With State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, challenging Gov. Greg Abbott in the November midterm election for Texas governor, the race for House District 49 is open for the first time since 2017. The district represents UT and West Campus in the Legislature. 

Montserrat Garibay, former U.S. Department of Education assistant deputy secretary, and Kathie Tovo, a former member of the Austin City Council, advanced to the Travis County May 26 runoff election after an 8-way Democratic primary in March. 

TX Votes, a non-partisan student organization focused on increasing civic engagement, hosted and moderated an HD 49 public forum on Thursday. A TX Votes moderator asked both candidates about their experience, affordability policies, civic engagement and more. 

Affordability

During the forum, both candidates said that if elected, they would work on increasing the $7.25 minimum wage in Texas. Tovo said, however, UT should also increase wages for on-campus jobs and extend on-campus housing vouchers to off-campus housing. 

“If you look at the jobs on campus, they tend to be much lower paying than some of the private sector jobs,” Tovo said. 

Garibay said as a state representative, she will work to pass legislation to hold landlords accountable. She said she would advocate for Project Connect, a Capital Metro plan to construct a light rail in downtown Austin, to make transportation more accessible for students. Garibay said as a former UT student, she understands the struggles many students face and said many leaders don’t understand the issues at hand. 

“A lot of those 150 state representatives don’t bring those life experiences, so they’re making decisions in our communities that have nothing to do with the lives that you are living every single day,” Garibay said. 

Voter Participation 

Both candidates said they would push for same-day registration on election days and more accessibility to polling locations. Garibay said UT should have more polling locations, and would push to extend polling location hours, including weekends.

Tovo said the gap in time between the primaries and the run-offs—which occurs during the summer, when many students are already home— is “disenfranchising students.” She said she would work on addressing that gap and would also push for student IDs to be a valid form of identification for voting.

Overlooked Issues

TX Votes asked both candidates to name an “overlooked” issue in the legislature that they would work on addressing if elected.

Tovo said the legislature does not discuss food insecurity on college campuses enough. She said she supports “the growth of local food systems,” noting her City Council experience, where she said she initiated programs to increase fresh produce at convenience stores.

Garibay said artificial intelligence and data centers are often neglected in state lawmaking. She said politicians and businesses are making decisions “without the people that are going to be affected the most.” She said she would work on putting guardrails on AI and overseeing the effects of data centers on communities. 

Campaign Finance Transparency 

The candidates were asked to provide transparency on their campaign donations by a crowd member. Garibay has raised over $240,000 since launching her campaign, and Tovo has raised over $160,000, according to the Texas Ethics Commission.

Garibay, who received large financial support from labor unions, said those donations are a “badge of honor,” as someone with experience in these organizations. Tovo said she would support limits on campaign contributions at the state level.