Episode Details

Live from the 2026 Texas Policy Summit, TPPF CEO Greg Sindelar talks with Texas State Senator Angela Paxton about her upbringing in Rendon, TX and her journey from the classroom to the state legislature.

Senator Paxton shares her remarkable personal journey—from being adopted as an unexpected child, to becoming a high school math and physics teacher and counselor, to answering the call to public service and winning election to the Texas Senate in 2019. The first teacher elected to the Texas Senate in decades and the 21st woman to serve there, she discusses the importance of building positive relationships and playing the long game in the legislative process.

Now serving as incoming chair of the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Senator Paxton outlines her top priorities for the 90th Legislative Session: keeping Texas the 8th-largest economy in the world through light-touch, predictable regulation that supports small businesses and entrepreneurship; making Texas the best place to live, work, and raise a family; strengthening education at every level; supporting child care and stable families; and protecting children from online harms, including AI risks such as harmful chatbots and isolation from digital “faux connections.”