Aaron Close

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Aaron Close

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Libertarian Party

Elections and appointments
Last election

November 6, 2018

Contact

Campaign Facebook

Aaron Close (Libertarian Party) ran for election to the Texas House of Representatives to represent District 149. He lost in the general election on November 6, 2018.

Close completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2018. Click here to read the survey answers.

Elections

2018

See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for Texas House of Representatives District 149

Incumbent Hubert Vo defeated Aaron Close in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 149 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Hubert Vo
Hubert Vo (D)
 
88.3
 
27,071
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Aaron Close (L) Candidate Connection
 
11.7
 
3,581

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 30,652
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 149

Incumbent Hubert Vo advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 149 on March 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Hubert Vo
Hubert Vo
 
100.0
 
3,789

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 3,789
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.


Campaign themes

2018

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's candidate surveys
Candidate Connection

Aaron Close participated in Ballotpedia's candidate survey on September 19, 2018. The survey questions appear in bold, and Aaron Close's responses follow below.[1]

What would be your top three priorities, if elected?

“ Property Tax Reform

Family Law Reform
Criminal Justice Reform[2][3]

”

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Why?

“ I'm passionate about tax reform in particular Property tax as it is a form of wealth tax and can hurt the elderly on fixed income.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many[3] ”

Ballotpedia also asked the candidate a series of optional questions. Aaron Close answered the following:

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow and why?

“ I look up to 2 people, 1 is my father who was always a honorable person whom is respected by all who know him. Number 2 would be Leonardo da Vinci, whom was the not a Just a Jack of all Trades but a Master of All, a true polymath.[3] ”
Is there a book, essay, film, or something else that best describes your political philosophy?
“ Really anything from the Austrian School of Economics. But I'm a believer in understanding first hand the effects of history on those who lived it books like ""The Gulag Archipelago"" ""Man's Search for Meaning"" ""12 Years a Slave"" all give excellent insights into how crule man can be to each other and the need for a quality funtioning Justic system that and the horrors of Governments that don't take care of the rights of thier citizens.[3] ”
What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?
“ Honest and teachable. Corruption is the single biggest risk to an effecently funtioning government for the people and Honest / honorable people are the cure for that. Right behind that is how teachable you are, few of us can honestly think back to our past and not see opinions of ours which have changed and understanding which has been gained. I seek to be guided by principles and always open and teachable.[3] ”
What qualities do you possess that would make you a successful officeholder?
“ My backgound as a scientist for the past 20+ years has greatly helped me understand the value of continually learning and growing in your understanding and compassion.[3] ”
What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?
“ To help imporve the lives of those whom you work for the citizens of your area. But to do it in a way that doesn't hurt future generations.[3] ”
What legacy would you like to leave?
“ That no matter if you agree with me or not that I always acted in an honorable way and tried to help those that I could.[3] ”
What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at that time?
“ challenger disaster, I was 10 years old and remember watching it live in class..[3] ”
What was your very first job? How long did you have it?
“ First job was working at a Drive in Theater I worked there for about a year at age 15.[3] ”
What happened on your most awkward date?
“ I told a woman on a first date that I didn't date perfect 10's becaues I find they aren't very tied to reality. She then took that as me not thinking that she was pretty.[3] ”
What is your favorite holiday? Why?
“ I love Memorial Day, mostly because of my family tradition of putting flags on veterans graves at the local cemetery. We have had the honor of doing this for many years, my grandfather first got the job from the local VFD before I was born, and my father now manages it. It has always felt like a great, unique thing that we get to do to honor those who sacrificed for our country.[3] ”
What is your favorite book? Why?
“ I'm not sure I have a favorite, it seems unfair to all the great books out there. But I love anything scientific and nonfiction, top of my list includes ""Thinking Fast, Thinking Slow"" ""Man's Search for Meaning"" ""A Brief History of Time"" ,""Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World"" and many many more..[3] ”
If you could be any fictional character, who would you be?
“ Honestly cant think of any that I would want to be.[3] ”
What is your favorite thing in your home or apartment? Why?
“ Probably my framed original printing plates from the 1908 USGS topographic map of the Uncompahgre uplift in Colorado. They are an amazing piece of both science and art.[3] ”
What was the last song that got stuck in your head?
“ Probably ""Drunk Girl"" by Chris Janson. I love how the song makes you think of the bad but then shows you the good, how a modern honerable man would act.[3] ”
What is something that has been a struggle in your life?
“ Anyone one who has been Divoriced will understand all of the struggles that come with it, not the least of which is how to still be the best possible parent to your children, even though your marriage didn't turn out as planned.[3] ”
(For non-Nebraska candidates) What do you consider the most important differences between the legislative chambers in your state?
“ The biggest diffrence to me is I feel like the lower House is more connected to the community, as the districts are so much smaller. I also really like that it is effectively a volunteer job, in texas legislators are citizens first and part of the government second, I believe this helps to limit the seperation between the legislators and the those they represent.[3] ”
Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?
“ I actually feel like its better for them to have experice in the business world. This helps them better understand the effects of their decisions on the economy. Often those who have only been in government don't have an appreciation of the duty they have to the tax dollars that are intrusted to them.[3] ”
What do you perceive to be your state’s greatest challenges over the next decade?
“ Texas has been driven by Oil and Gas investment, and need more diversity of industry. This becomes a chalange as high wages in the energy indusry make it harder for other industries to compete for the best talent. Hoever texas non incometax does help to encourage migration from other states.[3] ”
What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and the state legislature?
“ Ideal realtionship is as the US constitution foresaw, to provide check of power between the two.[3] ”
Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.
“ Yes it highly beneficial, and as a Third party canidate, I believe it is much easier to build relationship across the isle in both directions to bring the best ideas and policy forward independant of where the idea orginated.[3] ”
What process do you favor for redistricting?
“ Redistricting should be based on a computer algorithem, several excelent ones have been proposed that produce districts much better than what has been done by legislators.[3] ”
If you are not a current legislator, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?
“ Would love to be part of the any or all of the following committees

Economic & Small Business Development Elections Cybersecurity, Select Energy Resources Pensions Government Transparency & Operation Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Juvenile Justice & Family Issues Licensing & Administrative Procedures State Water Implementation Fund for Texas Advisory[3]

”
If you are not currently a member of your party’s leadership in the legislature, would you be interested in joining the leadership? If so, in what role?
“ I would not be interested at this time, I feel like I would need a term as a Junior Legislator before taking on any Party leadership rolls[3] ”
Is there a particular legislator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?
“ Ron Paul[3] ”
Are you interested in running for a different political office in the future?
“ Not right now[3] ”
Both sitting legislators and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?
“ So very many storys came from my District durring Harvey, and honestly so many average people became heros to their neighbors. I think that is the story I remember most was, durring Harvey it was about neighbor helping neighbor, and not the government saving everyone. Our community was a community in a way that we had never been before and made me proud to be part of it.[3] ”

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
  2. ↑ Ballotpedia's candidate survey, "Aaron Close's responses," September 19, 2018
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 3.23 3.24 3.25 3.26 3.27 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.


Current members of the Texas House of Representatives
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Toni Rose (D)
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Ray Lopez (D)
District 126
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John Bucy (D)
District 137
Gene Wu (D)
District 138
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District 148
District 149
Hubert Vo (D)
District 150
Republican Party (87)
Democratic Party (63)


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