Lone Star Left Endorses Taylor Rehmet For Texas Senate District 09

A veteran machinist and union leader who believes being a Democrat means waking the hell up and delivering real results.

“Being a Democrat in 2026 means waking the hell up.
It means we stop assuming that our good intentions are enough. They’re not. People are hurting. People are struggling. And far too often, we’ve expected their votes without showing up in their lives…”

That’s what Taylor Rehmet declared.

A union president. A veteran. A machinist who still works the floor at Lockheed. He’s building a Texas where working people finally get a seat at the table. And he’s running in a special election for Texas Senate District 9 this November.

This is Lone Star Left’s official endorsement of Taylor Rehmet, and if you care about the soul of this party and the future of this state, I hope you’ll read on.

Texas Senate District 09.

Remember a few weeks ago, when Senator Kelly Hancock resigned and was promptly sworn in as acting Comptroller? That was SD09. This district, which spans the northern and western parts of Tarrant County, including key Fort Worth suburbs, is more competitive than ever.

If you don’t live in DFW and you haven’t been following political news, there’s been a whole lot of stuff happening in Tarrant County, including a Republican-led mid-decade gerrymandering effort, a Republican Chair riddled with scandal, and recent GOP losses of 0-12. Needless to say, Republican lean has softened, especially in Fort Worth and North Richland Hills, as frustration with MAGA-style extremism has grown.

Governor Greg Abbott formally announced a special election for Tuesday, November 4, 2025, aligning it with the state’s uniform November ballot (our Constitutional election). Abbott knows how fired up Tarrant Democrats are right now, which is why he picked this day. But with 12 recent wins under their belt, Tarrant Democrats are going to fight hard for this seat. It’s a prime pickup opportunity.

Who is Taylor Rehmet?

Taylor Rehmet didn’t grow up planning to run for office. He grew up in Garland, Texas, the son of an aircraft mechanic and a salon worker, surrounded by calloused hands, unpaid bills, and quiet resolve. He worked as a plumber’s assistant, mucked stalls at a horse ranch, and then joined the US Air Force to build something better.

After his service, he returned home, picked up a wrench, and began working as a machinist, using the skills he learned in the military. And he still does that work today.

But Rehmet didn’t stop at punching the clock. He started organizing. He became a local union leader, then rose to become President of the regional and state chapter of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). He’s negotiated contracts, walked picket lines, fought for raises and rights, and earned the trust of thousands of fellow workers.

This is who Taylor Rehmet is.

And now, he’s taking that fight to the Texas Senate.

Taylor Rehmet’s top three platform pillars.

Rehmet’s website is stacked, but three standout priorities stand out above the rest.

1. Workers’ Rights, Unions, and Jobs

As a machinist and union president, Rehmet has experienced it firsthand. As President of IAM, he has fought for better wages, safer working conditions, and worker dignity at the bargaining table and on the picket line. In the Senate, he’ll fight to repeal anti-union laws, reclassify gig workers to guarantee benefits, and establish apprenticeship pipelines throughout the state.

2. Truly Affordable Housing and Tenant Rights

In Texas, housing has become a profit machine for hedge funds and corporate landlords. Rehmet is the rare candidate willing to say what we all know. Housing is a right, not a luxury. He supports statewide rent stabilization, tenant protections, and deep investment in nonprofit and public housing, because nobody should be priced out of their own neighborhood.

3. Veterans Affairs

Rehmet knows what it means to serve and what it feels like to be forgotten. That’s why he’s fighting for fully funded veteran mental health care, job training, and housing programs. It’s about making sure no Texan who served is ever left behind.

Where he stands. Rehmet’s answers to the questions that matter.

Before endorsing anyone this cycle, I wanted to go beyond the stump speech. I’ll send the same questionnaire to every candidate, primarily based on my own political ideals and those I discuss on Lone Star Left. Taylor Rehmet didn’t dodge a single one. He didn’t spin, pander, or dance around the hard stuff. Here’s where he stands.

Q: Do you support a statewide minimum wage increase to at least $15/hour?

A: The fact that the minimum wage in Texas has gone stagnant at $7.25 an hour since 2009 is a disgrace. This is fifteen years of legislative failure. In that time, rent has doubled, groceries have skyrocketed, and healthcare costs are through the roof. Meanwhile, lawmakers in Austin have done nothing but hand tax breaks to billionaires and defund public schools.

I support a minimum wage of $20 an hour because no one working full-time should live in poverty. That’s not just economics, it’s basic human decency. This isn’t about politics, it’s about people. It’s about the single mom in Hurst working two jobs and still choosing between rent and medicine. It’s about the teenager in Fort Worth who hands his paycheck over to help his parents cover bills. It’s about every Texan who’s done everything right and is barely scraping by.

As President of the Texas Council of Machinist, IAM (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) I’ve walked picket lines. I’ve negotiated contracts. I’ve fought for wages at the table and I’ve seen what happens when workers win. They don’t hoard it. They spend it. They invest in their kids. They lift up their neighborhoods. They get to enjoy a life worth living. A raise for working people is a raise for Texas.

Q: Should Texas move toward a universal, publicly funded healthcare system?

A: Texas should lead the nation in delivering a universal, single-payer health care system not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it would be the biggest economic boost for small businesses in a generation.

