By Tripp Henderson | Staff Writer
Election Day is just around the corner, and Baylor students registered to vote in McLennan County can head to the polls to choose a U.S. representative in Texas’ 17th Congressional District.
The two names on the ballot are Republican incumbent Congressman Pete Sessions and his opponent, Democrat Casey Shepard. Both men are Waco natives and are now vying for their hometown’s vote. Sessions has served as a congressman for 28 years, while Shepard, a criminal defense attorney, has never held public office.
The candidates’ campaign platforms differ sharply; here is everything a voter needs to know to help inform their vote.
Economy
According to Trading Economics, the annual inflation rate is currently 3.7%, above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The conflict in Iran has contributed to rising prices, with the Congressional Budget Office citing the war in the Middle East as causing 40% of inflation.
Sessions acknowledged that the war in Iran has contributed to rising prices, but said, “We have the greatest economy we’ve ever had.”
He pointed to seven million job openings and market growth as signs of that success.
“The world’s never been better,” Sessions said. “There are so many jobs available.”
As a “pro-growth conservative,” Sessions’ website says he strongly advocates a free-enterprise system alongside the private sector. His website says those two things contribute most to reducing poverty while increasing innovation, and that deregulating the free market while protecting investors and consumers is a priority.
“Markets are the best way, and we do have markets,” Sessions said. “We have markets in health care [and] we have markets in energy.”
Beyond supporting free markets, Sessions highlighted his priorities at the State of the Nation address to the Waco community: protecting the American dollar and incentivizing the tax code so workers will be encouraged to return to work.
Shepard had a different view on the economy than Sessions, pointing to high inflation as a result of President Donald Trump’s policy.
“[High inflation is] a mixture of the Trump administration’s push to lower interest rates and at the same time impose tariffs, which historically has led to all the greatest recessions or depressions in the United States,” Shepard said.
If elected as a congressman, Shepard said he would push back on some of Trump’s economic and trade policies and that the executive branch has very little emergency power to actually impose tariffs.
“My first and foremost would be we need to fight the tariffs themselves … we’ve got to get that free trade going again,” Shepard said.
Additionally, in a Community Impact Q&A, Shepard highlighted the need to invest in infrastructure to address local traffic and build a national power grid.
“For a strong country, we need strong infrastructure,” Shepard said.
Artificial intelligence
All across the country, debate over the construction of data centers continues, with proponents pointing toward economic development and job growth, while critics raise concerns over environmental impact, impact on energy prices and water consumption.
KWTX reported in May that a construction proposal for a $10 billion data center just outside of Waco had advanced after the filing of a city petition.
Shepard expressed concern about the proposed Waco data center and skepticism that it would generate job growth.
“It’s not like data centers are bringing bustling job markets to the places they go to,” Shepard said. “What I’m more concerned about is that the data centers, the companies that are developing these data centers, are picking areas just outside of major areas where the infrastructure can’t support their electrical needs, can’t support their water needs, and it falls on the taxpayer to upgrade all that.”
Shepard said that Waco’s infrastructure cannot meet the energy demands of data centers that average about six million gallons of water a day.
Similarly, Sessions also recognized the massive energy required to power data centers, but stressed the need to stay at the forefront of innovation to beat China in the AI race. He warned that if China gets ahead of the U.S. in superintelligence, it can put Americans’ personal data and national security at risk.
“We have to be able to protect [data],” Sessions said. “It is in our best interest.”
Beyond protecting national security, Sessions said that data centers can spur economic growth.
“The state of Texas is all for bringing high-tech, which is what it is, to Texas,” Sessions said. “It’s jobs, it’s infrastructure, it’s development, it’s the future.”
Sessions said data center construction is a “volatile issue” largely in local governments’ hands, and that because data centers consume so much energy, Texas leadership will have to determine what to prioritize.
Ultimately, Sessions said that America can’t get away from AI and “the country still needs this.”
Immigration
One of the most stark policy differences between Shepard and Sessions is their view on immigration.
During his time in Congress, Sessions has favored strict border policy and consistently voted for border-security bills, including the Secure the Border Act of 2023, which resumed wall construction and increased the number of Border Patrol agents.
Sessions said he supports strong immigration enforcement to protect Americans’ jobs and to prevent illegal immigrants from living in the country for free.
In contrast, Shepard’s approach to immigration focused on supporting major changes to agencies.
“We need to do away with ICE, not just the agency, but the entire idea that immigration, naturalization and law enforcement should overlap like they do,” Shepard said.
Both Sessions and Shepard agree that the U.S. should work with Mexico on a program that lets foreign workers come to the U.S. to work in agriculture. In an interview with Fox, Sessions said that Texas needs a plan like this to support family-owned farms and provide more labor. An example of this effort is Sessions’ co-sponsored bill, the Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act of 2026 (H.R. 9535), which reforms H-2A visas to expand opportunities for foreign workers.
Shepard echoed similar support for a guest worker plan.
“We have to work more with Mexico, not only to control their southern border so that we can process asylum applications there, but also to establish work visa programs, for instance, day laborers,” he said.
Socialism vs. Capitalism
Recent polling shows mixed attitudes toward socialism, with a New York Times study finding that about half of voters view socialism favorably. Socialists have won a series of primary elections, raising questions about the Democratic Party’s direction.
“We have to show the world what our perfect world looks like, and that it’s not just one thing; it’s a bunch of different ideas working together,” Shepard said.
Shepard did not directly endorse the socialist movement, but he did point to what he called good socialist policies like Medicaid, Medicare and food stamps.
“There has to be some form of a safety net,” Shepard said. “I think even Republicans would agree with that. The difference between us is how large that net should be. I think it should be much larger than it is.”
Sessions, who has been outspoken about being anti-socialist, said that since Democrats are “for a socialism that hands out more than it ever receives back,” there is a “netting issue.”
At the State of the Nation luncheon at the Baylor Club, Sessions strongly defended capitalism’s benefits.
“We are strong, we are ready for tomorrow, and Texas is the beneficiary of conservative economics, of entrepreneurship and perhaps most of all of capitalism,” Sessions said at the luncheon.
Affordable housing
Housing prices have raised significantly, with home prices surging around 40% since 2020, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index.
Sessions pointed to interest rates as a main driver of rising prices. He has historically favored deregulation and lowering homebuilding costs, co-sponsoring and voting for the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.
Shepard claimed that the investor class’ privatization of housing has decreased home affordability.
“I would eliminate [investors’] depreciation of deduction on their taxes, so that they couldn’t claim depreciation of these properties,” Shepard said.
Message to young voters
Both Sessions and Shepard had optimistic words for young voters.
Sessions called America “the greatest country in the world” and reminded voters of the opportunities the country can provide.
“If you apply yourself, there will be a job for you, and you can make a name for yourself,” Sessions said.
Shepard told young voters not to lose hope and pushed back on how Democrats have allowed Republicans to influence them.
“For too long we’ve allowed Republicans to define us instead of telling the world what we are, which is [that] we are for the working class,” Shepard said. “We want people to have jobs, homes, healthcare.”
