Rice Votes hosts candidates at Houston Mayoral Forum

By Belinda Zhu     10/17/23 11:07pm

Rice Votes and the Greater Houston Pachyderm Club jointly hosted the non-partisan Houston Mayoral Forum at the McMurtry Auditorium Oct. 14. The talk was moderated by Mark Jones, a political science fellow at the Baker Institute and professor in the department of political science. 

Candidates included Councilmember Jack Christie, Councilmember Robert Gallegos, Gilbert Garcia and Lee Kaplan. While all candidates were invited, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and state Sen. John Whitmire did not attend.  

Although the event was hosted in collaboration with the Pachyderm Club, a partisan Republican organization, Verónica Reyna, the associate director for the Center for Civic Leadership, said her top priority was ensuring the event would be non-partisan. 

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“[The Pachyderm Club’s] number one priority is voter education and civic engagement, and they approached Rice University with that mindset,” Reyna said. “As long as we can be on the same page about non-partisan voter education, then that is … our priority as well.” 

The debate covered topics including crime, which is the most important topic concerning Houstonians according to a survey conducted by University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs, questions the present candidates would like to ask the absent candidates and the candidates’ views on Proposition A and B, which will also be voted on during the Nov. 7 general election

Proposition A would allow three councilmembers to add agenda items during City Council meetings and Proposition B would withdraw the City of Houston from the Houston-Galveston Area Council unless the council adopts a population-proportional voting system.

Nina Wallach, a freshman from Martel College, attended this event and said she will be voting for the first time this fall. 

“It’s cool to actually hear from candidates in person rather than just reading their websites,” Wallach said. 

Not all students attended with the intention to vote. Izzy Ramnath, a political science major, attended the event to learn more about local politics. 

“I am registered to vote in my hometown … I didn’t attend the event with the intention of deciding upon a candidate,” Ramnath, a Sid Richardson College sophomore, wrote in an email to the Thresher. “I attended to more or less gain knowledge about the election process in Houston and what running a campaign looks like.”

The forum ended with students speaking to the candidates one-on-one. 

Hong Lin Tsai, a Brown College sophomore, enjoyed the opportunity to speak to the candidates. 

“Each candidate that I’ve talked to was wonderful,” Tsai wrote in an email to the Thresher. “Councilmembers Gallegos and Garcia had a professional demeanor that really attracted us … to discuss internal and external matters with them. Mr. Kaplan and Dr. Christie, while a little construed with what we’re asking them, presented a friendly yet charming manner that we couldn’t resist taking a selfie with them. I wished Congresswoman Jackson Lee and Senator Whitmire were here since they are the front runners and most in the audience were there for them.”

Despite Lee and Whitmire — the frontrunners, according to an Oct. 10 poll from the Hobby School — not being present, Reyna believes the event went well. 

“We had some candidates that had to back out at the last minute, so it was a smaller group of candidates than expected,” Reyna said. “But I think that the candidates [enjoyed it]. One mentioned that they felt this was the most fair event that they’ve been to.”

Kaplan said he viewed speaking at Rice as an opportunity, as it has educated and intellectually curious students. 

“College students are generally well educated and intellectually curious and not everybody is in this city so that’s a plus,” Kaplan said. “[The candidates] spoke at other campuses too, but Rice is clearly the most prominent university in the city.” 

Garcia said he enjoyed speaking at Rice due to his belief in the importance of civic engagement among young voters.

“I love coming to a college campus and I love seeing young people,” Garcia said. “The reason is this is really your city and y’all need to get involved. Y’all need to participate. Y’all need to learn the issues. It’s about empowerment because this is about y’all’s future.” 

Tsai said he wishes more students attended this debate as civic engagement is important.

“There was not as much exposure and advertisement throughout campus that made students aware of the event, and most I’ve talked to wished they could come,” Tsai wrote. “Civic engagement should be an important thing [due to] how much it affects us right here in Houston. As a member of Civic Duty Rice, I felt like it is my responsibility to engage in this discussion.”

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