Interview with Rep. Jason Isaac of the Hispanic Republican Conference (VIDEO)
The following interview with Texas State Representative Jason Isaac is one of a series of interviews conducted by VOCES Action and TexasGOPVote with members of the Hispanic Republican Conference in the 82nd session of the Texas Legislature. Rep. Isaac is a member of the Texas House of Representatives representing District 45, which includes Blanco, Hays, and Caldwell Counties.
Rep. Isaac had a few minutes to come off the House floor to step outside to speak with us for a short interview. He told us why he got involved in politics. He also explained that being a member of the Hispanic Republican Conference is important not only to his district, but to his family since he has family members who are Hispanic.
Rep. Isaac is a strong supporter of increasing the integrity of the electoral process with Voter ID legislation. He is part of the Elections Committee in the Texas House.
The Hispanic Republican Conference has been growing. Originally it was formed by the House’s five Hispanic Republicans but has since been joined by other State Representatives whose districts have at least 30% Hispanic constituents. The Hispanic Republican Conference will be addressing some issues that have been controversial in parts of the state with large Hispanic populations.
Hispanics make up 36% of the Texas population and this percentage is growing. Hispanics share Republican conservative values of fiscal responsibility, faith, hard work, family values, and are pro-life. VOCES Action has been educating and empowering Americans with Hispanic backgrounds, and who hold conservative values, to make more responsible and informed voting decisions
TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW:
Adryana Boyne: Hello, we are here with State Representative Jason Isaac, and we are very happy that you have given us some time in the middle of the busy session that we are going through. Mr. Isaac, thank you so much!
Jason Isaac: Thank you very much. My pleasure.
Adryana Boyne: Well first of all could you tell us a little bit about your background, and how you chose to enter politics?
Jason Isaac: Ive always been very involved in my community. Thats something thats always been very important to me, and I see this is an opportunity to give back on a larger scale. Ive been involved in business over the last 15 years, outside of college, worked my way through college, and was just not real happy with the direction that we were taking. What better time than now to get involved in politics and try to make a difference.
Adryana Boyne: Well certainly, one of the things that I noticed is that you are part of the Hispanic Republican Conference. Can you tell me why you chose to join this conference?
Jason Isaac: I am a proud member of the Hispanic Republican Conference. Its something thats very important to me, something that I actually asked to be involved with. They were thinking about taking districts that were a little stronger in the Hispanic population percentage-wise than the district that I represent, but I kept insisting, kept insisting, and they relented and agreed and let me participate as a member. It very critical to me, we dont want to ignore any part of the district, whether its any sort of minority or anything, we just dont want to ignore the district, and our district is anywhere between 30-40% Hispanic, but its very important for me personally. My family, my sister-in-law, my niece, and my nephew are all Hispanic, migrated here from Mexico, so it was something that was not only important to me from my districts standpoint, but also important to me from my familys standpoint.
Adryana Boyne: Well I have a friend actually that you know that was campaigning for you, Naomi Nairvaz. She was very excited when you were elected.
I was told by the Chairman of the Hispanic Republican Conference, Aaron Pena, that the only condition that they put for you to be a member was that you need to be called Jason Isaac (Spanish pronunciation).
Jason Isaac: Jason Isaac (Spanish pronunciation), yes, is my name is Spanish. Proudly.
Adryana Boyne: Hispanics are soon going to be 50% of the population in Texas. The future success of the Republican Party depends on their vote. Can you tell me what you suggest to attract Hispanics to the Republican Party?
Jason Isaac: Im trying to do my part and get my family to move back to Texas. Theyre currently living in Virginia, hopefully in June, theyll be able to make their way back home. This is where were from. So Im going to bring some more conservative Hispanics back into Texas, they belong here. But when you look at our family values, when you look at our entrepreneurial spirit, when you look at the foundation of Texas and how Texas was created, it was formed and really started by Hispanics, so I think that the values that we share are so in common with Hispanics, we just need to educate everyone whether youre Hispanic or not about the values of the Republican Party, and I really think thats going to help us grow our ranks.
Adryana Boyne: I know that you are a freshman, but certainly you are very involved on committees, and one of them is the Elections Committee. Voter ID is very important for the integrity of our elections process, yet many people, especially Democrats, confuse this issue with immigration. What are your thoughts and what is your role in Voter ID legislation?
Jason Isaac: I think any attempt that we can make to increase the integrity of our elections, the more people were going to have participate in the process. We were in elections committee last night until 10:30, we were hearing bills that were dealing specifically with improving the integrity of the elections process. I use the analogy, I dont like to play sports with people that I know are going to cheat. It doesnt give me very goo odds when Im playing those sports. I dont like to play checkers with my kids if I know theyre going to cheat. Its very similar an analogy to the elections. I dont think people are participating in the elections because theyre flawed, theyre rampant with fraud. So any opportunity we have to increase the integrity of the election process, I believe that we will increase the number of participants in the process, which is ideally what we want to see. Weve seen significant increases in people turning out to vote in new Hampshire and in Georgia after theyve passed these measures to increase the integrity of the election process. So that is one that I clearly support, whether its using an identification when you go up to vote or whether its increasing the integrity of the mail-in ballot process.
Adryana Boyne: Well I would certainly like to say that I am very grateful on behalf of VOCES Action and TexasGOPVote.com that you are not only serving your district, but also serving the people of Texas. Thank you very much.
Jason Isaac: Thank you very much. I appreciate your service. Keep up the good work.
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