The RGV College Democrats hosted “The Future of Texas Politics,” a town hall forum which featured five Democratic candidates in federal, state and county elections last Friday at the McAllen Public Library.
Democratic candidates running for federal positions who attended the forum were Cristina Tzintzun Ramirez, for U.S senator for Texas; Jessica Cisneros, U.S. representative District 28; and Diego Zavala, U.S. representative District 34.
State and county Democratic candidates were Abraham Padron, running for state representative District 36 and Kassandra Elejarza for Hidalgo County Democratic Party chair.
The RGV College Democrats initially only invited Ramirez, but were contacted by the other four candidates who expressed their interest in attending.
Rebeca Rivera, RGV College Democrats president, told The Rider the club organized the forum to inform Rio Grande Valley residents about democratic candidates for the upcoming elections.
“We want them to be aware of the political participation that there can be, and we want them to know … the issues that … people should be aware of,” Rivera said.
She said she wants people to have their own mindset on what they want for their district, county and city governments.
The forum consisted of allowing candidates about 25 minutes to give opening and closing statements, and to answer questions from the moderators.
Abner Quiroga, a graduate student in business administration, and Rogelio Cabello, an economics senior, served as moderators.
Ramirez has been a consultant for many organizations in Texas dealing with voting and civil rights. She is running against 11 other democratic candidates. They are:
–Royce West
–Victor Hugo Harris
–Sema Hernandez
–Mary “MJ” Hegar
–D. R. Hunter
–Jack Daniel Foster Jr.
–Amanda K. Edwards
–Chris Bell
–Adrian Ocegueda
–Michael Cooper
–and Annie “Mamá” Garcia
In the Republican race, the candidates are incumbent John Cornyn, Virgil Bierschwale, Dwayne Stovall, John Anthony Castro and Mark Yancey.
Asked about climate change, she replied she believes Texans shouldn’t run away from big problems such as climate change and should take them head-on.
Ramirez added she supports the Green New Deal and wants Texas to be in a position to be national and global leaders in renewable energy.
She mentioned that China had been the investor of nearly half of all renewable energy last year while elected officials are refusing to take action.
“They are thinking short term about profits and not thinking about the health of our economy, the health of our environment, the health of the American people,” Ramirez said at the forum.
Cisneros is challenging incumbent Henry Cuellar. In the Republican race, Sandra Whitten is the sole candidate.
She is a Laredo native and daughter of Mexican immigrants. Before her campaign, Cisneros practiced immigration law as an immigration and human rights lawyer.
Asked what her perspective is on “Medicare for All,” Cisneros replied with how one in four people in District 28 are uninsured. She said even with insurance, deductibles are high, which is why many people go to Mexico for cheaper medications and procedures.
“I lost an aunt to stomach cancer because we just couldn’t afford the treatment even after going to Mexico, even after loterías … the fundraisers that we had and it still wasn’t enough, and she passed away,” Cisneros said during the forum.
She said there are many other stories similar to hers in South Texas.
“Obviously, the system is broken,” Cisneros said. “This is why we are fighting for ‘Medicare for All,’ which is basically the guarantee that everyone should have access to care.”
Zavala is challenging incumbent Filemon B. Vela and Osbert Rodriguez Haro III. In the Republican race, Rey Gonzalez and Rod Lingsch are vying for the nomination.
He was born and raised in Brownsville and was an immigrant child. He is currently a high school teacher and said during the forum he had just finished teaching his students about World War II.
Asked about what his beliefs were on gun control, Zavala replied it was a difficult thing for him to deal with since he is from South Texas. Almost everybody in his family owns a gun but is disgusted that he has to have monthly drills dealing with gun violence at his school.
“I think it’s disgusting that I have to tell my students to hide in the corner of a room because there’s someone down the hall trying to kill them,” Zavala said at the forum.
He said he wants to implement red flag laws, strict background checks or for people not to have access to “weapons of war.”
“I refuse to have my students live in constant fear that someone is going to barge in that door and shoot them in the head,” Zavala said.
Padron, a business owner who has insurance agencies from Brownsville to Laredo, is running against Democratic incumbent Sergio Muñoz Jr. for state representative District 36. No Republican candidates are on the ballot for the March 3 Primary.
Asked about immigration, specifically Senate Bill 4, also known as the “show me your papers law,” Padron replied it hits close to home since he was brought here by his mother when he was 7 years old on a tourist visa and did not leave.
Padron said stopping people and asking for their papers is something that should absolutely not be happening.
“I will fight with everything I got for that never to happen,” he said.
Padron also said the U.S. needs some sort of immigration reform.
“We got over 12 million people in the United States that live in the dark, they live in the shadows,” he said.
Elejarza is running against incumbent Norma Ramirez.
Asked what vision she sees for the Democratic Party, whether she wants a more progressive or centrist party, she replied with a personal story about floods displacing her from her home.
“I was affected by the last three ‘500-year floods’ … and I’m from Alamo,” Elejarza said. “My kids haven’t slept in their home for two years.”
She said she sacrificed for her home and hasn’t been able to live in it because there is no proper drainage.
“Where I’m going with this is that Hidalgo County has over 378,000 registered voters, and we don’t even see a quarter of that come out to vote,” Elejarza said. “We really don’t. So, for us to create the change, for us to be a key player, we need to start coming out to vote.”
Marco Ortiz Jr., a political science junior who attended the forum, said he was interested in what the candidates had to say and offer.
“I think a huge part of voting is understanding who’s running and understanding what they stand for,” Ortiz said.
He said coming to this event helped him understand the upcoming elections more.
“It also opened my eyes to new candidates; for example, Padron,” Ortiz said. “I had no idea who he was coming in before this. Now, I know who he is and what he stands for and I really agree with what he said. Same with Cristina, same with Jessica, same with all the candidates that came out today.”
