Elect Carol KENT Campaign
17201 Hidden Glen Drive Dallas , TX 75248

Friends,

I am truly humbled by the support of so many friends, neighbors, and community leaders who came to me and asked me to run for state representative. This is a journey I have long thought about, and I am thrilled to take on this new level of service to our District.

By standing up for kids, families and all Texans, I will fight to protect our public schools, to expand health care coverage, and to make economic recovery a reality here in our own community.

A sixth-generation Texan, I come from a long line of hard-working and proud Texans! My family roots stretch back to the founding of the city of Dallas when my ancestors operated the first source of “city water” then known as Browder Springs---now the site of Old City Park. My great grandmother rode her horse from Dallas out to Buckner Orphanage---as it was then known---to deliver food and clothes to children living there. My grandfather was elected County Tax Assessor-Collector in the hard scrabble Dodson Prairie of Palo Pinto County in the 1920s. And my parents have been longtime community advocates beginning in Garland in the 1960s and now in Rockwall County where they currently live.

I was raised in Garland , in much of the same neighborhood that our District now covers. Like many “baby boomers” of my generation, I and my three siblings enjoyed growing up in a small-town setting. Garland had been a largely agricultural community through the 1940s, and by the time my family settled there, it was fast becoming a typical, fast-growth suburban town. We walked to school most days, spent warm afternoons playing in Duck Creek, rode our bikes or skated all over the neighborhood, and got really excited when the Dairy Queen opened in our local shopping center. Garland was good to me and my family. In fact, I am thrilled to be able to reach out to my hometown again and to be able to reconnect with the community that helped raise me.

My husband, David Kent, and I are the proud parents of three children: John, Meredith and Robert – all of whom attended Richardson I.S.D. schools and graduated from Lake Highlands High School . In fact, I cut my teeth on community activism largely through our kid's schools and by taking leadership roles in PTA---holding jobs at all levels ranging from president to clothes closet chair to legislative liaison. It was due to my work with PTA state legislative positions that the Richardson ISD PTA earned the State Legislative Guardian Award in 1996---which was recognition for passing several legislative positions dealing with youth safety and deferred juvenile adjudication.

I am currently in my second three-year term on the Richardson ISD school board. Prior to being elected to the school board, I spent over 25 years as a highly engaged civic leader. As a board member I have learned much of the importance of school finance, created legislative agendas for our schools, advocated for more funding for schools and teachers, and seen how vital it is for our legislators to support our children and our public schools.

I am a main-stream Democrat. I promise to bring back a sense of civility to our legislature, to work for consensus rather than partisan bickering, to reach across the aisle to find bi-partisan solutions to the difficult issues facing our state government. I am going to work hard to earn the votes of Democrats, Republicans and Independents across this district because I know that regardless of party, after more than 20 years with the same state representative, the voters in District 102 are ready for a change.
Texans are tired of politicians in Austin who are too busy playing partisan politics to get real results for middle class families. I am running for state representative because I want to bring my passion for our public schools and stand on my record of tackling tough problems that will take a Democratic majority to solve.

So, my friends, I ask for your support. I want to garner your trust and listen to your concerns. I truly want to serve you and your families. I want to make a change in Austin ---for good!