Former Congressman Beto O’Rourke, a Democratic candidate in the race for Texas governor, spoke to more than 200 UTRGV campus community members this afternoon during the Meet the Candidates Series hosted by the UTRGV Civic Engagement Alliance in the PlainsCapital Bank Theater on the Edinburg campus and via livestream in Salón Gardenia on the Brownsville campus. CEA Vice President of Education Samuel Valdez (left) and Vice President of Community Engagement Yailen Gomez asked O’Rourke a series of questions regarding his goals to improve education, immigration and Medicare, as well as the legalization of marijuana.
Fatima Gamez Lopez/The Rider
O’Rourke spoke about his experience visiting Donna and hearing about the struggles of people who do not have the resources to live. “‘How many of you have health insurance?’ he recalled asking the citizens of Donna. And every single person who’s at that meeting just laughed and I said, ‘Well, what do you do when you get sick, or when you need to see a doctor?’ And they said, ‘Well, we just take care of ourselves,’” he said. “That’s crazy to me, that you live in this state, in the wealthiest, most powerful country on the face of the planet, that you pay your taxes, you follow along, you play along by the rules that everyone else does, and you get treated like a second-class citizen in your own country.” O’Rourke said he plans to change the way people live, focusing not only on big cities but also on the small towns that need it most.
Fatima Gamez Lopez/The Rider
O’Rourke spoke about his goal to improve the minimum wage. “The minimum wage in the state of Texas is $7.25 an hour. No human being can live on $7.25 an hour in this state, unless they’re working two or three $7.25-an-hour jobs, right?” he said. “You should not work full time in this state and be in poverty and that’s what people are doing right now in Texas. So yes, lift the minimum wage to a true living wage. We’ve got to get to $15 as soon as we possibly can.”
Fatima Gamez Lopez/The Rider
Beto O’Rourke said that as governor, he will improve Medicare so all Americans get the health care they deserve without having to worry about money. The Civic Engagement Alliance held the Meet The Candidates Series event this afternoon in the PlainsCapital Bank Theater on the Edinburg campus and via livestream in Salón Gardenia on the Brownsville campus. The Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Texas governor was invited to answer questions from UTRGV campus community members.
Fatima Gamez Lopez/The Rider
After the Meet the Candidates series, O’Rourke took photos and hung out with some members of the UTRGV community on the Edinburg campus. During the event, O’Rourke said that he will be in the Rio Grande Valley this weekend, when the community will be able to attend ‘Vota con Beto.’ He will be in Harlingen tonight and will visit Brownsville, San Benito, San Juan and Edinburg on Saturday. For more information, visit the Beto for Texas website.
Fatima Gamez Lopez/The Rider
Beto O’Rourke walks across the Edinburg campus while hanging out with UTRGV campus community members this afternoon. During the Meet the Candidates event, he spoke about his goals to improve education, immigration, Medicare and his stance on the legalization of marijuana.
Fatima Gamez Lopez/The Rider
Cybersecurity major Lourdes Perez and mass communication major Juan Castellano watch the livestream of Beto O’Rourke’s speech this afternoon in Salón Gardenia on the Brownsville campus.
Itzel Rivera/The Rider
The next guest in the Meet the Candidates series will be Green Party gubernatorial hopeful Delilah Barrios. The event will be held from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Feb. 25 in the PlainsCapital Bank Theater on the Edinburg campus and via livestream in Salón Gardenia on the Brownsville campus. The series is sponsored by the Civic Engagement Alliance. For more information, visit its website.
Fatima Gamez Lopez/The Rider
