Arlington independent candidate joins others in race for open seat in Congress
Mark Bauer, an independent candidate, has joined others running for an open seat in Texas’ 24th Congressional District.
Bauer, a former legal journalist who grew up in Arlington, submitted 531 petition signatures Aug. 13 to include his name on the ballot, according to a news release.
Also running are Republican Beth Van Duyne, Democrat Candace Valenzuela, Libertarian Darren Hamilton and another independent candidate, Stephen Kuzmich.
Incumbent Republican Kenny Marchant is not seeking reelection.
The 24th District straddles Dallas and Tarrant counties and covers cities or parts of cities including Grapevine, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, Irving, Coppell and Carrollton.
Bauer said that, although he is running as an independent and is not a Republican, he still holds conservative values.
The congressional hopeful is still working on developing his platform and outreach, according to a news release, but advocates for bipartisan work in issues relating to LGBT, data rights, criminal justice reform, health care, immigration, cybersecurity, individual liberties and education.
He said one of the main goals of his campaign is to educate people who don’t look at third party or independent candidates as a viable option.
“Talking to the voters we talked to so far, explaining that neither party has a monopoly on good ideas, their faces light up,” Bauer said. “Especially people my age who are more willing to vote with their values rather than by loyalty to a party, we’ve seen some great response.”
Bauer said he hopes to take more moderate approaches to divisive issues like immigration and health care.
Both sides of the traditional political aisle have misconceptions about those issues, he said. As a former journalist, he wants to educate people on moderate options and advocate for those as an activist in Congress.
“These are obviously complicated issues,” Bauer said. “I have an understanding of them but I will want people who are smarter than I am to come into a room and help me figure it out so we can serve better.”
Bauer is a sixth-generation Texan who received his bachelor’s in journalism from the University of Texas at Arlington. In recent years, he has worked in legal journalism including bylines at Texas Lawyer magazine and National Law Journal, according to the news release.
This story was originally published August 19, 2020 at 5:29 PM.