Vince Perez, candidate for Texas House District 77
Name: Vincent "Vince" Perez
Age: 44
Party: Democratic
Occupation: Texas State representative for House District 77
Relevant Experience
I represent House District 77 and have completed my first session in the Texas House. I serve on the Ways and Means Committee, which writes the state's tax laws, and on the Higher Education Committee, and I am a Deputy Whip for the House Democratic Caucus. That first session I passed House Bill 2853 to rebuild UTEP's student union, joint-authored the DOCTOR Act to license qualified foreign-trained physicians, and carried the bill for a public law school in El Paso through the House with bipartisan support.
My office has also gone to the state regulators on behalf of El Paso ratepayers, filing opposition at the Public Utility Commission to El Paso Electric's rate increases and at the Railroad Commission to Texas Gas Service's request for a 27 percent increase.
Before the Legislature, I served eight years as an El Paso County Commissioner and twice chaired the region's transportation policy board.
Personal
I am a lifelong resident of El Paso's Mission Valley and a proud graduate of Bel Air High School. I earned my bachelor's and master's degrees in government from Georgetown University and began my career as a congressional staffer, later serving as communications director for El Paso's congressional office.
I came home to serve as El Paso County Commissioner for Precinct 3 from 2013 to 2020, and in 2016 American City & County named me National County Leader of the Year. Since 2021 I have worked as a public and governmental affairs consultant. In 2024 I was elected State Representative for House District 77.
If you are elected, what are your priorities for El Paso?
My top priority is keeping El Pasoans here. Last year El Paso lost more residents than any city in Texas. People leave because it costs too much to live here and the jobs do not pay enough.
On cost, I am filing bills to end property tax breaks for data centers and to make large industrial power users pay for the power and water lines built to serve them, so those costs do not land on your utility bill. About half of every property tax bill is the school district, and the state sets that rate, so I will keep pushing Austin to pay its share of school funding instead of leaving it to homeowners.
On opportunity, I will keep fighting vouchers that take money out of our public schools, work to fix the community college funding formula that shortchanges EPCC, and keep building on UTEP, the medical school, and a public law school for El Paso.
What legislation have you introduced that's important to El Pasoans?
House Bill 2853 authorizes UTEP to rebuild Student Union West and refurbish Union East for a campus of more than 25,000 students. It is now law.
I joint-authored House Bill 2038, the DOCTOR Act, which creates a supervised licensing path for qualified doctors trained in other countries, because the border does not have enough physicians. It is now law. I also authored the bill to establish a public law school in El Paso, which passed the House with bipartisan support.
I filed legislation to cover the graduate coursework teachers need to teach dual credit, so more El Paso high school students can earn college credit before they graduate, and a bill letting local governments use the homestead exemption to help revitalize neighborhoods where schools have closed.
What are your plans to ensure transparency and make sure you are accessible to constituents?
Residents and reporters have had my personal cell number since I was a county commissioner, and they still do. My district office is at 100 N. Ochoa downtown. In July I hosted the El Paso People's Hearing, an evening hearing here at home, so people who cannot travel to Austin on a weekday could still testify on the issues that matter to them.
To me, transparency means the public can see a decision before it is made, in a form people can actually use. At the county I led the effort to publish court performance data so residents could see case backlogs and cancelled jury panels that had never been public. Court efficiency improved as a result.
What makes you the best candidate?
I did what I said I would do. I ran on getting foreign-trained doctors licensed to practice at the border, rebuilding UTEP's student union, and bringing a public law school to El Paso. In my first session, two became law and the third passed the House.
I will also stand up for this community when it costs me something. In August 2025 I broke quorum to stop a congressional map drawn to dilute Hispanic and Black voting strength. Republicans fined me $8,354. I would do it again.
On property taxes, I spent eight years setting a county budget, and I now serve on Ways and Means, the committee that writes the state's tax laws.
