O’Rourke facing two challengers in Democratic primary for U.S. Senate

Three candidates are on the Democrat ballot for the U.S. Senate primary. Here are some key positions from all three:

Sema Hernandez

Hernandez is a Houston native and has been part of the healthcare industry since 2005. She supports single-payer healthcare system, arguing it puts healthcare in the hands of patients and doctors, taking the profit-driven health insurance companies out.

Hernandez believes in tuition-free college. She claims a tuition-free education system is feasible by reallocating a small portion of the nation’s military budget.

The 32-year-old says lowering the cost of living is a pressing issue that needs to be address. She’s proposing raising the minimum wage will help lower the cost of living and wants to put a policy in place to prohibit cities from giving tax breaks and incentives to developers.

Hernandez believes in providing undocumented immigrants with a clear pathway to citizenship.

Beto O’Rourke

O’Rourke has served as the U.S. Representative for Texas’ 16th congressional in El Paso since 2013.

He defeated eight-term incumbent Silvestre Reyes in 2012.

O’Rourke is proposing to protect the Earned Income Tax Credit and increase federal spending on infrastructure. He believes investing in job training will allow Texans to keep pace with increasingly specialized professions.

O’Rourke sees health care as a human right and is proposing to improve Obamacare by guaranteeing continued payments for Obamacare subsidies that reduce enrollees’ cost-sharing and reimbursing insurers for high-cost individuals.

The El Paso native wants to lower the entry for small business in an effort to maximize the growth of small businesses.

O’Rourke also wants to increase funding for Pell Grants Scholarships and the Federal Perkins Loan program.

Edward Kimbrough

Kimbrough is a retired employee of the United States Postal Service and worked as an industrial engineer for more than 37 years.

He wants Congress to work with the Executive Branch to establish a zero-based budgeting system, where receipts, disbursements, assets and liabilities are accounted for federally.

Kimbrough is in favor of building partnerships with other countries when it comes to foreign policy.

Kimbrough wants to establish a database through the U.S. Census that will help monitor immigration and crime.

He is proposing to establish federal research grants for colleges, universities and industry to “determine feasibility of neutralizing and recycling wastes and other byproducts of nuclear reactors.”