Ballotpedia

LinkedIn

Facebook

Dwain earned a bachelor's degree in business administration and a master's degree in finance from Texas A&M. He lives in Cottonwood Shores.

Dwain Handley currently works as the president of Renaissance Bodies and as a political organizer. He previously worked as a banker and fitness trainer.

Dwain Handley's campaign for state representative is his first run for public office.

Candidate website

Believes billionaires pay "virtually no taxes" and exploit resources, and opposes their efforts to privatize essential public services.

Opposes the privatization of public services, including education and post offices.

Believes current tax policy is unfair to the middle class and that high-income earners aren't taxed enough.

- Opposes the privatization of public services, including education and post offices.
- Believes current tax policy is unfair to the middle class and that high-income earners aren't taxed enough.

Economy

Believes Texas Republicans fail to protect school children from gun violence, opposing civilian ownership of semi-automatic rifles, and blaming the gun lobby for inaction.

Supports gun control, including a ban on semi-automatic weapons.

Opposes placing razor wire to deter undocumented immigrants by the Rio Grande.

Believes Texas should partner with the federal government to address undocumented immigration.

- Supports gun control, including a ban on semi-automatic weapons.
- Opposes family separation at the border.
- Opposes placing razor wire to deter undocumented immigrants by the Rio Grande.
- Believes Texas should partner with the federal government to address undocumented immigration.

Public Safety

Opposes Texas laws restricting access to certain healthcare services, believing they are "solidly — I’d even say exclusively — based in religious invocations and rhetoric."

Opposes laws limiting access to certain health services based on religion.

Believes the legislature and governor are "practicing medicine without a license" by refusing to expand Medicaid, saying this strips Texans of the right to pursue needed medical treatments.

Opposes the decision not to expand access to Medicaid.

Supports amending the state constitution to guarantee access to abortion.

- Opposes laws limiting access to certain health services based on religion.
- Opposes the decision not to expand access to Medicaid.
- Supports amending the state constitution to guarantee access to abortion.

Healthcare

Believes schools are being "robbed" of tax dollars.

- Believes schools are being "robbed" of tax dollars.

Education

Supports using oil and gas drilling technologies to access geothermal energy.

Supports helping oil and gas drilling companies use their technology to produce renewable geothermal energy.

Believes climate change is undeniable and urgent action is needed to develop alternative energies and carbon-capture methods.

Wants to invest in clean energy sources and develop technology to address climate change.

Believes the power grid needs to be improved to support increasing energy needs.

- Supports helping oil and gas drilling companies use their technology to produce renewable geothermal energy.
- Wants to invest in clean energy sources and develop technology to address climate change.
- Believes the power grid needs to be improved to support increasing energy needs.

Energy & the Environment

Supports ending gerrymandering, believing it distorts the true voice of Texas voters and cements "undemocratic rule in the hands of a desperate, shrinking minority."

Opposes gerrymandering, drawing electoral district lines to favor one party.

Believes that saying "democracy itself does not work" is dangerous and must be prevented.

Believes that political division is bad but that people saying democracy itself does not work is harmful.

- Opposes gerrymandering, drawing electoral district lines to favor one party.
- Believes that political division is bad but that people saying democracy itself does not work is harmful.
- Says democracy is his number one issue.

Voting & Elections

Dwain Handley

Dwain holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and a master's degree in finance from Texas A&M. He lives in Cottonwood Shores.

Believes democracy can encourage investment in economic efforts.

Believes that funds raised will go "much farther than they otherwise would, and we will turn out more voters as a result."

Believes the oil industry is important for funding education, saying, "My own father was a petroleum engineer, and the oil business put me through Texas A&M, where I earned a BBA and an MS in Finance."

Believes Texas should partner with the federal government to address economic issues.

Believes in collaboration to find solutions to economic problems.

Believes that Texas, with its 30 million residents, has the potential to "change America" economically.

Believes changing Texas will change the world.

Believes the lowest range growth projections will add another billion people by 2050.

Believes progress is being made in the economy, but fears "we've run out of time."

Believes the doubling of the global human population in his lifetime has significant economic implications.

Believes that "great ideas are being researched and promulgated all over the world," and supports global economic innovation and collaboration.

Believes all people, regardless of immigration status, have the same rights to a "dignified existence."

Believes Republican officials neglect the power grid's maintenance despite rapid population growth, saying, "We are adding a San Antonio every three years..."

Believes Texans are frustrated with high taxes.

Believes current tax policy is unfair to the middle class and that billionaires aren't taxed enough.

- Opposes the privatization of public services, including education and post offices.
- Believes current tax policy is unfair to the middle class and that billionaires aren't taxed enough.

