Strong Families. Logical Solutions
What I Stand For
Core Priorities for District 23
✔ Border Security & National Safety
Securing our border, stopping cartel violence, and giving law enforcement the tools they need to protect our communities.
✔ Local Infrastructure & Growth
Improving roads and highways, strengthening water systems and access, expanding broadband for rural and urban communities, managing natural resources responsibly, and supporting real, long-term economic growth across South and West Texas.
✔ Strong Families
Protecting parental rights, supporting working parents, and defending the values that hold our communities together.
✔ Logical Solutions
No drama. No nonsense. Just practical, commonsense leadership focused on real results through root cause analysis.
✔ Veterans First
Helping make the Texas VA system the standard for the country.
✔ Fiscal Responsibility
Cutting waste, lowering the cost of living, and restoring common sense to federal spending.
Securing the Border with Smart, Steady Leadership
Border security isn’t about slogans — it’s about results. Illegal crossings are already down, and we need to keep them down by supporting the people and technology that make it possible.
Texas depends on efficient trade and lawful entry. The legal immigration process is so slow and backlogged that many families wait years to come here the right way. That is not security and it is not effective government.
Improving legal throughput at our ports of entry with faster screenings, modernized technology, and streamlined legal processing strengthens our economy, reduces chaos, and keeps our officers focused on real threats instead of long delays.
Steady enforcement. Faster legal processing. Safer communities.
Supporting Strong Texas Families
Every child deserves the love, guidance, and support of both parents.
Texas law already recognizes this by encouraging equal involvement from each parent — but in practice, many families still face long, expensive, and emotionally draining court processes that make parenting harder than it needs to be.
Families shouldn’t struggle through a system that feels confusing, inconsistent, or unpredictable. Parents deserve clarity, fairness, and a process that keeps the focus where it belongs: on the well-being of their children..
Because of the way Title IV-D funding is structured, states are reimbursed for child-support enforcement — but not for helping families resolve matters quickly or cooperatively. When cases become drawn-out or require appeals, the state ends up spending far more taxpayer money on legal processes that could have been avoided with clearer, more consistent decisions at the trial level.
My Commitment
I’ll work to:
Promote consistent, predictable family-court procedures
Support keeping both parents actively involved whenever it’s safe and appropriate
Encourage practices that reduce unnecessary delays, hearings, and appeals
Review Title IV-D structures so state resources focus on family stability, not repeated litigation
When families have clarity and courts follow consistent guidelines, children benefit — and so does the State of Texas.
Logical Solutions.
After 25 years solving real-world problems in aviation, military operations, logistics, and systems efficiency, I don’t deal in talking points — I fix what’s broken. Texas needs that.
My Approach
Identify the root cause, not chase symptoms
Simplify broken systems so people get faster, predictable outcomes
Use measurable data to evaluate what’s working and what isn’t
Cut waste and bureaucracy so government stops tripping over itself
Apply proven, operational decision-making, the same kind used in aviation, military, and high-stakes logistics
This is the mindset I’ve used my entire career:
find the failure point, fix it cleanly, and improve the system so it doesn’t break again.
Veterans First.
As a veteran who’s navigated the VA, deployment injuries, and the long road of military bureaucracy, I’ve lived the challenges our veterans face — and I know where the system breaks down. Texas can and should lead the nation in taking care of those who served.
My Priorities
Faster, accountable VA care so veterans aren’t left waiting months for basic appointments
Real support for service-connected injuries, including mental health, without forcing veterans to fight the system that’s supposed to help them
Streamlined benefits and claims, using the same efficiency practices I’ve used in aviation and military operations
Stronger pathways for veterans into high-quality jobs, including tech, logistics, and skilled trades
Protect military families, especially during PCS moves, deployments, and custody challenges
Texas can’t just say “support our troops.”
We need systems that work as hard for veterans as veterans worked for this country.
“When systems fail, leaders solve them. That’s what I’ve done my whole career.”
— Keith Barton