HD-50 State Rep candidates Q&A

The HD-50 State Representative candidates, Republican Jerry Mikus, Mark Strama, and the Libertarian Jerry Chandler were profiled in Community Impact newspaper. I wish I could link it, but can't seem to find it online; we got the Q&A in the dead-tree version. It was a tame Q&A for all candidates, but a bit revealing on Strama's partisan talking points that were over-the-top in response to generic questions. Here's a few more questions I wish were asked.

Jerry Chandler:
Mark Strama mentions that in 2004 he won be only 500 votes. The Libertarian got a lot more votes, and the result was a victory for a Democrat who got an "F" rating from Texans for Fiscal Responsibility. What assurances can you give that you are not just a spoiler that splits the "smaller Government" vote to enable a big-government Democrat to win? Is that a desirable outcome to you? What will you do to ensure the result of your involvement is not just a victory for Big Government? You say you will 'prioritize' education and adhere to the dictum "That Government is best which governs least". How will you apply that dictum in education?

Mark Strama:
You mention a bunch of detailed things like teacher mentoring and technology in classrooms as if it was a State Reps job to do this - are you running for school board, or do you intend to further take decisions away from schools and school boards on this matter and centralize them at the state bureaucracy level? What about giving more authority to the State Board of Education?
You speak about the need to 'reform ... campaign finance systems', yet you have taken in hundreds of thousands of dollars, much of it from various PACs, tort law firms and other special interests over the last election cycles. Are you going to show your opposition to special interests by returning the special interest PAC money that you have gotten? if not, why not?
Given your endorsement of Obama, your contributions to Annie's list and your attendence at a NARAL banquest, should we take that to indicate your agreement with Obama's extremist pro-abortion views? Was Obama right or wrong to oppose state-level protection of the born victims of botched abortions? How would you vote on such a bill?

Jerry Mikus:
You say you want to replace the school property tax with a state-level sales tax, but how will you ensure the state taxes won't get raised but local taxes not get cut? Also, the other two candidates both emphasized education as a top priority; do you agree and what are the top things the state can do to make learning and education better for children?

In the interest of full disclosure, I support Jerry Mikus for this office because he is right on most of the issues from my perspective (which if you read this blog you'll figure out is conservative and Republican), so you can consider the questions in light of that. However, I think they are all fair questions.