Opposes violations of First Amendment rights.

Believes in ending the "carnage of semiautomatic weapons."

Believes public safety measures are ineffective and that "the will of the people is being thwarted."

Believes in addressing public safety issues with honesty and realism.

Believes the recent mass shooting at the Allen Premium Outlets was "nothing short of an atrocity."

Believes U.S. sanctions on Venezuela contribute to increased migration and are ineffective in the Americas.

Believes the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Hobby Lobby, which allows privately held corporations to deny employees access contraception under its insurance plan if it goes against the owners beliefs, is an example of corporate overreach.

Believes that the current immigration policies are inhumane and cause unnecessary suffering to families.

Believes Governor Greg Abbott's actions of transporting migrants across the country is a "mocking political stunt."

Believes some Republicans misuse religious freedom to impose beliefs on others, with some advocating for their Christianity to be the "official state religion."

Believes pro-life political parties hypocritically neglect child safety issues.

Believes Republicans neglect public education.

Believes democracy is essential for addressing all other issues.

Believes children will be "emotionally damaged for life" due to "cruel trauma" in the education system.

Promises to put in great effort to improve education.

Believes it is essential to persuade young people to vote and to vote for them.

Believes in persuading young people to vote.

Supports strong funding for education and the arts.

Supports education in St. Vincent & Grenadines.

Opposes seeking large corporate donations to fund his campaign, saying, "the way we govern ourselves should serve natural-born human beings and not artificial corporate persons."

Supports education policies that benefit children in São Tomé and Príncipe.

Supports education policies that benefit students and teachers.

Opposes the use of the term "family values" in political discourse.

Believes religious freedom encompasses both the right to worship within a community and the freedom to pursue nontraditional beliefs or to not worship at all.

Supports the preservation of the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Supports the establishment of marine protected areas.

Believes the value of proven petroleum reserves worldwide can vary from 100 to 200 trillion dollars, depending on the spot price of oil.

Believes certain species are "keystone species in a sensitive ecology," and their absence makes the ecology "less sustaining."

Believes Texas can significantly aid in carbon mitigation due to its wealth.

Believes climate change is a significant issue that needs to be addressed.

Believes that all humans engage in activities that contribute to climate change.

Believes energy-dense fossil fuels have powered significant human achievement and development.

Believes petroleum is essential to Texas's development.

Believes fossil fuel burning has released carbon residues that will not be recaptured for centuries and that carbon emissions continue today "almost unabated."

Believes the global population increase exacerbates climate change, saying, "I fear we’ve run out of time" to mitigate fossil fuel emissions.

Supports addressing Texas' growing energy needs due to its rapidly expanding population.

Believes in "Dignity, Balance, and Democracy" to ensure fair voting practices.

Believes House District 19 needs 80,000 votes to flip it.

Believes in balanced politics to ensure fair representation and accountability, saying, "A Texas where our politics were balanced and not extreme; one that had both a Republican and a Democratic U.S. senator."

Believes in the importance of grassroots campaigning and requests donations for their campaign.

Believes re-engaging Texas Democrats will help reinstate political balance.

Believes emphasizing that voters are "the difference-makers" will motivate them to re-engage.

Believes "our politics are broken" and that "Democrats, Republicans, and Independents will all acknowledge that our political discourse has become divisive and extreme."

Believes House District 19 can be won by mobilizing the majority of registered voters who do not vote Republican.

Believes voting by mail is a "bad idea" and supports in-person voting.

Believes in protecting voting rights and ensuring fair elections.

Believes it is important to reactivate disenchanted voters.

- Supports amending the state constitution to guarantee access to abortion.

Dwain Handley lives in Cottonwood Shores in Burnet County, Texas. He attended Texas A&M, where he earned a BBA and an MS in Finance.

Dwain Handley has worked as a grassroots field organizer for most of the last decade. He was trained as a Neighborhood Team Leader with Battleground Texas for the Wendy Davis gubernatorial campaign and has served as a precinct chair for six of the last ten years.

As of September 13, 2024, Dwain Handley’s website did not contain information on this issue.

- Your state representative represents the interests of your local district in the Texas House of Representatives. The State House of Representatives, along with the State Senate, makes up your state lawmaking body: the Texas State Legislature
- Your state representative can author, sponsor, and vote on bills that may become state laws. 
- There are 150 members of the Texas House of Representatives, each representing a single district. Representatives must be at least 21 years old and reside in the state for at least two years before their election. 
- State representatives are elected to two-year terms during even-numbered years. There are no term limits. 
- State representatives make $7,200 annually in addition to a $221 payment per day during legislative sessions and mileage reimbursements.

Your representative and state lawmaker in the Texas House of Representatives.