Kevin Ludlow's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
Inferred Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, but Vote Smart inferred this issue based on the candidate's public record, including statements, voting record, and special interest group endorsements.
Unknown Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, or we could not infer an answer for this candidate despite exhaustive research of their public record.
Additional Information: Click on this icon to reveal more information about this candidate's position, from their answers or Vote Smart's research.
Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.
Kevin Ludlow has failed to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2018 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart and voters like you.
This candidate has responded to a Political Courage Test in a previous election. As a continued effort to provide the American public with factual information on candidates running for public office, these archived responses are made available here.
Texas State Legislative Election 2014 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| No | b) Should abortions be illegal after the first trimester of pregnancy? | ||
| Yes | c) Should abortion be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape? | ||
| Yes | d) Should abortion be legal when the life of the woman is endangered? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for abortion procedures? | ||
| No | h) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| Regarding notifications for minors, I would support notifying parents only with what is consistent with any medical procedure. In other words, I would not place abortion procedures into any special box. Regarding public funds, I am 100% in favor of pro-choice legislation, but am willing to concede that public funds need not be allocated for this controversial position. Furthermore, I would support legislation blocking these funds if and only if this resulted in a compromise whereby abortion remained entirely legal and unrestricted within the state of Texas. | |||
1) State Spending:Using the key, indicate what state funding levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category; you may use a number more than once.2) State Taxes:Using the key, indicate what state tax levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category; you may use a number more than once.3) Budget Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Texas's budget.
| Maintain Status | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Environment | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Health care | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Welfare | ||
| Eliminate | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Eliminate | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | d) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Sales taxes | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) Tapping into Texas's "rainy day" fund | ||
| No | b) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| Yes | c) Reducing or eliminating public worker collective bargaining | ||
| Yes | d) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | ||
| Yes | e) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | f) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| I do not believe that the bulk of our problems stem from revenue collection, but rather from wasteful and inefficient bureaucratic spending habits. I would like to see numerous high-level bureaucratic positions within government reduced or entirely removed. Regarding health care specifically, I do NOT support encouraging spending on health insurance, but would support policies that reduced health care costs for the consumer (incentive programs for doctors, minor care centers, reduced medical regulations, etc.) | |||
a) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions for state candidates?
| Yes | 1) Individual | ||
| Yes | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| Yes | 4) Political Party | ||
| Yes | b) Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| I ultimately believe that no matter what restriction we put on campaign finance, those in power will find and exploit holes within the system. It is impossible to control this problem when there is an incentive to succeed and the will of the people does not demand it be controlled. Still, I do believe the effort to control it is symbolic if nothing more. | |||
| No | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support alternatives to incarceration for certain non-violent offenders, such as mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana? | ||
| No | d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| No | e) Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? | ||
| No | f) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| Beyond "small amounts of marijuana", I would like to entirely end the war on drugs. It is a miserable, abject failure that serves only to enrich local law enforcement and private subsidiaries. It is destructive to individuals, it is destructive to families, and there is overwhelming data to show how it does nothing to curb drug usage. All non-violent drug offenders should be immediately released from prison. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| No | c) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| No | d) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | e) Do you support government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| No | g) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support a guest worker program in Texas? | ||
| i) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| No | c) Is the tenure process for public school teachers producing effective teachers? | ||
| Yes | d) Should parents be allowed to use vouchers to send their children to any school? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| Yes | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Texas high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| h) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for the development of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil)? | ||
| No | c) Do you support state funding for improvements to Texas's energy infrastructure? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Although I do support SOME regulation for greenhouse gas emission, I support a very nominal effort at best. I believe this is a problem the market will solve if we let it. If we stopped artificially lowering the cost of energy production then the cost of gasoline (and other similar fuels) would quickly rise. I suspect the market would be forced to correct itself in terms of renewable energy resources. Unfortunately the government is well invested with big oil and gas companies. This will be a hard relationship to break, but I strongly support breaking it. | |||
| No | a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| Yes | b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| Yes | c) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns? | ||
| No | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| While (a) and (b) seem to conflict, I support a basic background check and nothing more. | |||
| No | a) Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option? | ||
| No | b) Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform? | ||
| No | c) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts? | ||
| No | d) Do you support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| Although I do not want the government to be involved in the practice of health care, it does seem inevitable for 2014. That said, I do not support the forced expansion into private insurance markets. The idea that insurance is necessary for better healthcare is blatantly false. We should focus on reducing the actual price of healthcare instead of padding corporate insurance coffers. This can be accomplished by increasing minor care facilities, increasing the supply of doctors with incentives and lower education costs, reducing medical regulations, mandating price transparency, and reducing malpractice claims. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Should same-sex couples be allowed to form civil unions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Texas's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Texas's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| I believe gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Texans should have the exact same rights, titles, privileges, and benefits as heterosexual individuals. Nothing more and nothing less. Beyond that, I would ideally like to see the government entirely remove itself from the business of marriage. | |||
| If elected, my top three priorities will be achieving drug reform in the State of Texas, ensuring members of the LGBTQ communities are treated equally under the law, and ensuring that civil liberties no longer stripped from Texans under the guise of the TSA and the NSA. None of these priorities require funding for implementation and in fact would save Texas countless millions of dollars annually. We have reached a time whereby citizens fear their government. This is entirely backwards and must be addressed. As a State Legislator, I would address this concern and restore faith in our State Democracy. |
Vote Smart does not permit the use of its name or programs in any campaign activity, including advertising, debates, and speeches.