opinion

Letter: A number of reasons to vote for Beto

El Paso Congressman Beto O'Rourke is running against Sen. Ted Cruz, and for many reasons, I hope O'Rourke wins.

My husband and I have been to hear him speak and visit with him at several events in Wichita Falls, and we are convinced he will represent us well. He seems to care a lot about ALL the issues that are important to me, including public education.

I'm just finishing my 21st year of teaching in Wichita Falls, and for many reasons, I don't feel that my beloved state places a high enough priority on our public schools. Beto O'Rourke is committed to finding solutions.

He's got the energy, passion, experience, and ability to work respectfully with those across the political aisle that we need to fix what's wrong in many areas, including our public education system.

I also care a lot about issues involving animals, so something that really caught my attention was reading that as a Congressman, Beto O'Rourke has received a perfect 100 percent score from the Humane Society Legislative Fund for voting for animal-friendly bills.

When I thanked him for that at a town hall meeting in Archer City a few weeks ago, he said that taking care of the animals is "what decent people do, especially in Texas." I hope he's right, but all too often, our state doesn't seem to place a high enough priority on protecting animals.

These are not the only issues that I care about, but they are two huge ones for me. Ted Cruz, by the way, earned a perfectly awful ZERO on the same Humane Scorecard that gave Beto100 percent.

-- Jan Herzog, Wichita Falls