{"id":54017,"date":"2022-10-31T10:33:30","date_gmt":"2022-10-31T17:33:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=54017"},"modified":"2022-10-31T10:33:30","modified_gmt":"2022-10-31T17:33:30","slug":"five-texas-candidates-who-are-taking-democracy-by-the-reins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=54017","title":{"rendered":"Five Texas Candidates Who Are Taking Democracy By the Reins"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
By<\/span>Peter Schurmann<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

There are rising fears that America\u2019s democracy is in peril.\u00a0Voter suppression<\/a>,\u00a0gerrymandering<\/a>, growing extremism and all-around political malfeasance seem to be the order of the day as we head toward the November mid-terms.<\/p>\n

But for a small group of candidates for state office in Texas \u2014 all of them candidates of color and many running for the first time \u2014\u00a0the answer is to lean in and grab democracy by the reins.<\/p>\n

\u201cDemocracy is in danger,\u201d said Dr. Suleman Lalani, who is running for Texas\u2019 House District 76 in Fort Bend County near Houston. \u201cBut we need to get off the sofa and get up and participate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lalani was among a panel of candidates who spoke during an\u00a0Oct. 27 briefing for ethnic media<\/a>\u00a0in Houston designed to shed light on the experience of candidates of color running for office this election cycle.<\/p>\n

The event was moderated by EMS Executive Director Sandy Close, who noted in opening remarks that the speakers \u201crepresent an exciting expansion of the pool of candidates at a time when people of color are seeking fair representation.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it was that theme of representation that emerged again and again in remarks from the speakers, all of whom hail from Fort Bend and neighboring Harris counties, both of which have seen dramatic demographic shifts in recent decades.<\/p>\n

Representation is \u201cvery important, because the future, our children, they need someone to look up to,\u201d said Daniel Lee, who is running for State House District 26, one of a number of districts that were newly redrawn following the 2020 Census. Lee\u2019s\u00a0campaign website<\/a>\u00a0notes the newly drawn congressional lines marginalize Democratic voters.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Newly drawn congressional lines for Texas House Dist. 26, which Biden won in 2020 and which was divided nearly equally among white voters and voters of color, now give the GOP a decided advantage with a large share of white voters.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Born in Texas to immigrants from China and the Philippines, Lee\u2019s parents were restaurant owners and as such, he says, they struggled with many of the issues confronting small business owners, crime and racism top among them. Language and cultural barriers made it difficult for them to find redress from their local elected officials, Lee noted, an experience that prompted him to pursue a career in law and later to seek elected office.<\/p>\n

As an attorney whose clientele is primarily Asian and Hispanic \u2014\u00a0Lee\u2019s wife is Hispanic \u2014 he sees many of those same issues today and says the problems are rooted in \u201cbad laws\u201d and government leaders who are unresponsive to the needs of his community.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter 15 years of explaining this to my clients, I said no more, we need to make changes,\u201d Lee said, pointing to gun violence, the economy and health care as three priority areas for his campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I started this race, I didn\u2019t run as an African American, but as the campaign came along, I realized I would be the first African American treasurer in Harris County,\u201d said Dr. Carla Wyatt, who is running for Harris County Treasurer. \u201cI have two nieces, a grandniece\u2026 and I believe it is very important to blaze a path for those behind you.\u201d<\/p>\n

A graduate of Texas Southern University, Wyatt has worked for Harris County for more than two decades, beginning as an intern working on public infrastructure and later for the County Commissioner, among various other roles. In that time, she saw much she wanted to change, including a lack of transparency for voters wanting to know where and how their tax dollars are being spent.<\/p>\n

Wyatt says she wants to bring information technology and finance together to create a platform where residents can easily track how local funds are being used. \u201cTo me it\u2019s not about red or blue,\u201d said Wyatt, \u201cit\u2019s about your green, and understanding where your dollars are going.\u201d<\/p>\n

She spoke from inside her car, where she was on lunch break from her work, a reality for Wyatt and the other candidates on the call, all of whom agreed that running for office is akin to taking on a second full-time job.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am taking a financial cut,\u201d Lalani said of his decision to downsize his practice as a physician to pursue his campaign. But, he added, \u201cI am blessed to have family and community support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Lee, Lalani pointed to health and public education as among his top issues, along with gun legislation. \u201cAs a health care person, I see gun trauma every day\u2026 Prayers and thoughts have their place. We need policy change.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Muslim, Lalani\u2019s religion has been made an issue by opponents of his campaign, including on Twitter, where messages noting his faith in all caps intended as a warning have been posted.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Our opponent is hoping Fort Bend voters choose based on fear and hate. I know Fort Bend, and he will lose. Fort Bend is a loving coalition of races, religions, and ethnicities. Together we win over hate.\u00a0#txlege<\/a>\u00a0#HD76<\/a>\u00a0#tx2022<\/a>\u00a0pic.twitter.com\/yJEjz9j3h1<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Dr. Lalani for Texas (@DoctorLalani)\u00a0October 27, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

That same bigotry was directed at Sonia Rash, who is running as the Democratic candidate for Justice of the Peace for the 3rd<\/sup>\u00a0Precinct in Fort Bend. The position entails adjudicating traffic fines, evictions and small claims cases, all of which touch the lives of residents on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to have online hearings\u201d for people having to come to traffic court, says Rash, a mother of two and a practicing lawyer who was born in Houston. \u201cYou can do your hearing from home if you\u2019re a mother or father taking care of kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rash\u2019s campaign signs were recently vandalized across much of Fort Bend County. The daughter of immigrants from India and Pakistan, she said the experience only made her \u201cwant to work harder\u2026 we need to show our kids these things are not right.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Cameron \u2018Coach Cam\u2019 Campbell, running for Texas\u2019 HD 132, those kids come front and center. A former college football player and current Play Safe coach, a key piece of Campbell\u2019s agenda is what he calls STEME, an extended acronym for the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math curriculum, with an added \u2018E\u2019 for Entrepreneurship. \u201cIt\u2019s a wise investment,\u201d explained Campbell, who wants to see vocational opportunities become a more central part of public education. \u201cWe strengthen education and our local economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Campbell echoed the other speakers, acknowledging the stakes in this election. \u201cOur democracy is fragile,\u201d he said, pointing to recently enacted laws like SB 1 which have already led to the rejection of thousands of ballots from voters of color. \u201cIt should raise alarm bells.\u201d<\/p>\n

But for Wyatt and the other candidates, the response seems clear. \u201cMy answer is to be a part of the solution rather than just talking about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ByPeter Schurmann Oct 28, 2022 There...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","category-u-s-a"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54017"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54018,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54017\/revisions\/54018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}