Race 11 of 16 · Lantern Vote Election Guide 2026

TX HD-26 State House, Texas

~20% of county eligible voters · R-leaning

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Race 11 of 16

TX HD-26 State House, Texas

~20% of county eligible voters · R-leaning

Lantern Vote · AAPI Voter Guide 2026 · Race 11 of 16

TX HD-26

State House
Fort Bend: Asian Americans ~20% of eligible voters R-LEANING
Matt Morgan
Republican · Incumbent
Immigration & Visas★★☆☆☆
Zoning & Neighborhoods★★★★☆
Education★★☆☆☆
Language Access★★☆☆☆
Justice & Hate CrimesNR
Eliz Markowitz
Democrat
Immigration & Visas★★★★☆
Zoning & Neighborhoods★★★★☆
Education★★★★★
Language Access★★★★☆
Justice & Hate Crimes★★★★☆
Lantern Vote · AAPI Voter Guide 2026 · October 2026 edition · lanternvote.org
Every rating is sourced. Full justifications with named sources are in the PDF guide. Nonpartisan civic research by Lantern Vote; not an endorsement.
Rubric: 5 Championed · 4 Supportive · 3 Mixed / limited · 2 Leaning against · 1 Opposed · NR Bounded search
Fort Bend: Asian Americans ~20% of eligible votersR-LEANING
Matt Morgan
Republican · Incumbent
Immigration & Visas★★☆☆☆
Zoning & Neighborhoods★★★★☆
Education★★☆☆☆
Language Access★★☆☆☆
Justice & Hate CrimesNR
Eliz Markowitz
Democrat
Immigration & Visas★★★★☆
Zoning & Neighborhoods★★★★☆
Education★★★★★
Language Access★★★★☆
Justice & Hate Crimes★★★★☆

TX HD-26 race breakdown

Texas House District 26 (Fort Bend County: Richmond, Katy/Cinco Ranch, Pecan Grove) Fort Bend County Asian Americans are ~20% of eligible voters, "nearly 1 in 5 of all U.S. citizens over 18" (Houston Public Media, 2024), and ~22% of the population. An HD-26-specific figure was not verified.

Competitiveness R-leaning incumbent. Morgan won 2024 by ~18 points (59.2%-40.8% over Daniel Lee). No Cook rating exists for TX House races. Morgan unseated Jacey Jetton, the district's Korean-American incumbent Republican, in the March 2024 GOP primary, so this seat was AAPI- representation-relevant before the general. 2026 is Markowitz vs Morgan, not a personal rematch.

Matt Morgan Republican · Incumbent since 2025

Insurance-adjustment business owner. Unseated Jetton in the 2024 primary. Stated freshman priorities: border security, property-tax relief, spending, insurance reform. Dan Patrick-endorsed.

Immigration & Visas★★☆☆☆

Voted YEA on SB 8 (2025), the bill forcing county sheriffs into 287(g) agreements with ICE (House Record 3502, 86-47-1). "Secure the border" is a core campaign priority. No pro-visa or immigrant-integration statements found. Visa policy itself is federal, so a state representative's record here is enforcement posture (FastDemocracy record; ACLU-TX).

Zoning & Neighborhoods★★★★☆

Rated on statements only (no land-use votes yet). He told the Katy Times (Sep 18, 2026) he supports regulating AI data centers: keeping them out of or near neighborhoods, requiring their own power generation, air-cooled or closed-loop water systems, and community input. He also cited setbacks and fire standards for the Ochoa battery-storage site, TxDOT accountability legislation, and permanent property-tax relief. Highly specific local-siting commitments; not yet enacted policy (Katy Times Q&A, Sep 2026).

Education★★☆☆☆

Official House cosponsor of SB 2 (2025), the statewide Education Savings Account/voucher program. Voted Yea on second reading April 16 (86-63) and final third reading April 17 (86- 61), and Yea to table the referendum amendment April 16 (86-62-1). No AANHPI-history position was found in the checked sources. (official history; April 16 Journal; April 17 Journal).

Language Access★★☆☆☆

Voted Nay on HB 4838 engrossment on May 9, 2025 (66-64-3), the language-access assessment bill used in Reynolds' entry. It passed the House but was not enacted. No statement on multilingual ballots was found in the checked sources. (House Journal, p3805). Rating basis: Direct Nay on language-access assessment, symmetric with the supportive vote credited to Reynolds. Do not infer motive about every provision.

Justice & Hate CrimesNR

No AAPI-specific hate-crime statements, votes or community statements found. His Sweetgrass Republican Club and similar appearances are generic GOP events.

Eliz Markowitz Democrat

Education professor and career educator. Fort Bend native. Ran for neighboring HD-28 in 2019-2020. Won the March 2026 primary over Daniel Lee.

Immigration & Visas★★★★☆

Rated on statements only (never held office). Her platform carries a full immigration section: passage of the named DREAM Act for DACA recipients, humane treatment of asylum seekers and refugees, and opposition to child separation and "tender age" shelters. ld-separation-era wording has sat on her site since her 2019-20 campaigns and across three runs (campaign platform).

Zoning & Neighborhoods★★★★☆

Rated on statements only (never held office). She told the Katy Times (Sep 18, 2026) that data centers "should cover those costs and the infrastructure they require." She backs stronger water-use, noise and environmental standards with "a real voice" for local communities, appropriate setbacks for the Ochoa battery-storage project near schools, homes and flood-prone areas, TxDOT accountability for FM 1463/FM 529, and more attainable housing (Katy Times Q&A, Sep 2026).

Education★★★★★

Rated on statements only. Career educator who has made public education the signature issue across three campaigns. She opposes taxpayer-funded vouchers, supports raising teacher pay, expanding early-childhood and literacy programs, eliminating STAAR, and smaller class sizes. On vouchers and school funding she is a clear, consistent champion. No individual AANHPI-curriculum position was found in the checked sources; the absence of a state mandate does not prove a candidate has no position (Houston Chronicle, Nov 2025; eliz4tx.com). [Houston Chronicle, Nov 2025] [eliz4tx.com]

Language Access★★★★☆

Rated on statements only (never held office). Her healthcare-disparities plank commits to "investing in bilingual and culturally competent care" in one of America's most diverse counties. Supportive but healthcare-only; nothing found on multilingual ballots or government services (campaign platform). Rating basis: Explicit investment in bilingual healthcare. Same sector-specific language-policy threshold asKim, He andReynolds; not a ballot-services position.

Justice & Hate Crimes★★★★☆

Rated on statements only (never held office). Her "Crisis Management" plank commits to "actively address issues concerning violence in our schools" through mental-health investment, "particularly gun violence." Limited, school-safety-focused support. Nothing found in the checked sources on hate crimes, policing or anti-Asian violence. A Wikipedia snippet suggesting otherwise references a different, older race and is not attributed (campaign platform). Rating basis: Specific school mental-health investment to address gun violence. Same broadJustice prevention threshold asSwift andMurvartian; statement-only.