Vivian "Viv" Zuniga
Photo Editor
Former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke visited Texas A&M University-San Antonio Sept. 3 with Powered by People, a voter mobilization organization he founded in 2019, as part of an effort to register and engage college students ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
Students stood under a blazing sun at the Madla Courtyard to meet O’Rourke, who spent several hours speaking with each person he encountered. The temperature was 94 degrees and felt like 104 degrees, according to The Weather Channel.
O’Rourke, a Democrat who ran for Texas governor in 2022, asked students, faculty and staff about themselves, answered their questions and encouraged them to register to vote.
O’Rourke said the visit was intended to help students, faculty, staff and community members register to vote, update their registrations and address registrations that had been placed on the state’s suspense list.
“I want to make sure every single student, every member of this A&M-San Antonio community is able to participate in this election,” O’Rourke said. “That’s what’s brought me here today.”
More than 1.2 million of at least 18 million registered voters in Texas are currently on the suspense list, according to recent state figures reported by The Texas Tribune and Votebeat. According to the Texas Secretary of State’s office, voters designated in the state’s “suspense list” remain fully registered and eligible to vote, provided they confirm their address at the polls. Votebeat reported that election officials emphasize that those citizens are still eligible to cast a ballot after completing a standard statement of residence.
The deadline to register to vote for the Nov. 3 midterm elections is Oct. 5. Early voting begins Oct. 19 and ends Oct. 30.
Powered by People representatives Grant Holtberg and Laura Silvia said the organization is visiting college campuses across Texas to register voters and encourage students to participate in the election. The group also maintains a presence at some San Antonio-area campuses when O’Rourke is not there.
“We want to be on every campus; every single student, every campus counts,” Holtberg said.
Holtberg and Silvia said college students are an important part of the organization’s outreach because some students move away from home to attend school and may need to update their voter registration. They encouraged students to check their registration status and make a plan for where they will vote before early voting or Election Day.
The organization’s representatives also made clear that its work has a partisan political goal. Silvia said “Powered by People” wants to increase voter participation in Texas, “flip Texas blue” and move the country in what Silvia described as a better direction.
Holtberg and Silvia said the organization plans to continue visiting colleges in the San Antonio area, including Northwest Vista College and UTSA, as it expands its campus outreach.
As Powered by People worked with students to ensure their voter registration was up to date, those waiting to meet O’Rourke had their own reasons for taking part.
Edgar Escareno, a political science freshman was among the students who met O’Rourke and asked him a question. Escareno said he came to hear O’Rourke because he wanted to better understand a political perspective different from his own. He does not identify as either a Democrat or Republican and said learning from both sides of the political spectrum is important to him, especially as a political science student.
“I want politicians to be able to distinguish between what is right and wrong,” Escareno said. “It is really about politicians being able to distinguish between what is good for them and what is good for their community, which is what they are representing.”
While Escareno focused on what he wanted to see from elected officials, other students saw O’Rourke’s visit as an opportunity to take part in the political process themselves.
Carolina Garcia, a biology pre-med sophomore, said being at the event was a way to participate in her community
“I’m here just to be a part of my community and show that my voice does have influence,” Garcia said.
For other students, participating also meant learning where political leaders stand on issues affecting their communities.
Madison Robles, a freshman, said she wanted to hear directly from O’Rourke about his views and what he hopes to accomplish, particularly at a time when she feels concerned about the current political climate.
“I feel like right now politically we’re not in a good spot,” Robles said. “So it’d be really nice to see exactly what he stands for and what he’s gonna do to help the community and everyone here on campus as well.”
Campus organizations also joined the voter registration effort.
John Ortiz, a biology major and president of the Democratic Socialists Club, partnered with TAMUSA Coalition President Jose Rodriguez, a history sophomore, to help students check their registration status and encourage participation in the upcoming election.
Rodriguez said the partnership also allowed the organizations to ensure LGBTQ students knew their voices were represented in the effort.
For Ortiz, who grew up on San Antonio’s Southside, O’Rourke’s visit offered something different: an opportunity for students to speak directly with a political figure rather than simply listen to one.
“It’s a different feeling when you start talking with them,” Ortiz said. “It feels more connected, and it truly does show that your voice does matter, no matter who you are, and voting is the biggest way to show that.”
O’Rourke emphasized that concept, arguing that the stakes involve not just the future of Texas as a whole, but local communities like San Antonio.
“Everything that we care about in Texas and in San Antonio is going to be decided on the third of November,” O’Rourke said.
WATCH: Beto O’Rourke talks voter registration at A&M-San Antonio
