|  |
The U.S. Capitol, the night before Aggies on the Hill in February 2020
|
|
Howdy, Aggie Advocates!
Happy New Year! I hope each of you had a wonderful holiday season and that 2024 is off to a prosperous start for you and your families.
I began the year with much excitement of what is to come over the next 12 months. For those of us who follow legislative politics and events, it is hard to think about a year like 2024 without also anticipating the upcoming presidential and legislative elections taking place around the country. No matter the outcomes, we know the elections will bring change to our slate of elected officials in our communities, state and nation.
In the Texas Legislature, we'll also see changes in the membership of the Aggie Caucus, bidding "farewell" to some retiring members and potentially welcoming new ones. Below, you'll find information on those retiring Aggie members as well as a list of legislative races (both state and federal) where one or more former students has been identified as a candidate.
We are also thrilled to be deep into the planning for Aggies on the Hill 2024, our biennial federal legislative day! Wherever you are that day, you can help us make this day a success. Read on for more information on this event and how to participate.
Finally, in this newsletter we are bringing you important information about security changes impacting AggieNetwork.com email. Please reach out with any questions about this change.
Big things are on the horizon for 2024, and The Association of Former Students cannot fulfill its mission without each of you. I thank you for the important work you do as a member of the Aggie Network and a representative of the core values we hold dear!
In the Aggie Spirit,
Miranda Henderson ’09
Director of Advocacy and Legislative Affairs
| |
|
Aggies seek legislative seats in 2024
Filing for the 2024 Texas Democratic and Republican primary elections closed at 6 p.m. on Dec. 11, 2023. The Texas A&M Advocacy Network has compiled a list of legislative elections in Texas where at least one former student of Texas A&M is known to be vying for a seat. In full, these former students are competing for 36 Texas House seats, 6 U.S. House seats, 3 Texas Senate seats, and 1 U.S. Senate seat.
You can find the full list of known candidates at tx.ag/AggieCandidates2024. ( Note: you must be logged into your AggieNetwork.com account to access this article.) The table at this link also includes notes on the legislative seats currently filled by former students who opted not to seek re-election — read on for a list of these below, as well.For informational purposes, the full list of Democrat and Republican candidates are also provided for each of these races. The candidates listed are those whose applications have been accepted by the Texas Secretary of State as of Dec. 15. It is subject to change if candidates are later found to be ineligible to appear on the ballot.
If you are aware of any candidates for the Texas House, Texas Senate, U.S. House or U.S. Senate that should be added to this list, please let us know! Contact TAMUAdvocacy@AggieNetwork.com. The Texas A&M Advocacy Network, and by extension The Association of Former Students, does not endorse candidates. This list of candidates is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as an endorsement for or against any candidate.
| |
Aggies on the Hill scheduled for March 20
On March 20, representatives from The Association of Former Students will join Texas A&M University in Washington, D.C., for Aggies on the Hill (AOTH) 2024! This is a biennial event, proudly planned and supported by The Association, to showcase the impact of Texas A&M and its former students on our nation's security, welfare and prosperity, and to advocate for federal support of higher education to maximize that impact.
This event was not held in 2022 due to security and COVID-19 restrictions at the U.S. Capitol. We are very excited to bring this important event back for 2024 and show our federal representatives and senators that Aggies make a difference! Our goal is to schedule meetings between Association/Texas A&M representatives and every member of the Texas Congressional Delegation.
We have two ways for former students to be involved in Aggies on the Hill 2024 — read on for ways you can support the event from the D.C.-area or from Texas!
| |
Attend our receptions for AOTH 2024
If you live in or will be in the Washington, D.C., area on March 19-20, we invite you to join for our opening or closing reception for Aggies on the Hill! Registration links to RSVP will be sent soon.
March 19 — Welcome Reception at the Bush School D.C. ( 1620 L St NW, Washington, DC 20036) from 5-7 p.m.
