By Lori Lee
NDG Contributing Writer
Democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett has brought national attention to local U.S. House District 30. Her dynamic, sometimes confrontational remarks have led to her portrayal on Saturday Night Live and to a number of appearances on national news programs and late night comedy hours.
Now that she has decided to make a move for Senator John Cornyn’s Texas Senate seat, voters will need to decide who will fill her very prominent shoes. Crockett currently represents U.S. House District 30, which includes much of Dallas, Seagoville, Cedar Hill, Duncanville, DeSoto, Glen Heights, Hutchins, Lancaster, Wilmer, Grand Prairie, and parts of Arlington.
Candidates who signed up for the challenge include former Dallas City Council member, Barbara Mallory Calloway, and two long-time Dallas pastors, both in churches falling within
District 30. They include Pastor Rodney LaBruce of Second Generation Fellowship Church and Jasmine Crockett’s very own pastor, Dr. Frederick Haynes, III, of Friendship West Baptist.
Calloway is passionate about education, emphasizing her commitment to providing a fair and quality education for everyone. She aims to stabilize the Department of Education while actively supporting initiatives that enhance earnings and promote youth programs that foster development of productive citizens. She also supports policies that encourage innovations in science and a healthier quality of life.
Mallory’s other priorities include affordable healthcare, Medicare, and Social Security.
She said she will communicate with her constituents through traditional town hall meetings and social media, she said.
“Citizens deserve accountability and responsiveness … They deserve civility from public officers to make sure elected officials are promoting their interests.”
Calloway is the candidate that brings legislative experience to the table, as Dallas City Council member of the Sixth District from 1993 to 2001 and as representative for the Texas House 110th District from 2007 to 2013.
“I can hit the ground running, said Calloway …The work I do will be measured by my ability to successfully introduce and pass legislation on policies that affect my constituents.”
Yet, while Rodney LaBruce doesn’t have legislative experience, he has devoted his life to public service. As founder of the Unified Advocacy and Leadership Coalition, he has sought to identify and dismantle root causes of economic hardship, which as his website states, he largely attributes to housing debt and incarceration. He thereby supports expansion of affordable housing and judicial reform, with an increased focus on rehabilitation and equity, his website shows.
LaBruce also favors redirecting wealth by reforming the tax code, closing trillion-dollar loopholes used by the top 1%, he said. Doing so would create a system that finally rewards work instead of just wealth with real tax relief for small businesses, this building wealth within District 30 instead of sending it to corporations outside the district.
LaBruce has lived in U.S. District 30 all his life and has a vision for the district that includes community-rooted basketball tournaments that generate revenue for scholarships and neighborhood investment funds, his website states.
Pastor Frederick Haynes, III, has also served working families and communities as a faith leader and advocate. Though he lacks direct legislative experience, he has developed cross-sector partnerships with multimillion-dollar initiatives, securing public and private funding, while working with civic, labor, education, and healthcare leaders to deliver measurable impact.
“That background gives me the practical knowledge to translate community needs into policy solutions, said Haynes, the leadership skills to build coalitions across differences, and the accountability mindset to ensure results.”
His policies will be inclusive, he noted, because he will engage directly with impacted communities before legislation is drafted, not afterwards. And this will include structured listening sessions, advisory councils, trusted community-based organizations, and equity impact assessments for major policy proposals.
“Protecting civil rights, voting rights, workers’ rights, and due process will remain nonnegotiable guardrails,” he added.
When it comes to the cost of living, Haynes said he would protect collective bargaining rights to raise wages, while prioritizing prescription drug and childcare affordability. He would also support expansion of affordable housing incentives, Child Tax and Earned Income Tax Credits, he said.
To improve access to quality healthcare, Haynes said he would expand Medicaid in non-expansion states while supporting “Medicare for All” and strengthening the Affordable Care Act. He would also increase funding for community health centers, ensure mental and physical health parity, and advocate for preventive care investments to reduce long-term costs, he said.
Haynes laid out robust evaluation criteria to determine whether his policies would translate to relief, measuring district reductions in housing, healthcare and childcare costs against median wages and other stability measures. He would also monitor health policies for effectiveness by tracking medical debt and insurance coverage rates against criteria such as care wait times and prescription affordability, he explained, this while measuring improved health outcomes across all income and racial groups.
“Healthcare policy must be judged by access, affordability, and equity,” Haynes concluded.
The winner of the March 3 primary will face the Republican nominee in November, though District 30 remains solid blue.
