Stephen Kocen

Editor’s Note: This is part of a series of stories on candidates in the First Congressional House District race.

Stephen Kocen says he wants to bring compassion, honesty and integrity back to the 1st Congressional District.

Kocen, of Austin, is on the Democratic primary ballot in March along with Victor Dunn, Gavin Dass and Jrmar Jefferson.

The winner will face one of four Republican candidates in the November general election and replace U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler.

Gohmert is leaving his congressional seat to challenge Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the March primary.

Kocen said Gohmert is the nation’s “worst” congressman, which is why he decided to run in the district that includes Longview, Tyler and the rest of Northeast Texas.

“My thing is solutions to problems, not just talking about problems,” Kocen said. “Even if they’re small changes, we should be able to make changes to fix things that aren’t working.”

Major focus areas for Kocen include climate change, voting rights and women’s rights, he said. The biggest priority is climate change because it’s real, and people are just arguing about whose fault it is, he added.

Kocen said standardizing rules for the whole state electrical grid and utilizing more solar power are two energy initiatives he supports.

“I think we can create much more renewable energy,” Kocen said. “There’s 15% in Texas, and I think we could put it to 50% in the next three or four years, which is a huge, giant thing to try to accomplish, but I think it would be beneficial for everybody, including the people who create energy.”

To combat climate change, it’s imperative to move forward rather than continuing to do the same thing and thinking using more natural gas is enough, Kocen said.

When it comes to voting rights, there are “lots of things Texas Republicans are doing to keep us from voting, which to me destroyed democracy,” Kocen said. “It doesn’t allow for us to change our leaders when they need to be (changed).”

Texas women also not only are losing the right to an abortion, but health care provided to low-income women by Planned Parenthood, he said.

“I’m an analyst at heart. I think that comes from my finance and economic background, so I go and make small changes that make big results,” Kocen said.

He said he has lived in Texas his whole life and attended the University of North Texas where he studied finance and economics.

Kocen has worked as a businessman, in pediatric and medical management, ran a veterinary clinic with a friend for 15 years and has started and turned around numerous businesses, he added.

Because of his numerous experiences, Kocen said he believes he is prepared to serve in Congress. If elected, he looks to “stand up and change things.”

Kocen added that over the coming years, he does not look to be a politician but rather someone who will make things better.

“We need to preserve what we have — we need to improve it. And we need to be doing that now. We needed to be doing that yesterday.” Kocen said. “If nobody else is going to stand up and say so and stand in the way of all the Republican lies … then I’m going to stand here and fight for my country.”

To learn more about Kocen and his campaign visit www.kocenforcongress.com .

Early voting for the March 1 primary begins Feb. 14.