MSU’s Student Government Association and political science department partnered with the League of Women Voters to host a state and local political candidate forum in CSC Comanche on Thursday, Sept. 26.

13 candidates running made an appearance.

• For Texas Senate District 30: Democratic candidate Dale Frey and Republican candidate Brent Hagenbuch.
• For Texas State Representative District 69: Walter Coppage and James Frank.
• For Wichita Falls County Commissioner Precinct 3: Deandra Chenault and Barry Mahler.
• For Wichita Falls City Council at Large: Larry Nelson, Sam Pak and Austin Cobb.
• For Wichita Falls City Council District One: Whitney Flack and Oscar Verduzo.
• For Wichita Falls City Council District Two: Robert Brooks and Naomi Barron.

President of the League of Women Voters of Wichita Falls Betty Richie and political science junior Rory Rucker moderated the debate.

Richie said it is vital for students to understand their vote matters.

“You know, they’re our future. And if they don’t realize that it’s their country and that they’re going to have to do something to help us, they’re going. We’re not going to be here for very long. They’re going to have to take over the government,” Richie said. “Also, you have to consider student loans, and they’re going to be on their own, and so they really need to understand what it’s like to be a citizen and how the government’s going to affect them.”

Mayor Tim Short attended the candidate forum and emphasized the importance for the MSU and the greater Wichita Falls community to come together for local politics.

“It’s a fantastic forum,” Short said. “So, the students get to experience it, they get to participate in it, they get to see what it’s like. And that does my heart good to see young people get involved in some of this. As far as the candidates go, as far as the city goes, we benefit just from the interaction.”

Short said voters benefit from hearing candidates’ platforms.

SGA president Vincent Peter coordinated with the League of Women Voters and MSU’s political science department to ensure the event could occur.

“The League of Women Voters was saying, ‘Hey, we’ve done this two years, are y’all still interested in doing this?’ and I said, ‘Absolutely, I wanna continue doing this,” Peter said. “And we also partnered with the political science department. Dr. Veazey handled a lot of the, finding the moderator, booking the room and all of that. SGA took care of making sure that we had name plaques and enough equipment for everybody to use.”

As an international student, Peter echos that he believes MSU students should recognize the importance of their votes.

“Students here, especially national students or residents have a better opportunity than me. Yes, I helped put on this event, but unfortunately, I cannot vote,” Peter said. ” I feel like it’s important for students to come out so that they can know who’s gonna represent them.”