Arshia Papari

Arshia Papari earned a high school diploma from Allen High School and, as of his 2026 campaign to represent District 49 of the Texas House of Representatives, attended the University of Texas at Austin. His career experience includes working in politics.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

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 and youngest ever National Co-Chair of the Green Party of the United States, 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 alway

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Freeze The Rent

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.End Corporate Power

Corporate greed has poisoned our planet, stolen from working people, and corrupted our democracy. It’s time to put people over profit, by protecting workers’ rights, breaking the power of monopolies and ending their devastation of our environment, as well as taking corporate money out of politics.Protect Texans' Rights

As an experienced student organizer and activist, Arshia has seen our Texas students beaten, brutalized, and falsely arrested. It was at his campus at the University of Texas at Austin, 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. Since then, our political system has only gotten worse. 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!

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I put heavy emphasis on the protection of human rights for all. I see directly our state's failings as we viciously rip apart communities with ICE and border operations, though too I see our failings as a nation in not protecting and uplifting human rights, whether in our complicity and directing of the genocide in Palestine or in our complicity in the human rights horrors in Iran, Sudan, Congo, or elsewhere where we are party to committing or perpetuating human rights abuses.

"Human beings are members of a whole, In creation of one essence and soul. If one member is afflicted with pain, Other members uneasy will remain. If you've no sympathy for human pain, The name of human you cannot retain!" - Saadi Shiraz

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

McCallum Young Democratic Socialists of America

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