# Philip Cortez

Philip Cortez is a Democratic member of the Texas House for district 117.

- Party: Democrat
- Seat: Texas House, district 117
- Serving since: 2017-01-10
- Current term: TX 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/12d67093-ab4c-425d-afa3-e5777db09d1c

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/12d67093-ab4c-425d-afa3-e5777db09d1c (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

Cortez sits at −0.25 on the CSIP scale, more conservative than 95% of State House Democrats.

## What Cortez says (TX 2025–26 session)

96 classified statements: 96 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State House Democrats average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Cortez | State House Democrats average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 0.0% | 2.5% | 584 of 764 |
| Policy criticism | 0.0% | 10.4% | 717 of 764 |
| Policy discussion | 20.8% | 39.2% | 624 of 764 |
| Bipartisanship | 1.0% | 2.9% | 508 of 764 |
| Credit claiming | 16.7% | 14.4% | 291 of 764 |
| Extreme labels | 0.0% | 1.0% | 543 of 764 |

Most discussed policy areas: Education 35% (State House Democrats 15%); Armed Forces and National Security 30% (State House Democrats 3.1%); Crime and Law Enforcement 15% (State House Democrats 8.0%); Families 15% (State House Democrats 5.0%); Government Operations and Politics 15% (State House Democrats 15%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score −0.25 (standard error 0.02), from 146 donors and 857 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 95% of State House Democrats score lower.

## Votes (TX 2025–26 session)

3,700 roll calls. Attendance 91.6% (Texas House 93.1%). Party unity 77% (85%). 158 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2025-09-03 · voted not voting · passage · HB 1 Relating to youth camp emergency plans and preparedness; authorizing penalties. · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB1/
- 2025-09-03 · voted not voting · passage · SB 1 Relating to campground and youth camp safety. · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/SB1/
- 2025-09-03 · voted not voting · passage · HB 8 Relating to public school accountability and transparency, including the implementation of an instructionally supportive assessment program and the… · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB8/
- 2025-09-03 · voted not voting · adopt the conference committee report on SB 5. · SB 5 Relating to making supplemental appropriations for disaster relief and preparedness and giving direction and adjustment authority regarding those… · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/SB5/
- 2025-09-03 · voted not voting · passage · HB 8 Relating to public school accountability and transparency, including the implementation of an instructionally supportive assessment program and the… · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB8/
- 2025-09-03 · voted yea · concur in the senate amendments to HB 20. · HB 20 Relating to measures to prevent and reduce fraudulent charitable solicitations and theft during declared disasters, including establishing a designation… · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB20/
- 2025-09-03 · voted yea · passage · SB 1 Relating to campground and youth camp safety. · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/SB1/
- 2025-09-03 · voted yea · concur in the senate amendments to HB 1. · HB 1 Relating to youth camp emergency plans and preparedness; authorizing penalties. · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB1/
- 2025-09-02 · voted nay · passage · SB 54 Relating to election procedures regarding accepting a voter with a residence address that is not current and the immediate effect of a voter's… · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/SB54/
- 2025-09-02 · voted nay · passage · HB 18 Relating to a restriction on the acceptance of political contributions and the making of certain political expenditures by a member of the legislature… · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB18/

## Legislation (TX 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 37 bills: 37 reached committee, 20 passed one chamber, 13 passed both, 11 became law. Cosponsored 45. 54.0% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Texas House 48.5%; rank 55 of 145).

Recent sponsored bills:

- HR 1529: Congratulating State Representative Ryan Guillen and State Representative Richard Peña Raymond on becoming the longest-serving desk mates in the history of… (passed one chamber, 2025-06-03) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/89R/HR1529/
- HR 1072: In memory of Gilbert Edward Reinhard Jr. of Floresville. (passed one chamber, 2025-05-24) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/89R/HR1072/
- HCR 144: Paying tribute to the U.S. service members killed in action who are being honored as part of the 2025 Fallen Heroes Memorial Service. (became law, 2025-05-24) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/89R/HCR144/
- HR 1066: In memory of Gilbert Edward Reinhard Jr. of Floresville. (in committee, 2025-05-06) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/89R/HR1066/
- HB 5370: Relating to the requirements for interlocal contracts. (passed one chamber, 2025-05-15) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/89R/HB5370/
- HB 5369: Relating to the amount of an expenditure that is exempt from the provisions of the Texas Engineering Practice Act. (in committee, 2025-04-07) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/89R/HB5369/
- HB 5308: Relating to certain authorities of the adjutant general for procurement and construction. (became law, 2025-06-20) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/89R/HB5308/
- HB 4834: Relating to the applicability of certain laws pertaining to energy aggregation by political subdivisions. (in committee, 2025-04-03) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/89R/HB4834/
- HB 114: Relating to the transfer of functions relating to certain veteran mental health programs and plans to the Texas Veterans Commission. (became law, 2025-06-20) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/89R/HB114/
- HB 4601: Relating to the establishment of a down payment assistance grant program for veterans purchasing manufactured homes and the dedication of certain sales and… (in committee, 2025-04-15) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/89R/HB4601/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $359.8K (State House Democrats median $40.4K). 100% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2026-10-22 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/cortezphilip/status/2113374291752317266
- 2026-10-08 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/cortezphilip/status/2108326163609252176
- 2026-10-07 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/cortezphilip/status/2107661084609921104
- 2026-09-29 · Post on X · https://x.com/cortezphilip/status/2104938316324093954
- 2026-09-18 · Post on X · https://x.com/cortezphilip/status/2100744322173829156
- 2026-09-17 · Post on X · https://x.com/cortezphilip/status/2100703875120423214
- 2026-09-11 · Post on X · https://x.com/cortezphilip/status/2098415261762093409
- 2026-09-03 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/cortezphilip/status/2095571397003165939
- 2026-08-04 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion, credit claiming · https://x.com/cortezphilip/status/2084464808506675288
- 2026-07-31 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/cortezphilip/status/2083262420261220729

## Links

- Official site: https://www.house.texas.gov/members/member-page/?district=117
- Campaign site: https://philipcortez.com
- X: https://x.com/cortezphilip
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rep.philipcortez
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-cortez-ph-d-0b361311/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/12d67093-ab4c-425d-afa3-e5777db09d1c