Right now, small business owners across this state are drowning in private insurance premiums. I recently spoke with a doctor here in Texas who’s paying over $30,000 a month just to insure his 35 employees in his practice. That’s not just outrageous, it’s unsustainable. And it’s not rare. This is the norm for folks trying to run a local business and take care of their people.

Medicare for All would lift that burden. It would finally let our small business owners compete on a level playing field with big corporations. It would free up working Texans to start new businesses, hire more employees, and focus on what they do best, not wasting time and money navigating complex insurance bureaucracy that too often doesn’t even guarantee care.

Q: Do you oppose school vouchers and efforts to privatize public education?

A: I have no problem with private schools or with families who choose to send their kids to them. That’s their right. But that choice should never come at the expense of Texas taxpayers or our public schools.

What Governor Abbott and his allies did by signing SB2 was a slap in the face to every rural teacher, every overworked school nurse and every parent sending their kid to outlying public school with crumbling walls and underpaid staff. Vouchers are nothing more than a pipeline that will drain public money into private hands with no accountability.

Rural communities, working-class families, and already underfunded school districts are the ones who will suffer. The same lawmakers who scream about “parental choice” are the ones who refuse to fully and fairly fund our public schools in the first place. It’s a setup and our kids, teachers and parents will pay the price.

Q: Would you support redirecting state subsidies from fossil fuels to fund community-owned solar, wind, and battery projects in low-income and rural areas?

A: Yes but we’ve got to do it in a way that protects workers and keeps Texas families whole. You and I both know fossil fuels aren’t going anywhere overnight. And if they did, the economic fallout for thousands of working Texans, especially those in oilfields, refineries, and support industries, would be catastrophic.

We can’t talk about transitioning our energy economy without putting workers at the center of that conversation. What I support is a responsible, phased shift in how we invest our tax dollars. If we’re going to redirect subsidies, they should go not only into solar panels and wind turbines, but also into education, training, and guaranteed pathways for oil and gas workers to transition into these new industries without missing a paycheck. I want to see state dollars building out infrastructure and building up the workforce that will power it.

Texas should lead the nation in renewable energy but not by abandoning the communities and families who’ve powered this state for generations. I am all for investing in community-owned solar, wind, and battery projects that create local good-paying jobs, cut energy bills, and help everyday Texans build generational wealth. That’s how we make energy independence work for the people, not just for corporations.

Q: Should Texas end tax subsidies and abatements for large corporations?

A: Tax abatements and corporate subsidies in Texas have been handed out like candy to developers, real estate moguls, and multinational corporations with no real accountability and little to no benefit to the people doing the actual work. Programs like Chapter 313 gave away over $10 billion in property tax breaks for over 20 years. Texans were left holding the bag while these corporations cashed in.

And it’s not just outdated tax schemes. There are some abatements that are written to last over a century, with zero transparency and no performance requirements. That is unacceptable. Meanwhile, polluting industries rake in millions per promised job, all while poisoning our communities and shortchanging our future due to lack of oversight.

Let’s end this corporate freeloading. I’ll push for legislation to cap the length of local abatements, require strong public reporting, and demand that any company getting taxpayer money meets high standards for local hiring with good wages, and community benefit. I’ll work to close loopholes that allow shady out-of-state housing entities to avoid taxes while delivering almost no real affordable housing. And I will never support giving public dollars to companies that pollute our air and water without consequence.

Texas can, and should, absolutely remain competitive. But it can’t come at the cost of underpaid workers, zero oversight and environmental destruction.

Why this race is about to get loud.

The Texas GOP is taking Taylor Rehmet very seriously.

At first, Republican Nate Schatzline filed to run for this seat, but the second Rehmet got in, Leigh Wambsganss jumped in and Nate quietly backed out to run for his old House seat instead. That’s not a coincidence. They’re rattled and they’re reloading.

Wambsganss isn’t just any Republican. She’s the Chief Communications Officer for Patriot Mobile PAC, a group of Christian nationalists who’ve been trying to hijack school boards, rewrite history, and gut public education in the name of “faith and freedom.” They’re fresh off a humiliating streak of 12 straight local losses in Tarrant County.

But Tarrant County voters are done with their nonsense. The tide has been turning. Tim O’Hare’s culture war stunts and extremist antics aren’t playing the way they used to. The same voters who flipped school boards back are ready for real leadership rooted in common sense.

This is going to be a fight. A big one. And Taylor Rehmet is precisely the kind of candidate who can win it, if we show up like it matters.

Because it does.

What can you do to help?

This is a special election. That means low turnout, short timelines, and high stakes. And the far-right is already treating this race as their comeback attempt.

Taylor Rehmet possesses the values, lived experience, and vision to win this seat and shake up the Texas Senate in the best possible way. He’s not backed by corporate PACs or billionaire donors. He’s supported by people like us.

If you can afford it, even $10 makes a difference. Taylor Rehmet is building a people-powered campaign, not a lobbyist pipeline. Click here to donate now.

Block walks, phone banks, and text teams will be critical. If you live in Tarrant County (or can help virtually), sign up to volunteer on his website. Sign up to volunteer now.

Help Taylor Rehmet cut through the noise by sharing his message. You can follow him on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

You can also learn more by visiting his website.

The special election is scheduled for November 4, which is also the date of the Constitutional Election. Early voting starts October 20. Let’s make sure Rehmet has what he needs between now and then, because this race isn’t just winnable. It’s necessary.

• November 4: Constitutional/TX18/SD09 Election

• Click here to find out what Legislative districts you’re in.

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