About this office
There are only 31 State Senators for all of Texas, and every bill has to get past them. Who you elect as your State Senator can be the difference between a bill becoming a law that changes lives for the better — or being left to die. Yours represents Hays County and the counties around it, and once elected, sits for four years. It's a small club with a lot of quiet power, and this is one of the few times you get a say in who's in it.
Candidates
Amy Martinez-SalasAmy Martinez-Salas started nursing school before switching paths, and the daughter of a single mom who immigrated from Michoacán, Mexico, is now running for State Senate at 24 after finishing college in 2024.
About Amy
Martinez-Salas grew up in Arlington watching her mother work multiple jobs to keep the family afloat, and she says a brother's addiction struggles and another leaving school to help pay bills shaped her belief in community support. She graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2024 and has worked as a legal assistant. She's running on fixing rural water infrastructure, funding public schools, and expanding healthcare access after Republican Sen. Brian Birdwell's retirement opened the seat.
David CookBefore running the Texas House, David Cook spent 12 years as the mayor of Mansfield while working full-time as a board-certified family law attorney.
About David
Cook served as Mayor of Mansfield from 2008 to 2021, then won a seat in the Texas House representing Arlington, Burleson, Crowley, Fort Worth, Kennedale and Mansfield. He co-founded the Harris Cook law firm with the late State Senator Chris Harris and helped write two of Texas's abortion laws. He's running for the open Senate District 22 seat after Sen. Brian Birdwell decided not to seek re-election, and won his GOP primary with 67 percent of the vote.