Rep. Lizzie Fletcher of TX-07

 

Slide 1:

In terms of the predictions, I adapted claims I previously made in the A2 before I conducted my interviews. Throughout each assignment, I have consistently been reminded of the possibility of Houston being a unique outlier, and even more so when examining TX-07 in particular. Prior to the interview, I felt that existing scholarly research might not be supported by the reality of TX-07, and that was the core motive for conducting this research. Using studies by Enos as well as work from Abrajano and Hajnal, I hypothesized that despite large and growing immigrant populations in TX-07, overall attitudes would not be negative and a move to more restrictive and generally Republican policymaking would not take place. I think this did not occur for two reasons. First, I attempt to argue that Houston has seen consistent growth of the immigrant population to a point that it has become a core part of the city’s identity: diversity and immigration have contributed to Houston becoming a welcoming environment. Second, I think backlash to Pres. Trump and his brand of politics overpowered the power of voters’ views on immigration only. In essence, 2016 proved to be a hard year to incorporate in a 10-year analysis of demographic and political changes in a district.

 

Slide 2:

For my research, I conducted two interviews I conducted 2 interviews in order to test my predictions: one with Christopher Harvey, the Legislative Assistant on Immigration for Rep. Fletcher, and the other with Gislaine Williams, the Community Relations Director at The Alliance. As one of two Legislative Assistants, Harvey, a Houston native, covers a portfolio of issues including immigration, education, social security, and small business, to name a few. When she’s in D.C., he regularly meets with Rep. Fletcher to discuss these areas he covers. Gislaine Williams’ job is to make sure the organization is visible to the community, to engage in community outreach, to forge partnerships with other community organizations, and to advocate for issues with policymakers. To secure these interviews, I simply emailed a general concern email address for each group and awaited a reply. As I’ve mentioned before, I choose to work with The Alliance because they are a notably nonprofit in Houston and because I’ve interned with them in the past.

 

Slide 3:

The interviews were fascinating and informative on levels outside the guidelines of the project. From Harvey, I gathered that Rep. Fletcher firmly understands the large role immigrants and minorities play in TX-07 and the growing nature of that demographic. However, Harvey did also stress the polarity in the district and strictly moderate views, citing an equal number of calls he’s received in support and against the border wall, for example. He described it as “almost even spread.” He believes much of this polarity derives from Pres. Trump’s national rhetoric and mentioned the importance of “civility” as well as listening to others outside of our “comfort zones.” I questioned both Harvey and Williams about their views on how Houston fits into the scholarly conversation, in terms of work by Enos and Abrajano and Hajnal. They both disagreed with the sentiment that an increase in the Latino population, which they both believed to exist, has led to exclusionary attitudes, more restrictive policymaking, or movement towards the Republican party. They both cited the diversity and welcoming nature of the city of Houston and the interconnectedness of the immigrant community. As Williams said, “immigrants become homeowners, become our local business leaders, and in Houston, we do see that some of the most prominent business leaders in the city are immigrants. More and more prominent elected officials are immigrants.” Harvey mentioned the “polarity when it comes to how immigrants are received” in TX-07 more, though. Harvey did not believe the Latino population has increased suddenly, which supports one of my predictions. Williams thought the Latino population had increased, specifically from Central America, given recent political events in countries like Venezuela for example, but was addressing the refugee population more specifically.

 

Slide 4:

I think Houston is a very unique city that is deserving of more research as a case-study on its own. I am also fortunate to have grown up in such a uniquely political and cultural district that I researched this semester. As a whole, I do not believe white backlash is a huge component in TX-07. I do believe the 2016 election was far more instrumental in influencing political action and voting patterns than immigration attitudes. I believe my research supports this idea. Something that also became very evident throughout the interview was that realistically, Rep. Fletcher seems to be keeping immigration as a relatively low priority, all things considered. In addition to social media analysis I’ve done in the past in A1, this interview complemented a similar tone of not having immigration be an issue of foremost importance. As Harvey said, “the two top issues that she ran on, was one, dealing with flooding related issues, flooding infrastructure, as well as healthcare.” Finally, Harvey brought up an interesting point that I hope scholars soon begin to investigate more and that is the influence of fake news on deciding immigration attitudes. In each interview, both Harvey and Williams answered a question about the role of the media and the huge role it has in determining attitudes about immigration (Williams also talked about how their nonprofit is trying to use that to their advantage). As such, I am curious as to how powerful that entity is when combined with false information in determining the way people think about immigration.