Texas Ballot Compare

General election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Nonpartisan voter guide · Texas

State Representative, District 18

Race · November 3, 2026 general election

State of Texas
Vote for oneResearched · fact-checked
Janis HoltJanis HoltRepublican Incumbent
Valorie BartonValorie BartonDemocratic
On ballot as
Janis Holt
Valorie Barton
Current role
State Representative, Texas House District 18 (since Jan. 14, 2025)
Supply chain senior contracts manager; Democratic nominee for Texas House District 18
Background
  • Co-owner, Hi-Tech Air Purification Systems, with her husband
  • Raises Angus cattle
  • Former dental assistant and 4th-grade teacher
  • Lives in Silsbee (Hardin County) since 1993
  • Worked in the oil and gas industry and as a government contractor during Operation Iraqi Freedom
  • Lifelong resident of Dayton and Liberty County
  • Single mother of three
  • Conservative Democrat (per candidate)
Experience
  • Won in Nov. 2024
  • Defeated incumbent Ernest Bailes in the March 2024 GOP primary
  • Silsbee ISD trustee from 2014, including as board president (per official biography)
  • Not on the district's current board list
  • Former Dayton City Council member
  • Served as Vice President of the TML Region 16 Board (per campaign)
  • Served as an elected alternate to H-GAC for the City of Dayton (per campaign)
Top priorities
  • "School Choice" that "empowers parents and students"
  • Property taxes: "promoting fiscal responsibility and efficient governance while maintaining essential public services"
  • "Secure Border"
  • "Pro-Life"
  • "Defend veterans' benefits" and "oppose politicized or unnecessary deployments"
  • "Cut bureaucratic red tape, empower small businesses, protect local budgets, and fight for farmers hurt by tariffs"
  • "Strengthen background checks" and keep "military-grade assault weapons" with the armed forces and law enforcement
  • "Expand access to quality mental-health care" and crisis response
Tidbits
  • Abortion: Campaign site: "End abortion by ensuring the right to life and equal protection of the laws to all preborn children from the moment of fertilization"
  • Border and immigration: Campaign site: "Texas shall immediately deny all taxpayer funded services and subsidies to illegal aliens."
  • Guns: Campaign site: "Protect our gun rights against threats, such as red flag laws, federal, state or other restrictions"
  • Public schools and vouchers: Campaign site, on parental rights: "This shall include the choice of schooling where the money follows the child."
  • Property taxes: Campaign site, under "Property Taxes": "The government should focus on promoting fiscal responsibility and efficient governance while maintaining essential public services"
  • Abortion: Campaign site describes her as a vocal advocate "for women’s autonomy over their bodies and choices"
  • Border and immigration: No public statement found
  • Guns: "I respect the Constitution and law-abiding gun owners. At the same time, we cannot accept mass shootings and public slaughter as the price of freedom."
  • Public schools and vouchers: No public statement found
  • Property taxes: No public statement found
Endorsements
  • Texas Home School Coalition (THSC)
  • Texas Right to Life
  • Texas Values Action
  • CLEAT PAC (Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas)
  • Young Conservatives of Texas (primary)
  • True Texas Project (primary)
None found in our research
Campaign website
holtfortexas.com
valoriebarton.com
Janis Holt

Janis Holt

Republican Incumbent
On ballot as
Janis Holt
Current role
State Representative, Texas House District 18 (since Jan. 14, 2025)
Background
  • Co-owner, Hi-Tech Air Purification Systems, with her husband
  • Raises Angus cattle
  • Former dental assistant and 4th-grade teacher
  • Lives in Silsbee (Hardin County) since 1993
Experience
  • Won in Nov. 2024
  • Defeated incumbent Ernest Bailes in the March 2024 GOP primary
  • Silsbee ISD trustee from 2014, including as board president (per official biography)
  • Not on the district's current board list
Top priorities
  • "School Choice" that "empowers parents and students"
  • Property taxes: "promoting fiscal responsibility and efficient governance while maintaining essential public services"
  • "Secure Border"
  • "Pro-Life"
Tidbits
  • Abortion: Campaign site: "End abortion by ensuring the right to life and equal protection of the laws to all preborn children from the moment of fertilization"
  • Border and immigration: Campaign site: "Texas shall immediately deny all taxpayer funded services and subsidies to illegal aliens."
  • Guns: Campaign site: "Protect our gun rights against threats, such as red flag laws, federal, state or other restrictions"
  • Public schools and vouchers: Campaign site, on parental rights: "This shall include the choice of schooling where the money follows the child."
  • Property taxes: Campaign site, under "Property Taxes": "The government should focus on promoting fiscal responsibility and efficient governance while maintaining essential public services"
Endorsements
  • Texas Home School Coalition (THSC)
  • Texas Right to Life
  • Texas Values Action
  • CLEAT PAC (Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas)
  • Young Conservatives of Texas (primary)
  • True Texas Project (primary)
Campaign website
holtfortexas.com
Valorie Barton

Valorie Barton

Democratic
On ballot as
Valorie Barton
Current role
Supply chain senior contracts manager; Democratic nominee for Texas House District 18
Background
  • Worked in the oil and gas industry and as a government contractor during Operation Iraqi Freedom
  • Lifelong resident of Dayton and Liberty County
  • Single mother of three
  • Conservative Democrat (per candidate)
Experience
  • Former Dayton City Council member
  • Served as Vice President of the TML Region 16 Board (per campaign)
  • Served as an elected alternate to H-GAC for the City of Dayton (per campaign)
Top priorities
  • "Defend veterans' benefits" and "oppose politicized or unnecessary deployments"
  • "Cut bureaucratic red tape, empower small businesses, protect local budgets, and fight for farmers hurt by tariffs"
  • "Strengthen background checks" and keep "military-grade assault weapons" with the armed forces and law enforcement
  • "Expand access to quality mental-health care" and crisis response
Tidbits
  • Abortion: Campaign site describes her as a vocal advocate "for women’s autonomy over their bodies and choices"
  • Border and immigration: No public statement found
  • Guns: "I respect the Constitution and law-abiding gun owners. At the same time, we cannot accept mass shootings and public slaughter as the price of freedom."
  • Public schools and vouchers: No public statement found
  • Property taxes: No public statement found
Endorsements
None found in our research
Campaign website
valoriebarton.com

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