Local government is more important than people think, and young people need to get out to vote, three civic leaders said on Thursday while eating progressively hotter wings at a University event.
TX Votes and the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life hosted their own version of the YouTube show “Hot Ones,” where celebrities answer questions as they eat increasingly spicy chicken wings. Texas Rep. Erin Zwiener, Austin Council Member Zo Qadri and Department of Communications lecturer Jen Sarver spoke on topics including generational differences in political involvement and the importance of civic engagement.
Qadri, representing District 9, which houses UT, said when he first started thinking about running for office, people told him not to prioritize students, as they had low voting turnout numbers. However, with District 9 being made up of 50% students, Qadri said he felt differently.
“This is your city. The city should work for you,” Qadri said. “If there’s lighting issues in West Campus, that’s unacceptable. There’s sidewalks that aren’t great; that’s unacceptable. If there’s cost of living that is too high … that’s unacceptable.”
When speaking about the generational differences in voter turnout, UT alumna Zwiener said she had never heard an older person say, “‘I just don’t know enough to vote this cycle.’” But she frequently meets young people who say that.
Zwiener encouraged young voters to show up and vote in the races they understand — even if that means not voting in every race — instead of letting the length of the ballot discourage them from voting at all.
“Your values and the things you stand for are just as important as the things that your grandparents and my grandparents stand for,” Zwiener said.
Professor Sarver said local politics should matter to everyone, regardless of age.
“Everything you touch and sit on and interact with, somebody made a policy choice that impacts that,” Sarver said. “And so whether you want to pay attention to it or not, they’re watching you and looking at you.”
The panelists said local government has a lot of power in creating policies that directly affect people’s everyday lives. Zwiener said while many young people believe issues like LGBTQ+ rights, abortion access and criminal justice are decided at the national level, most of those policies happen locally.
“We’re the ones who decide whether or not you get a felony for having a pot brownie,” Zwiener said. “We’re the ones who decide whether or not you’re able to get an abortion in the state of Texas.”
She added that some people may disengage from politics because it often feels like constant fighting.
“A lot of people, when they say they don’t care about politics, what they think politics is is often partisan bickering, and I think helping break people out of that frame is important,” Zwiener said. “Politics is about building power to make the type of change you want to see in the world.”
