State Representative, District 5 - Texas Ballot Compare

Cole Hefner

Republican Incumbent

On ballot as: Cole Hefner
Current role: State Representative, Texas House District 5 (since 2017)
Background: Small-business owner, insurance industry
Owned a construction business for 16 years
Later took over his family's commercial construction company
Born and raised in East Texas; lives in Mount Pleasant
Experience: Chair, House Homeland Security, Public Safety & Veterans' Affairs Committee
Member, Transportation and Redistricting committees
Former Upshur County Commissioner
Top priorities: "Cut red tape, lower property taxes, lower those barriers to business to where people can thrive" (KLTV, September 2026)
On groundwater: "If we don’t have some kind of protections, then we’re vulnerable from our water being overused and over-pumped" (KLTV, September 2026)
Campaign site: "We must secure our freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to bear arms"
Campaign site: "We must end the brutal murders of the unborn"
Tidbits: Abortion: Campaign site: "We must end the brutal murders of the unborn."
Border and immigration: In a 2024 Ballotpedia survey, his key campaign messages were "Secure the Border. Lower Taxes. Protect Texas Families."
Guns: Campaign site: "We must secure our freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to bear arms."
Public schools and vouchers: No public statement found
Property taxes: To KLTV in September 2026: "Cut red tape, lower property taxes, lower those barriers to business to where people can thrive"
Endorsements: Texas Values Action
Texas Home School Coalition
Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT) PAC
TEXPAC (Texas Medical Association Political Action Committee)
Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC
Show all 23
Texas Alliance for Life (primary)
Young Conservatives of Texas (primary)
NFIB Texas PAC (primary)
TruckPAC (Texas Trucking Association) (primary)
Former Governor Rick Perry (listed by campaign)
Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith (listed by campaign)
Titus County Sheriff Tim Ingram (listed by campaign)
Camp County Sheriff John Cortelyou (listed by campaign)
Wood County Sheriff Kelly Cole (listed by campaign)
Upshur County Sheriff Larry Webb (listed by campaign)
Rains County Sheriff Michael Hopkins (listed by campaign)
Smith County District Attorney Jacob Putman (listed by campaign)
Wood County District Attorney Angela Albers (listed by campaign)
Upshur County District Attorney Billy Byrd (listed by campaign)
Titus County District Attorney David Colley (listed by campaign)
Titus County Attorney John Mark Cobern (listed by campaign)
Mayor of Hideaway Chet Thomas (listed by campaign)
Mayor of Winnsboro Randy Parrish (listed by campaign)
Campaign website: colehefner.com

Hector Garza

Democratic

On ballot as: Hector Garza
Current role: Not found
Background: Age 61 as of September 2026 (per KLTV)
Experience: Former chair, Smith County Democratic Party (stepped down November 2025 to run for House District 5)
Democratic primary (March 3, 2026): unopposed
Top priorities: KLTV reported that he said he would focus on education, mental health and immigration
On costs: "Let’s start getting our ranchers busy" and "start buying their crops" (KLTV, September 2026)
On data centers: "Nothing that has come out that I can see is worth Texans losing their power, the noise, the energy, and everything else for" (KLTV)
"Whether you’re left or right, it’s time that we sit down and we pass laws that will benefit the people in this state" (KETK, November 2025)
Tidbits: Abortion: No public statement found
Border and immigration: To KETK in November 2025: "We have to come up with a solution to enforce our borders and, at the same time, do something to find a mutual solution to help the people and help our economy."
Guns: No public statement found
Public schools and vouchers: No public statement found
Property taxes: No public statement found
Endorsements: None found in our research
Campaign website: Not found