexual orientation and gender identity; human anatomy/the reproductive system; abortion methods and side effects; stages of pregnancy and fetal development; sex acts and pleasures of sex
N/A
Judeo-Christian values established a framework of morality that is necessary for our system of limited government.
Strongly Agree
ELECTIONS AND VOTING
People should be able to vote without photo identification.
Strongly Disagree
ABOUT YOU
Have you ever been convicted of a felony or been penalized in either civil or criminal court for sexual misconduct? If so, please explain.
No
A candidate's personal moral values are relevant when considering a candidacy for elective office.
Strongly Agree
When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and religious liberty, which of the following best describes you overall?
Very Conservative
Please provide publicly available information, including interviews and media reports, validating your answer to the previous question (other than your website).
At the time of this survey, I am endorsed by all but two Precinct Chairs of the Gillespie County Republican Party (13 total), I am fully endorsed by the Gillespie County Young Republicans and the Fredericksburg Tea Party. I was also on the 2022 Resolutions Committee for the Gillespie County GOP Convention and a Gillespie County delegate at the State GOP Convention 2022.
Is there anything else you would like voters to know about you?
I am devoted to my Christian faith, my wife and my five kids. I believe in protecting our kids, respecting our parents, spending tax payer dollars within our means, and providing much needed property tax relief to the community. Kids come first! Our educational system, and we as adults, have a moral obligation and a responsibility to provide a safe and productive learning environment that allows our children to grow up to be independent and productive in whatever they decide to do after high school. I also believe that parents deserve a seat at the table in the education of their children from initial enrollment through high school graduation. Parents are the primary voice in their children's lives and need to be treated with respect and given full transparency as to what their child is learning and what his or her educational progress is. I also believe that getting back to the basic traditional academic curriculum, which includes reading, writing, math, science, history, and civics is needed in order to allow kids to learn the fundamental educational building blocks for independent decision making, critical thinking and rational thought. I also believe that we need transparency and accountability in regards to the to the FISD fiscal budget to make sure that we are spending tax payer dollars wisely on the things that matter in the effort to improve the education of kids. I come from a 30 plus year career in corporate industry with many roles in executive leadership. From this experience I know how to utilize collaborative leadership to work with others, be fiscally conservative in managing budgets, make tough decisions when needed, and how to make the most with the taxpayer's dollars towards the common goal of making FISD one of the best and educationally rewarding districts in Texas.
2ND AMENDMENT
Teachers who are licensed to carry should be allowed to carry guns at school.
Agree
iVoterGuide Notes:
The candidate notified iVoterGuide.com that his answer should have included “as long as they are fully trained and proficient with a gun.”
OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES
Under what circumstances (if any) should schools be allowed to require vaccinations?
I think it is up to the parents to determine what is best for their children.
I support mask mandates.
Disagree
Parents should decide if their child should wear a mask, not an unelected body of so called "experts".
All official open meetings should be live streamed, recorded, and have transcripts available online for public access.
Agree
All votes should be roll call votes and recorded in meeting minutes.
Strongly Agree
