Over one thousand students gathered on campus Tuesday for an “Our Fight Our Future” rally where multiple prominent progressive politicians spoke about upcoming election races.
The rally, organized by the University Democrats, took place in a fully-filled Hogg Memorial Auditorium. It featured Rep. Lloyd Doggett, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, Rep. Greg Casar, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders.
University Democrats president Brian Peña said the organization planned the event over the past couple of weeks but has been working to hold a “big headliner event” for years. Ultimately, it came down to good timing, he said.
Doggett, a UT alumnus, called on students to vote and get involved with civic engagement efforts. He said he is excited about the young voter enthusiasm generated by Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential candidacy.
“I feel much better about my decision to be the first member of Congress to ask President Biden to step aside so we could have this candidate,” Doggett said.
O’Rourke, who also visited the University last month, voiced his support for Harris and Rep. Colin Allred, who is running against incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz for a U.S. Senate seat from Texas.
“You are the secret weapon,” O’Rourke told the crowd. “When you show up it means that Colin Allred is the next senator from the state of Texas. It means that Kamala Harris has a fighting chance to pick up the 40 Electoral College votes in this state and cancel any chance that Donald Trump has a path to the White House.”
Casar said the country is at a historical moment and history will remember what young people in Austin, Texas decided to do in the upcoming election. He said he believes the resilience of young people will build a “brighter future.”
“Our country, America, stands at a fork in the road between autocracy and democracy, and right in the middle of that fork in the road is the state of Texas,” Casar said. “This is the biggest battleground state in this country.”
Ocasio-Cortez said Texas is important to her. She said her experience in community organizing began as a teenager in Texas and spoke about former President Lyndon B. Johnson’s impact on the nation.
“We have a task before us that is critical,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “If we can flip the state of Texas, we will change American politics for a generation, for an absolute generation, and I want to thank you because we’ve been working to make it happen, and we are going to make it happen.”
Sanders similarly said he came to Texas to ensure Harris wins the state in the presidential election. He said Donald Trump, former president and the Republican nominee for president, “must be defeated” and is a threat to democracy.
“We can do better, and we will do that when we come together,” Sanders said. “There are Trump and his friends who want to divide us up by the color of our skin, or where we were born or our sexual orientation. We know better. We know that when we stand together in solidarity, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.”
Linda Ramirez, a government and philosophy junior, said her passion for immigration issues and abortion access brought her to the rally.
“(Like) how they were saying inside, we are growing up seeing our rights diminish slowly,” Ramirez said. “That is just something that I can’t stand for, especially for younger generations, and that’s exactly what brought me here.”
History freshman Nadia Moreno said she comes from a conservative county and moving to a blue county made her want to get more involved and inform herself. She said the rally was inspiring.
“I took away, ‘We have the power,’” Moreno said. “Younger people, we have a lot of power.”