March 20 — Closing Reception at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center ( First St SE, Washington, DC 20515) from 5-7 p.m.
| |
Help Aggies on the Hill have an even greater reach on social media
As previously noted, representatives from The Association of Former Students and Texas A&M University will aim to meet with all 40 members of the Texas Congressional delegation on March 20. At each visit, we will work to take photos of the meeting and with the member or his/her staff.
Social media provides a great avenue to continue our engagement with these legislators! For each meeting that is set, we will plan a social media post to thank the legislator and/or the staff for meeting with our teams. (See examples below from the 2020 event.)
You can help us further this engagement simply by sharing or "liking" the posts! We will send Texas Advocates a notification of the expected time for the post on your hometown representative, along with suggested text if you would like to share the post along with your own comments.
While you can interact with any legislator from the day on social media, the biggest impact you can have is on your own! These simple steps will help us demonstrate to each legislator the power of the Aggie Network in their own districts.
| |
Check your contact information at AggieNetwork.com
Have you logged onto AggieNetwork.com lately? It is always a great place to read news on the Aggie Network, connect with fellow former students through our directory and A &M Club pages, get information on Association events and take advantage of other services and benefits. As noted above, when we send our social media schedule out for Aggies on the Hill, Advocates in Texas will receive messages alerting them to the expected time of the social media post featuring their hometown representative.
These messages will be sent to Advocates based on their home address, as listed in our former student directory, Find an Aggie. So that we can ensure you receive the updates specific to your home congressional district, please make sure we have your correct home address in your AggieNetwork.com profile. Thank you for helping us share the most relevant information with you!
| |
Security changes impacting AggieNetwork.com email
As a valued Aggie Advocate, we wanted to ensure you had seen the information recently shared by The Association of Former Students regarding personal @AggieNetwork.com email accounts. The Association has been grateful for the opportunity to provide these email accounts to former students and had hoped to continue this program in perpetuity.
As first announced in The Association's November AggieNews monthly email newsletter, however, continued changes from Google to its Workspace for Education program have impacted the viability of the program. Based on security recommendations from industry professionals within the Aggie Network, The Association concluded there were no viable options other than to sunset the program. As a result, personal @AggieNetwork.com accounts will be deleted after March 31, 2024.
The Association's efforts to communicate this to affected individuals is on-going; the Advocacy Network wanted to ensure you, as an important volunteer for our program and The Association, have as much notice as possible. Please help us spread the word to others who may be impacted.
In addition, the Advocacy Network wants to be able to continue to contact you! If you received this newsletter via your @AggieNetwork.com email, please let us know how to continue reaching you with Advocacy news and updates. You can respond to this email, or contact me at MHenderson09@AggieNetwork.com with your updated email address and I will update it for you. As a final recommendation, you may find it useful to create an "auto reply" on your emails now to notify those contacting you of the upcoming change in your contact information. You can find detailed instructions on how to do that at this link. Read more about the sunsetting of this program at tx.ag/EmailSunset. Additional updates regarding this process will be added to this page. For any additional questions or concerns, please reach out to Email@AggieNetwork.com.
| |
Legislative retirements in the Aggie Caucus
Six members of the Aggie Caucus in the Texas Legislature decided not to seek re-election in 2024. These dedicated Aggies have each signaled their intent to serve out the remainder of their terms, which will end in Jan. 2025 when new representatives are sworn in for these seats.
These six Aggies served a combined 101 years in the Texas Legislature! We extend our deep gratitude to these Aggies for their selfless service to their communities and our state, and for representing the Aggie Network with honor and integrity:
- Rep. Charles "Doc" Anderson ’81 (District 56)
- Rep. Abel Herrero ’93 (District 34)
- Rep. Kyle Kacal ’92 (District 12)
- Rep. Tracy King ’83 (District 80)
- Rep. Andrew Murr ’99 (District 53)
- Rep. John Raney ’69 (District 14)
We wish each of these Aggies a happy retirement. Thanks and gig ’em in their next chapters!
| |
|
|
