Ep. 42: "How To" Run For Office (from two working parents)

This week, Mission: Texas sits down with two working parents who decided the "someone else will run" strategy wasn't working anymore. Katie O'Brien Duzan is taking on HD-94 in Tarrant County, and Zach Herbert — a Marine Corps veteran and trial attorney — is running for HD-112 in the Dallas area.  Both are in highly competitive state house districts that have a likelihood of flipping. Both candidates talk through their "flux capacitor moment" of deciding to run, the steep learning curve of campaign finance and call time, and how they're building family-friendly campaigns that bring their own kids into the process. They dig into fundraising disparities against well-funded incumbents, the value of door-knocking over ad spend, and why authenticity beats political polish every time.Plus: our new Good News segment covers gym gains, a Tonal million-pound milestone, a birthday, and a half-marathon commitment in the works.What we cover: Katie's and Zach's origin stories — stepping up when no one else had filed Building a campaign from scratch: checklists, core teams, and campaign schools The brutal reality of fundraising against opponents backed by PACs and billionaires Call time, Oath.vote, and rethinking how campaigns reach small donors Why door-knocking beats mailers and TV ads for reaching moderate voters Making campaigns family-friendly — kid-friendly kickoffs, "Scoops with Zach," and block walking with your kids Balancing a day job, a campaign, and parenting without losing yourself Advice for anyone who wants to get involved but doesn't know where to startFollow and support Katie and Zach: https://www.katiefor94.com/https://zach4texas.com/Love what we're doing? Become a member at patreon.com/missiontexaspodcast — just a few dollars a month keeps independent Texas media alive. And if you can't spare the cash, a five-star review goes just as far. God bless Texas. 🤠#MissionTexas #TexasPolitics #FlipTexas #TexasDemocrats #HD94 #HD112 #TarrantCounty #DallasCounty #WorkingParents #VeteransInPolitics #RunForOffice #HowToRunForOffice #GrassrootsCampaign #TexasHouse #BlockWalking #TexasLegislature2026