Evan Hunt: TX-03 Race Against Keith Self Could Come Down to 5 Points

By R.J. Morales | TX3DNews

MCKINNEY, Texas — Democratic challenger Evan Hunt believes his race for Texas’ 3rd Congressional District against Republican Rep. Keith Self could be decided by fewer than five percentage points.

“I think we’re going to win or lose by less than five,” Hunt said during his monthly virtual town hall Wednesday night.

From there, the Democratic TX-03 candidate laid out what he would do differently in Congress, from bringing more federal money back to the district and protecting digital privacy to cutting waste at the Pentagon and creating a public-service path to help pay for college.

After the town hall, Hunt told TX3DNews his five-point estimate is based on primary turnout, national electoral trends and his campaign’s internal polling.

“No one can predict the final margin, but all three indicate TX-03 is much more competitive than it has been historically,” Hunt wrote.

The campaign did not provide the poll, its methodology or specific results.

Federal funding and a disagreement with Self

Asked what he would do differently from Self, Hunt pointed first to federal funding for the district.

“What’s really sad is to take your money and then give you nothing back in return,” Hunt said.

Hunt said TX-03 should pursue federal funding for infrastructure, water, schools and public safety while also cutting waste and working toward a balanced federal budget.

In a follow-up response to TX3DNews, Hunt also called for an end to large omnibus spending bills and described an approach he calls “Simplify the Spend,” which he said would make federal spending easier for taxpayers to track.

He also criticized Self’s recent focus on Islam and Sharia law.

“We don’t collectively condemn people based off of a religion,” Hunt said.

He called it “a dereliction of duty to use his congressional seat to try to marginalize people based on their faith.”

Self has argued that his focus is on what he calls “political Islam” and the influence of Sharia law, rather than Islam as a religion.

Hunt agreed with Self on one issue: concerns about automated license-plate readers.

Hunt said the technology raises Fourth Amendment concerns. In his follow-up response, he said there should be strict limits on how long license-plate data is retained and who can access or share it.

“Government shouldn’t build a permanent record of innocent Americans’ movements simply because technology makes it possible,” Hunt wrote.

Finding savings at the Pentagon

Hunt, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and combat aviator, said the Pentagon could reduce waste without sacrificing military capability, but argued that doing so requires experienced military leaders making the decisions.

As an example, Hunt described giving military experts a challenge: cut a budget by 20% while making the force “20 percent more lethal.”

“Show me how you’re going to do it,” Hunt said.

He said military leaders could then identify unnecessary spending and determine where money could be redirected or eliminated.

That led Hunt to criticize Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and argue that the Pentagon needs experts making those decisions.

“Put experts, not Fox News personalities, but experts in charge of our Pentagon,” Hunt said.

Hunt later clarified to TX3DNews that the 20% figure was an example of the exercise he was describing, not a proposed defense spending cut.

“My point was that the right experts can find substantial savings in bureaucracy, contracting, acquisition, and overhead while actually making our military more lethal,” Hunt wrote.

“After 20 years in the Air Force, I know more spending does not automatically mean more capability.”

A signature idea: service in exchange for education

When a participant asked Hunt to identify the single initiative he would most like to be known for in Congress, Hunt identified an idea he calls “Serve to Succeed.”

Hunt described a civilian-service program modeled partly on military education benefits. Young adults could spend two to four years working in needed community positions — potentially in emergency services, infrastructure, education, health care or other public-service fields — in exchange for education assistance.

The concept, Hunt acknowledged, remains an idea rather than a fully developed legislative proposal.

Hunt also called public education “a national security issue” and described school voucher programs as “total scams,” arguing that public schools should receive greater support.

Local control and data centers

Asked about the growth of large data centers, Hunt said zoning decisions should remain with local communities but said he sees a federal role in some projects.

In a follow-up response to TX3DNews, Hunt said that could apply when data centers affect federally regulated infrastructure or resources, or receive federal incentives.

In those cases, he said communities should receive information about energy and water use, infrastructure demands, environmental impacts, subsidies and who will pay for necessary upgrades.

Hunt also connected data centers to broader concerns about artificial intelligence, automated license-plate readers and data privacy.

“Data centers, Flock cameras, big tech, AI regulation — it’s all related,” Hunt said.

Before signing off, Hunt made one final promise to participants.

“If you email me, you’re gonna get a response.”

Hunt and Self will face each other in the Nov. 3 general election for Texas’ 3rd Congressional District.