Meet Ben Flores, the Democrat Who Could Reopen Your Kid's Closed School

Today I sat down with Ben Flores, the Democratic candidate for Texas Land Commissioner, and honestly it was one of the more important interviews I’ve done in a while. Most Texans have no idea what the General Land Office actually does or how much of your everyday life it touches. Ben calls it the smallest big office in Texas, and after talking to him, I get it.

The Permanent School Fund runs through the GLO, which means the billions of dollars in oil and gas royalties from state land that are supposed to fund public schools get managed by the Land Commissioner. Right now, Texas has closed at least 55 schools in the first six months of 2026 and Fort Worth ISD is about to close 19 more by 2029. Ben talked about what his office could actually do to get funding back to the districts that Abbott has bled dry. If you were shocked by yesterday’s school closure numbers, Ben’s the one who could turn some of that around.

Disaster recovery also runs through the GLO. Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Beryl, The July 2025 flood…every one of those recoveries went through this office, and every one of them got hit with accusations that the money went to R-leaning counties over the hardest-hit communities.

Texas veterans also depend on this office because The Veterans Land Board is under the GLO and it runs housing and loan programs for veterans in every county in Texas.

Ben told me something about an upcoming data center project in Texas that I honestly hadn’t heard anywhere else, and I have been writing about the data center takeover of this state for weeks. You need to watch the interview for this one because I don’t want to spoil it. But if you thought the data center problem in Texas was already bad, wait until you hear what this project is about.

His campaign site is letsgowithben.com. If you have more questions for Ben after you watch, send them to me and I’ll bring him back on. I want everyone who reads this newsletter to know who Ben is and what he does, because down-ballot races decide almost as much as the top of the ticket does, and this one might decide whether your kid’s school reopens.

1. Watch the full interview above. Share it. Send it to a Texan who has never heard of the Land Commissioner race (which is most of them).

2. Follow Ben’s campaign at letsgowithben.com and on socials, chip in if you can.

3. Early voting in Texas runs October 19 through October 30 and includes a Saturday and Sunday in most counties. Register at votetexas.gov by October 5.

4. On November 3, vote Ben Flores for Land Commissioner.

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See y’all tomorrow.