Featured photo by Ethan Schmidt
Story by Ethan Schmidt
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The MTSU College Democrats hosted a “Political Leaders Discussion” in the Student Union that featured two prominent Democratic figures in the Rutherford County area: Luis Mata, the party’s State House candidate for District 49 and Morgan Woodberry, executive chair of the Rutherford County Democratic Party.
The MTSU College Democrats organized the event to raise interest and awareness about the upcoming 2024 elections. The selection of speakers resulted from MTSU College Democrats president Katrina Aguilar’s professional relationships with the guests.
“To speak so candidly, I interned with Morgan, and I’m the treasurer for Luis’ campaign, so it was really, like, an availability thing for me,” Aguilar said after the forum.
Woodberry ran for State House in the same district as Mata in 2022 and lost to Republican State Rep. Mike Sparks. Mata will face Sparks in the upcoming election.
The young politicians answered a variety of questions from Aguilar about their personal backgrounds, the importance of minority communities’ representation in the State Legislature, the political demographic of their district and their attitudes toward the 2024 presidential election.
A Gallup poll—released on the same day as the event—reported that 51% of 18-34 year-old registered voters are dissatisfied with both prominent candidates, and that only 10% of the same demographic approve of Biden’s bid for a 2nd term.
The question about the 2024 election candidates elicited a momentary and tense silence.
“We’re just gonna be honest here,” Woodberry said to break the silence. “You know, it’s not looking, like, excellent, okay?”
The audience students chuckled at her response.
“This is one of those ‘trust the process’ moments,” Woodberry said.
The RDCP executive chair suggested that rather than focusing on the presidential election, Tennessee voters should pay attention to the local and state elections, especially since other states with GOP-dominated legislatures are looking to Tennessee as an example for their legislative actions.
Mata supported Woodberry’s advice.
“The reality is that Tennessee is a testing ground for authoritarianism and the fascism that we’re seeing across the country,” Mata said. “It is the testing ground. But what that tells us is that we are also at the forefront of protecting the democracy of the entire country, right?”
Mata aims to protect democracy through his campaign finance strategy, rejecting the temptation of super Political Action Committees’ massive wealth from shell companies and “dark money” groups. Rather, the candidate plans to prioritize funding from grassroots sources.
“Because I think that the same way that a budget is a moral document,” Mata said, “I believe that your funding is a moral document as well, and I believe that I am accountable to the people. I’m not accountable to the corporations.”
So far, Mata has only released one report on Feb. 2 about his campaign’s finances, reporting no donations or spending. He said at the forum that his campaign has now received nearly twice the amount of funding than Sparks from grassroots donors.
“I think that, like, right now,” he said, “the state of politics is that it’s been run by corporate greed and corporate PACs, and we’re not getting anything done because the corporations are bringing so much money.”
Aguilar was pleased with the event.
“I think they did a great job of balancing the reality of, you know, what we’re going through as a local community, but also as a country,” Aguilar said.
Ethan Schmidt is a contributing writer for MTSU Sidelines.
To contact News Editor Alyssa Williams and Assistant News Editor Zoe Naylor, email [email protected].
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