The 2022 midterm election will be held Nov. 8, but for months, politically active students have been advocating for the candidates they support and the policies they want to see enacted.
“Locally, we are seeing a momentum of young people really becoming involved in campaign work,” College Democrats President Ivan Puente said.
The College Democrats at UTRGV have been motivated by several factors, including the campaign of progressive Democrat Michelle Vallejo against Republican Monica De La Cruz in the Texas 15th Congressional District race.
“A lot of our members … [have] become very, very involved in Michelle Vallejo’s campaign,” Puente said.
Political science Professor Natasha Altema-McNeely said she is confident the results of the elections for U.S. Representative House Districts 15 and 34 “will be very important for the [Rio Grande] Valley.”
“Because if you have Republicans continuing to represent 34 and beginning to represent 15, which was traditionally a Democratic seat, [local politics’] focus will shift,” Altema-McNeely said.
One of the biggest differences between the two parties in this election is the issue of abortion. Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, which repealed the constitutional right to have an abortion, the issue has become highly motivating to voters. A recent Monmouth poll found that 56% of U.S. voters found the issue to be either extremely or very important.
Texas laws currently ban abortion unless the life of the mother is at risk.
“I think that the idea among Democrats … that this would be a mobilizing issue and would lead people to the polls, is quite true,” Altema-McNeely said.
Asked about the issue of abortion, Puente replied, “The government is not prioritizing a woman’s health and life, and women are having to go to extremes to access abortion care.”
Other organizations on campus hold a different view.
“We … support that a life is a life, and that should not be taken away from the womb,” UTRGV Brownsville Turning Point USA President Celena Cisneros said.
Turning Point USA is a conservative organization that established a chapter at UTRGV in November 2020.
Abortion is not the only motivating issue on the ballot for the upcoming election.
“The one thing that is pretty important for us … is immigration,” College Democrats member Javier Cantu Villarreal said. “Because most of us are immigrants, we are proud of who we are and we want candidates that we support to … yes, make it legal, but also make it humane.”
Cisneros spoke of immigration from a different perspective.
“Coming from the daughter of a Border Patrol agent … [the media] … put everything out of proportion,” she said. “All I see are these [Border Patrol] agents going out, protecting their community.”
Asked about the possibility of a rise in conservatism in the Rio Grande Valley, Altema-McNeely spoke about law enforcement.
“If you are looking exclusively at the Valley, you also might note some emphasis on the importance of law enforcement jobs and occupations,” she said.
While this emphasis on law enforcement might be a factor, Altema-McNeely said she was skeptical of this rightward shift in the Valley.
“It’s still important to note that a majority of Hispanics identify as Democrat,” she said.
Puente agreed.
“The RGV has been a Democratic stronghold, but something that has also been recognized is that Democrats don’t just want to keep South Texas blue,” Puente said. “They also want to strengthen the blue and we are seeing that with great candidates all across the board.”
The rise of conservatism in the Valley has caused some criticism of the national Democratic Party.
“It seems that people have been realizing that we are not simply going to vote for somebody because they hold a D or because they hold a R,” Cantu said. “No, it’s the person who is going to talk to me first.”
Altema-McNeely said: “It’s worth highlighting the efforts that Republicans have been putting … into these Valleywide races, unlike the Democrats. The national Democratic leadership just wasn’t very visible here.”
Leaders of the College Democrats and Turning Point USA said win or lose, the work will not end after Election Day.
“No matter what happens, we’ll always be there for each other,” Cisneros said. “We’ll be there for the community.”
Puente agreed.
“Community work doesn’t only stop and start during election season,” he said. “The fight for abortion isn’t going to stop on Election Day.”
The deadline to register to vote is Tuesday. Early voting on both UTRGV campuses begins Oct. 23 and ends Nov 4. Election Day is Nov. 8.
