On November 3rd, Texans will not only be voting for the next president of the United States but also for the next Texas representative for the U.S. Senate. This year’s candidates are incumbent John Cornyn, M.J. Hegar, David B. Collins and Kerry McKennon. Also running is Independent write-in candidate Ricardo Turullols-Bonilla, however, The Wichitan found little information about his campaign and policies. 

John Cornyn (R)

• • John Cornyn is a member of the U.S. Senate representing Texas since 2002 and is running for reelection for the Republican Party. In the past, he has served as a Bexar County district court judge, on the Texas Supreme Court and Texas Attorney General. 
  • Cornyn is against Obamacare, instead he supports a plan that covers those with preexisting conditions, lowers the cost of prescription drugs, lowers the cost on seniors for medicare and allows cross-state insurance to increase competition.
  • Cornyn supports environmental policies that ensure economic success while protecting public health but is opposed to federal agencies expanding their regulatory reach beyond their legal authority. 
  • Cornyn’s goals in economic policies are to create an environment that encourages economic production, job growth and an increase in wages, and to achieve this is to reduce taxation for Americans and businesses that have hindered their economic growth. 
  • Cornyn was born in Houston on February 2, 1952.

M.J. Hegar (D)

• • Mary Jennings Hegar also known as M.J. Hegar is running for election to the U.S. Senate representing Texas for the Democratic Party. In the past, she was a commissioned officer in the Air Force, served three tours in Afghanistan as a combat search and rescue and medevac pilot and was a Democratic candidate for the Texas 31st Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. 
  •  Hegar believes that healthcare similar to the military provided Tricare should be available to all Americans. She advocates for lower-cost prescription drugs and is opposed to privatization, destroying medicare, raising the eligibility age for Medicare and discrimination against those with preexisting conditions.
  • She is for setting goals for the increase of clean, renewable energy and investing in clean energy manufacturing and sustainable transportation.
  • Hegar is opposed to any legislation that benefits corporations and the extremely wealthy while at the same time hurting working families. 
  • Hegar was born in Connecticut on March 16, 1976.

David B. Collins (G) 

• • David B. Collins is running for election to the U.S. Senate representing Texas for the Green Party. In the past, he has been a Green Party nominee for the U.S. Senate and County Judge for Harris County. 
  • Collins advocates for improved medicare for all. 
  • Collins support subsidizing the creation of urban farms, food webs and the immediate prohibition on new fossil-fuel infrastructures, such as pipelines and refineries.
  • Collins is for a transition from a fossil-fuel economy to a renewable-energy economy. He is also an advocate for the Ecosocialist Green New Deal which encompasses the Economic Bill of Rights and a Green Economy Reconstruction Program.
  • Collins was born in Oklahoma on November 13, 1962.

Kerry McKennon (L)

• • Kerry McKennon is running for election to the U.S. Senate, representing Texas for the Libertarian Party. In the past, he has served in the U.S. Navy and worked in sales.
  • McKennon believes that the solution to the planet’s environmental issues and pollution is based on private enterprises.
  • McKennon advocates for the end of the opioid crisis by legalizing cannabis and other non-pharmaceutical substances. His goal includes releasing individuals imprisoned for drug offenses.
  • McKennon is for improving immigration reform because he believes that immigrants are not here to take over but to follow the American dream and the nation would not be the same without them.
  • McKennon is 51 years old.