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Joe Mayes earned a bachelor's degree in legal administration from the University of West Florida.

Joe is currently the executive producer of a podcast and bookshop owner. He also has held various IT security roles and served for 20 years in the United States Air Force.

Joe Mayes - Ballotpedia

Joe is a first-time candidate for political office.

2026 Texas General Election

Q: Do you support a statewide minimum wage increase to at least $15/hour?
Yes. However, I still do not believe that $15/hour is a livable wage. Or even $20.
There is a rule of thumb -- influenced by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) -- that states that housing costs should not exceed 30% of your gross income. More than this is considered to be “cost-burdened.”

Meet The Candidates: Joe Mayes For Texas House District 106

Q: Should Texas end tax subsidies and abatements for large corporations?

Yes, as the tax subsidies and abatements are utilized today. I do believe there is room for tax incentives and other financial incentives for businesses, but only if the benefits of the business success are shared with the community in the form of long-term salary stability and growth, and other financial benefits.

Small businesses are the engine of the Texas economy, representing 99.8% of all businesses and employing 44.4% of the state’s workforce.*

For those Texans who want to start and operate a small business, Texas should invest in these ventures, including grants, loans, and education programs designed to optimize the likelihood of success.

* Texas Small Business Report 2025

Joe Mayes for Texas

Supports a statewide minimum-wage increase and says that $15 or $20 an hour is not a livable wage.

Supports ending current corporate tax subsidies and abatements, allowing incentives only when benefits are shared with communities.

Believes in ending current corporate tax subsidies and abatements, allowing incentives only when benefits are shared with communities.

Advocates for state grants, loans, and education programs to help Texans start and operate small businesses.

- Supports a statewide minimum-wage increase and says that $15 or $20 an hour is not a livable wage.
- Believes in ending current corporate tax subsidies and abatements, allowing incentives only when benefits are shared with communities.
- Advocates for state grants, loans, and education programs to help Texans start and operate small businesses.

Economy

Q: Should local police be barred from enforcing federal immigration law?

Yes. The lines of jurisdiction have become blurred, with the Federal government exerting undue (and unjust) pressure on state and local law enforcement agencies to carry out the federal agenda, rather than enforcing the laws within the jurisdiction that commissions those law enforcement agencies.

Supports barring local police from enforcing federal immigration law.

- Supports barring local police from enforcing federal immigration law.

Public Safety

As of July 22, 2026, Joe Mayes’s website did not contain information on this issue.

Healthcare

Q: Do you oppose school vouchers and efforts to privatize public education?
I 100%, absolutely oppose any use of public dollars to fund private education. Additionally, Texas funds 10% less of the cost of public education than other states do (the national average is 44%; Texas funds just 34% of the cost of public education).

A world-class, fully-funded public education is a foundational component of a healthy Texas.

Every Texas student deserves a world class public education, and Texas is distinctly positioned to provide it.

Our Texas public school educators are doing incredible work, educating 5.5 million students with some 400,000 students graduating high school every year. All while being hamstrung by some of the lowest funding among the United States.

A public education endowment would create a permanent source of supplemental educating funding, without raising taxes!

It's time to stand with the professional educators who are carrying the burden of insufficient public school funding.

LET FREEDOM READ
Defend Freedoms for All Texans

Parents and individuals — not the state — should determine the books they read, with whom they assemble, and how they express their beliefs.

I stand in defense of these and other freedoms from state or local communities who seek to impose their beliefs on all members of a community.

NO ON HB1375!
Joe's Testimony

Joe and Diane testified before the House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence against HB1375 in May 2025.

News | Joe Mayes for Texas

Opposes using public funds for private education and calls for fully funded public schools.

Proposes a public education endowment to provide permanent supplemental school funding without raising taxes.

Defends parents' and individuals' ability to choose books, assemble, and express beliefs without state control.

Testified against House Bill (HB) 1375 before a Texas House committee in May 2025.

- Opposes using public funds for private education and calls for fully funded public schools.
- Proposes a public education endowment to provide permanent supplemental school funding without raising taxes.
- Defends parents' and individuals' ability to choose books, assemble, and express beliefs without state control.
- Testified against House Bill (HB) 1375 before a Texas House committee in May 2025.

Education

Q: Should Texas end tax breaks and regulatory loopholes for oil and gas companies, including exemptions from emissions reporting and waste disposal standards?
I believe that oil and gas companies have long had their way with the state of Texas, with little (if any) resistance provided by the legislature to hold companies accountable. I am in favor of ensuring accountability, including financial justification of tax breaks, for oil and gas companies.

Supports holding oil and gas companies accountable, including requiring financial justification for tax breaks.

Advocates for holding oil and gas companies accountable, including requiring financial justification for tax breaks.

- Advocates for holding oil and gas companies accountable, including requiring financial justification for tax breaks.

Energy & the Environment

Q: Do you support publicly financed elections to reduce corporate and PAC influence?

Absolutely. The time has come to overturn the ruling in CITIZENS UNITED v. FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION that created the huge loophole that allows the wealthiest to influence, if not fully control, public elections.

Supports publicly financed elections and overturning Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.

Supports publicly financed elections and reducing corporate and PAC influence in elections.

- Supports publicly financed elections and reducing corporate and PAC influence in elections.

Voting & Elections

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Joe Mayes

- Advocates for state grants, loans, and education programs to help Texans start and operate small businesses.

- Proposes a public education endowment to provide permanent supplemental school funding without raising taxes.
- Defends parents' and individuals' ability to choose books, assemble, and express beliefs without state control.
- Testified against House Bill (HB) 1375 before a Texas House committee in May 2025.

Joe attended Hahn American High School. He has a bachelor’s degree in legal administration from University of West Florida. He lives with his wife, Diane, in Denton.

Joe Mayes | BallotReady

Joe is a small business owner. He runs a family-based small business in Texas, which he and his family have operated since 2021. He previously worked at Indeed as Director of Cybersecurity Strategy for the world’s largest job site, where he led risk management strategy and directed a team of tech professionals. He also worked at Citizens Property Insurance Corporation as an IT Security Project Manager from 2014 to 2015 and as Manager of IT Security Operations from 2016 to 2018. From 2015 to 2018, he served as a project management trainer at The Knowledge Academy. Earlier, Joe served in the US Air Force for 20 years, including nine years with Air Force Special Operations Command after returning from Desert Storm in 1991.

Supports making living and doing business in Texas accessible for all Texans, including housing, food, healthcare, education, transportation, and child care.

Believes small businesses are the engine of the Texas economy and supports their growth and success.

Supports investing in small businesses through grants, loans, and education programs to enhance their chances of success.

For Candidate Joe Mayes on Issue education:  
Believes every Texas student deserves a world-class public education and that Texas is well-positioned to provide it.

Acknowledges the incredible work of Texas public school educators and highlights the need for increased funding, as current funding levels are among the lowest in the United States.

For Candidate Joe Mayes on Issue education:  
Supports creating a public education endowment to provide a permanent source of supplemental funding for education without raising taxes.

Supports parental control over educational content and expression.

Buket Urgen

Isaac Brickman

Jared Patterson

- 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.