Dear District 32 Voters,

I want to personally respond to the lies and misleading attacks an opponent has made about my votes on funding for anti-abortion programs and gun safety. These votes occur during the budget process. Republicans frequently make amendments to increase funding and Democrats offer amendments to reduce funding. As you can see from the vote records I shared on our website, it is well-documented in the legislative record that I cast votes to reduce funding and against increasing funding for these anti-abortion clinics every single time. Votes can also be inaccurately recorded by the clerk, and the legislative journals from every session feature hundreds of corrected votes when that happens. You can find a response to all of the gun bills mentioned by my opponent here.

When I announced my run for Congress, I was immediately recognized for my record of being on the frontlines fighting for women’s rights and access to health care in each of my legislative sessions. For this work, my colleagues elected me as Vice Chair of the Women’s Health Caucus. I am the only candidate to be endorsed in this race by Planned Parenthood. I have been named a Legislative Champion by Planned Parenthood Texas Votes and Annie’s List in every single election since 2018. I have been endorsed by Wendy Davis, one of Texas’ most legendary champions for abortion rights. On the other hand, I have a zero rating with anti-abortion organizations like Texas Right to Life. When it comes to guns, I just earned my fourth ‘F’ from the NRA and have been recommended by Moms Demand Gun Sense and Everytown Gun Safety Action Fund for the 2024 election.

If Dr. Williams’ allegations about my positions were true, none of these recognitions and ratings would have been assigned to me during my time in office or in this election. In all these years of crucial fights on abortion, voting rights, LGBTQ rights, and gun reform, Dr. Williams has not shown up once to fight or testify on behalf of Texans in Austin. Instead, we have a desperate candidate who has only shown up to lie about these issues now that it’s time for his own campaign.

My opponent saw he was way behind in the polls in this race and decided to resort to Trumpian-style, false attacks to mislead voters in the hopes of discrediting me. Extremists in our country are engaging in a full war on the truth, endangering the foundations of our democracy. For Democrats to prevail in this war, our commitment to the truth must be unwavering and we cannot afford to elect people to office who will so blatantly misrepresent someone’s record. Otherwise, we are no better than the MAGA extremists we are trying to beat.

Sincerely,

Julie Johnson