Texans continue to suffer at the helm of inflated housing costs. For too long bad landlords have squeezed tenants for higher rents. A rent freeze is needed across the board to help everyday Texans get by. We need pricing controls, more market regulation, new development and social housing to support our communities in building brighter futures together.
Every year, the Texas Department of Corrections spends 2.5 billion dollars to keep people behind bars. Despite this massive budget, state prisons have a 30.7% recidivism rate. Y’all, the numbers aren’t adding up. Instead of pouring billions into a system that consistently fails, the hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars spent yearly on each individual imprisoned, are better spent on rehabilitation over incarceration.
As an experienced student organizer and activist, Arshia has seen our Texas students beaten, brutalized, and falsely arrested. It was at his very campus at the University of Texas at Austin, where in the spring of 2024, he along with his peers rose in solidarity with students of conscious the world over, and met a militarized state and local police response which left many scarred and traumatized, by our state’s oppressive, authoritarian, and blatantly biased attitude towards dissent, and protest. In the time since, our political system has only pressed its boot more heavily on the necks of students, dissidents, and protestors. We’ve had enough. It's time for new leadership that will prioritize justice, fight against this continued oppression, and stand up to authoritarian government.
Arshia Papari is running for Texas State Representative in Texas House District 49 to represent Central Austin with a bold vision for a more just, dignified, and livable future. A second-generation Iranian-American, student of Government and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, and proud member of the Green Party, Arshia brings years of experience as a community organizer, advocate, and strategist. He has served as a leader in many capacities and has proved his political grit and principle across positions in Texas government, and local, state-wide, national, and international political development. His campaign is rooted in a deep commitment to the working class, immigrant families, young people, and everyday Texans, who for too long have borne the weight of an unjust economy and a repressive political system. From the steps of the Texas Capitol to the front lines of student protest, Arshia has stood for liberation, human rights, and the power of people over profit.
Texans shouldn't be forced to choose between family and survival. These are not radical ideas, they are moral imperatives, grounded in the belief that a decent life must not be reserved for the wealthy few.
As a candidate for State Representative in Texas House District 49, Arshia brings courage, clarity, and the conviction that real power lies in the hands of the people. Arshia Papari is for the people, now and always!
