With the primaries having been just last month, it is time for voters to turn their attention to the upcoming mid-term election of 2018. Among many positions up for election is the position of U.S. Senator.
Each state has two senators, ergo there are a total of 100 senators in the U.S. Senate. The position of senator has a multitude of responsibilities, including, but not limited to: "writing and passing laws, approving presidential appointments, and ratifying treaties with other countries."
This November, on Tuesday the 6th, Texas will have its vote. Currently in office are Ted Cruz and John Cornyn. Cornyn will remain in office until 2020, having been elected in 2014. Cruz, on the other hand, will be up for re-election this November.
Challenging Cruz is Congressman Beto O'Rourke. Commonly going by Beto, the ambitious Congressman has hopes to unseat incumbent Senator Cruz and take action on various relevant issues.
Despite having a long history of Democratic representatives compared to Republican, Texas has not had a Democratic Senator in office since 1993. And although Beto is running as a Democrat, his commonsense solutions tend to appeal to most voters, regardless of political affiliation.
His main policies regard establishing term limits, ending the usage of PACs, and improving public schools.
Term Limits
Beto wants to hold the government accountable by "end[ing] perpetual reelection and bring[ing] new voices to Congress by imposing term limits on every member of the House and Senate." To ensure that this action take place, Beto has sworn to run for only two terms in the Senate.
This will allow for fresh ideas in the Senate. It will also remove the safety net for many incumbent politicians. In doing so, in-office Senators will not merely have name recognition to earn them their votes. They must act, both in and out of the Senate, to earn their re-election. This may also preserve these positions for dedicated, service-oriented politicians and not lazy, career-seeking bureaucrats.
This isn't to say that all career politicians are like this, but enough of them are that it is an issue and change has become necessary.
PACs
Beto strives to work against political action committees. These money-making organizations raise money to fund politicians who tend to vote in favor of certain policies, often beneficial to said organizations. Beto hopes to do away with this undemocratic form of democracy. Our representatives should be representative of the people electing them, not the group who can raise the most money.
Public Schools
Beto wants to preserve the quality of public education. He believes that teachers should work on their own curriculum to ensure students learn the material, rather than stress about "arbitrary, high-stakes exams." He also believes taxpayer dollars should fund public schools only and not private schools, as they do now.
In Conclusion
Beto O'Rourke has ambition, he fights for the little man, and hopes to reach across the aisle for bipartisan cooperation. These qualities, and many more, make Beto an ideal candidate. He aims to represent all voters and seek fair, ideal solutions for everyone.
Despite my usually conservative political beliefs, I will be voting for Beto on November 6th, and you should as well.
