McMurry grad and Democrat senate hopeful visits Abilene

Theirry Tchenko may only be 29 years old, but he has big ideas for Texas and for the United States Senate. Tchenko recently decided to run against incumbent Senator Ted Cruz in hopes putting everyday Texans first. He has recently released a rural bill of rights, with a mission to "better the lives of working families and individuals."

Second-youngest Senate hopeful since Biden

The son of two immigrants from Cameroon in West Africa, Tchenko embodies the American dream. He got his feet wet in politics at the age of 13, when he "was a precinct captain for then-Senator Obama’s presidential campaign during the Texas primary," according to his campaign website.

He went on to McMurry University, even taking "a year off school to work on Wendy Davis’s Gubernatorial campaign" where he oversaw 37 districts as a field organizer.

While Tchenko attended his master's program at Georgetown University, he also volunteered for the 2020 Biden campaign. He then served as "a civil servant in the White House Office of Management and Budgeting." It was here that he was "able to better understand our federal budget" before going to work as a policy advisor to the mayor of D.C.

He most recently worked as a "non-profit executive at Rebuilding Together Houston," helping to repair and rebuild homes for low-income families, veterans, and seniors.

If successful, Tchenko would become the second youngest person elected to Senate, as he would be just about a week older than President Biden was when he began his Senate career.

Hot topic: immigration

In an interview with Reporter-News, Tchenko stated simply that "our immigration system is broken." He believes the government shouldn't have to choose; instead, "we can care for the humanity of migrants, while also having border security."

Tchenko believes the federal government can accomplish this with a major rehaul of the immigration system. In addition to hiring more immigration judges, he would like to see the creation of "regional processing centers in South and Central American countries" to help alleviate the "log jam" at the Mexican border. This would keep migrants in their country of origin until they were called to immigrate legally into the country.

Surprising stance on gun control

When it comes to gun control, Tchenko surprisingly splits from the usual sentiment of the Democratic Party. After speaking at length with rural Texan farmers, he is against assault weapon bans.

He said in an interview with Reporter-News, that rural farmers' only defense against feral hogs is usually an assault rifle, such as an AR-15. Tchenko emphasized that feral hogs have destroyed millions of dollars' worth of crops, and as a result he has sided with the farmers on this issue.

He does, however, support universal background checks and red flag laws similar to another democratic hopeful, Steve Keough, whom Reporter-News interviewed late last year.

School voucher debate

In recent news, school vouchers and school choice has been a hot topic on the mind of every Texan. See school vouchers explained here by Houston Public Media.

Tchenko is vehemently against the program, stating that he is "absolutely against school vouchers under any circumstances." Here, he sides with rural Texans, and notes that he does not want to see rural schools collapse if school vouchers are approved.

Public healthcare for all

It is not surprising that Tchenko supports public healthcare after campaigning for then-Senator Obama back in 2008. He supports the institution of a public health insurance program for all, in which all Americans would be "automatically enrolled into a health insurance program." The one difference he noted, however, was he wants to provide "a private opt" in as well.

Expensive ideas

When asked how he would fund all of his expensive ideas for the Senate, Tchenko replied without hesitation "I actually think that there is a lot of waste in our government." Here, he noted that he wants to eliminate Trump-era tax loopholes for billionaires in addition to making sure that the government stays within budget.

Now, it is up to the voters to decide if the Senate could fund his innovative yet expensive ideas, and which Democratic hopeful will face off against Senator Ted Cruz this November.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: McMurry grad and Democrat senate hopeful visits Abilene