By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
Editor’s Note: The Post Newspaper has an open invitation for each of the other four candidates for District 23 to be profiled on our front page.
“Moving to the beach is something I had always wanted to do,” said Terri Leo Wilson. At one time, she owned a vacation home in Surfside while she was employed and lived in the Houston Metropolitan area.
“I’d go down to my little beach house every chance I could and spent my summers there with my kids,” said Wilson, who was once a schoolteacher, which afforded her the summers to enjoy time at the beach.
She and her husband of three years, Dave, retired from their careers a couple years back and decided to settle into a house on the beach in Galveston. “We love looking out at this view,” said Dave.
“We love the coastal vibe and we love the history here in Galveston. There’s so many things to do from rallies to great restaurants. We are just very happy to have made the move,” said Terri.
Family photos adorn nearly every available display area in their main room. “My daughters tease me about my shrine to them,” said Terri, who has three adult daughters while her husband has two grown children of his own. Together they have four grandchildren.
The interior of their home is decorated in soft blues and greens with coastal paintings displayed throughout their home. Knick knacks with their soft curves and fluffy sitting arrangements welcome a visitor to relax and feel comfy.
The paintings, knick knacks and many other items of décor are mostly sourced from thrift shops, garage sales and Goodwill.com. “I can’t buy another item for this house, I already have everything I need,” said Terri.
Wilson has perfected the art of shopping for bargains and has spent most of her adult life collecting items for her home. “My daughters all grew up to be minimalists unlike myself,” she said. “I took them with me on my garage sale runs, I guess they had enough of it,” she added.
Her home office is in the main room it includes an oversized chair with a matching ottoman. A laptop computer and some papers are scattered on the ottoman.
From her oversized chair, she conducts the business of her political campaign for State Legislative District 23. She is running as a Republican.
Terri has held many positions representing the voice of the Republican party over the past several decades. She was once on the State Board of Education an elected position she held for 10 years.
Wilson grew up on a crop producing farm in Minnesota. She recalls the days when she did not have a clue what political party her parents supported. “It just was the way things were. We watched the news, and I knew my parents cared about politics, but you just didn’t speak out loud where you stood politically,” explained Terri.
Her sense of justice and doing what she believes is right started back when she was just a child. “I’ve always had a really strong sense of justice. I stood up for the person being bullied back when I was little,” said Terri.
With a drive for being the voice of those needing a voice she was inspired to become a special needs teacher. Her area of expertise was working with visually impaired children and those with mobility challenges.
She completed her undergraduate work at the University of North Dakota. Her graduate degree in Education Administration is from Texas A&M.
Education has been her passion and her life’s work, but now she is ready to take on the challenges of a broader base of issues. If elected to the state legislature, her number one priority is voter integrity.
“You don’t have true representation without fair elections. If we don’t have free and fair elections, then we’ve lost our nation,” Terri commented.
Beyond her number one issue, Wilson shared her thoughts on property taxes “If you’re paying property taxes, then you don’t really own your house,” said Terri.
“I think we can move to a consumption tax over a 10 -year period and phase out property taxes and appraisal boards need to be elected not appointed,” she said.
If she is elected, she will continue to work on issues in education. She’d like to see the content in textbooks used in Texas classrooms be selected by elected officials. “Give the elected body the authority to write content standards for textbooks,” said Wilson.
5 comments
Do you agree with the RNC statement that t he January6th riot was an act of legitimate political recourse or a violent act to overthrow democracy. Being a republican candidate you will need to make a choice as well as every other republican candidate .Looking forward to your response and the response of every Republican candidate, have a nice day.
Not understanding why you have such a huge sign in Bayou Vista. We are district 24, Rep. Greg Bonen.
How do you feel about the deaf and hard of hearing in District 23? Do you support proclaiming September Deaf Awareness and Acceptance Month?
Deaf and hard of hearing are people just like other people except we cannot hear or hear well.
Rev. Garner Dennis Voris Jr
The BLM fueled riots, which have NO PLACE in this country, are chanted on as people voicing their rights, all the while the January 6 protest, a legitimate response to an obviously stolen election, is being blown out of proportions with supposed offenders rotting away in prison under dire circumstances. Ted Cruz tends to agree that January 6 was comparable to the fire, assault and murder during the BLM riots. Ted Cruz is WRONG. Mrs. Wilson has my vote if she can prove that she is the conservative we need by stating the truth about both sides of this story.
Represent Bolivar peninsula! No peer again, 3xs this week. Extreme heat advisory. Get them to stop issuing building permits and have Entergy expedite improvements to meet the actual demand.
Voters suffering. You have power to turn the heat up on Entergy