Former Texas Tech student body president and current Texas House of Representatives candidate Zach Brady announced Thursday that his campaign surpassed its initial fundraising goal of $100,000 less than six weeks into his campaign.
Campaign treasurer Mike Wright said Brady has raised about $110,000 so far; 95 percent of which is from individual donors, 80 percent of whom are from West Texas. About 150 donors have contributed to the campaign, all of which are listed on the Zach Brady Web site, he said.
Brady graduated from Tech in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture communications and a minor in Spanish. In addition to serving as student body president while at Tech, Brady also was the president of his fraternity Kappa Alpha in 1994.
Among many different issues, Brady said his top priority in running for office would be to get Tech up to tier-one status.
“The most important issue is we need somebody in our delegation today who can get tier-one status for Texas Tech across the finish line,” he said. “Nothing would have a greater economic impact on our area than that.”
Brady said he also is interested in improving primary education in Texas. He believes the best way of improving education is through recruiting and retaining high quality teachers in the classroom.
He will not support private school vouchers, he said, but he does support parents educating their children as they see fit through homeschooling.
Brady is running for the District 83 seat, which covers most of the Tech Terrace neighborhood and areas of Lubbock County outside of the loop, according to the district Web site. The district also covers all of Cochran, Gaines, Hockley and Yoakum counties.
The seat is held by Delwin Jones, R-Lubbock, an incumbent in the district for 28 years.
“I think that my candidacy offers the most up-side for the future of West Texas, and that’s why I think students should get on board,” Brady said.
