Texas State Representative Mihaela Plesa, D-Dallas, won a razor-close race in 2022 by less than 900 votes. For the first time in decades, a Democrat won a Texas House seat in Collin County. Her district stretches across parts of Allen, Plano, and Richardson. She's now in one of the state's most competitive races this November.
Republican candidate Steve Kinard is an active member in the cryptocurrency community and an oil and gas finance worker, is vying to defeat the first-term lawmaker.
And Plesa's also in the cross hairs of Governor Greg Abbott and several national organizations advocating for Education Savings Accounts, an Abbott-backed policy allowing families to use public school tax dollars for private and home schools. The proposal failed last year when a coalition of Democrats and rural Republicans rejected the proposal in the Texas House. After knocking out a handful of Republicans in the March primary, Abbott says he has the 76 votes to pass - but just barely. This Collin County seat - along with a small handful of others across Texas - may decide if school choice vouchers pass or not.
"The idea that it's parental choice or school choice is just misguided and a lie," said Rep. Plesa said in an interview with NBC 5.
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Plesa is very much campaigning to stop the policy, saying her top priority is public education funding. The three main school districts in her area are Plano, Frisco, and Allen ISD, which all send money back to the state through the controversial "Robin Hood" school finance system.
"Look, I'm not saying don't send your kid to private school," said Plesa, "But the majority of parents moving to Plano, they're moving here for our public schools, for our state champions right? They're coming here because they don't have to put their kid in an expensive private school."
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Supporters of Abbott's plan argue it will allow families with special needs children, or those who want a more religiously focused education, to choose a school that aligns with their values and goals. Kinard argues the policy will give parents an out if they're not comfortable with federal changes to Title IX's requirements on transgender issues in public schools.
"I haven't seen it happening yet in Plano ISD, or in Allen, or in Frisco, but the reality is that we've seen particularly from the federal level an initiative to really eradicate Title IX entirely," said Kinard.
In short, Kinard believes it's unfair to lock in families to certain schools when state money could help them go to private schools.
"I don't think we can say if you don't like it you have to move to some other ZIP code," said Kinard.
On funding concerns, Kinard says: "We're going to do both."
Governor Abbott's plan in 2023 also called for billions in public school funding trying to ease concerns that school choice vouchers will siphon off future revenue. Critics point to the recent situation in Arizona where a similar program has ballooned far past what lawmakers there originally expected.
Rep. Plesa spent six years as a legislative staffer in the capitol before running for the House herself. In an interview with NBC 5, she touted that experience as key to helping her sign on to ninety bills signed into law by Governor Abbott.
Kinard criticizes her vote on her opposition to a human trafficking bill that would have increased the penalty for human smuggling. In response, Plesa said, "He has to do that because he doesn't have much to run on for his own record."
On immigration issues generally, Plesa tells NBC 5 she supports border security efforts like Operation Lone Star but believes it can be done in a "more human" way and puts too much stress on the state's national guard.
"If we're creating a humane system, then yes. What I don't like is the fact that our national guardsmen have had to leave their families. They've had to leave their jobs," said Plesa.
Kinard says he supports legal immigration as the son of a Panamanian immigrant. He believes generally the state can do more to stop illegal immigration. While much is in the hands of federal agents, he supports a proposal that failed last year - the creation of a Texas Border Unit, which would specialize in investigating crimes committed by people in the country illegally.
"The reality is even in Collin County, we have major highways there. We have had a tremendous of drugs seized. It's a major thoroughfare for both drug trafficking and human trafficking," said Kinard, " Every community now is a border community."
The state's strict abortion laws are also a key issue in the race.
Plesa opposes the nearly total ban on abortion and supports allowing more access to abortion. Kinard supports current laws but told NBC 5 he'd support making it clear a doctor can perform an abortion if the life of the mother is at risk. That debate played out over the high-profile case of Kate Cox, who fled the state to have an abortion that her doctor believed would save her life.
Early voting begins on October 21. Election day is November 5.
