Childhood and Early Years

Raised in the small shrimping village of San Leon, Texas, David worked as a construction worker for several years before attending college. He saw up close and personal how the system is designed to prevent working class people from getting ahead, and how working hard usually just got you calluses. He waited tables to put himself through college, and graduated from the University of Houston Law School in 1993. The grandson of a Baptist preacher, David received awards in Moot Court and Mock Trial competitions, served on the Law Review, and worked in the Public Interest Law Clinic.

Green Party Politics

David had a successful law practice until early 2000, when Ralph Nader asked him to manage the Green Party effort in Texas. He coordinated the ballot access drive in Texas that collected over 76,000 signatures in 75 days. When he ran for Attorney General, there were 4 local chapters of the GPTX. At the conclusion of his campaign, there were 26 chapters.

Community Activism

David lectures and facilitates "Rethinking Corporations/ Rethinking Democracy" seminars and workshops across the country, which explore the social, legal and historical context of how corporations have become the dominant institution of our times. These seminars focus on how corporations have become unelected governing institutions, and how we can provoke (and win) a nonviolent democratic revolution in response.

David serves on the Steering Committee of Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County, a citizen's group dedicated to contesting and challenging the illegitimate corporate usurpation of our Constitution and our government.