SF State student runs for Congress
by Izzy Alvarez, photos by William Wendelman
In 2018, Sam Campbell, dressed in a black button up and red pants, gave their first TEDX Talk in Ohlone College. Their raven dark hair was half up, and they commanded the modestly filled room from the start. When they spoke there for a second time in 2019, they were in a bigger auditorium. But this time, they are dressed in a three piece suit accompanied with a bolo tie and plaits in their hair. The certainty in their voice was clear. They were born to be a public speaker.
Campbell is not your everyday college student. At 24 years old, they have a full plate on their hands. They are a student, activist, technician and a current Congressional candidate.
Running for the House of Representatives in California’s 15th district was a clear choice
for them. It wasn’t until the New Haven Unified School District’s teacher strike last March that Campbell thought about running for Congress in 2020.
“It kind of made me feel really introspective about the way that I would handle certain situations.” Campbell said, “And looking at the way that situations like this are handled in our government right now and I felt like I’m a good fit for that kind of communication and understanding.”
Hailing from the city of Hayward, Campbell, has known Hayward’s community all their life. Campbell is deeply integrated, in the area working as a theatre technician for James Logan High School and attending Ohlone College in Fremont, where Campbell met their campaign manager, Chris Yau, before transferring to SFSU.. Yau has been helping Campbell with the day to day campaign responsibilities.
“I want to support my friend. They have a really good idea I think could help change how things are run.” Yau, 23, said, “Especially if they get elected because we share a lot of core values that I think would be a very relevant in today’s political situation.”
As a communication studies major, Campbell uses their platform for campaigning. At the moment they are running as a Democrat against Congressman Eric Swallwell (D-CA) who has been incumbent of the 15th district since 2013. The Democratic pool has grown with Tuan Phan and Austin Intal. Peter Yuan Liu and Alison Hayden are the Republican counterparts in the race. A tightly packed competition of six will be tough to beat. But it would be foolish to think Campbell’s identity didn’t have some influence in their choice to run.
Currently, Campbell is the vice president of the Student Kouncil of Intertribal Nations (SKINS) at SFSU. As a scholar, they’ve fought for a variety of social issues on behalf of the Indigenous community, such as indigenous rights, indigenous representation, missing and murdered indigenous women, which they mention in their last TEDx talk at Ohlone College.They saw how Deb Haaland and Sharice Davids, both Native women in congress, rose to leadership and sought to follow in the steps of Haaland and Davids.
A member of the LGBTQIA+ community, Campbell incorporates this other part of their identity as “Two Spirit.” The term Two Spirit is common in Native American culture, referring to a third gender of either male, female or intersexed individuals who performed gender labeled activities according to the Indian Health Service (ihs.gov). Campbell’s minor in queer ethnic studies is a scholarly cornerstone for their advocasy on trans rights and saftey in the country.
“It needs to be said, it needs to be out there and it needs to be heard.” Campbell said.
Perseverance is something Campbell’s educators have noticed in their character. Andrea Brown, a lecturer for the communication studies department at SF State, met them when she was working at Ohlone College. There she saw Campbell hard at work.
“Regardless of the outcome of the race that they can build a sort of progressive support and organizing that we need.” Brown said about Campbell, “I think that they can really make connections on the grassroots level.”
There are many issues Campbell plans on tackling if voted into the House of Representatives such as environmental issues, education and immigration, with a key issue being agricultural and water sustainability. Their commitment to sustainability has been noticed by some, like the REGIS Initiative, which has decided to endorse Campbell’s bid for Congress. REGIS stands for Raising, Eating, Growing, Inventing, Sustaining according to Anthony Eichberger, who is spearheading the organization’s newsletter.
“Sam responded to my outreach and was very receptive to hearing more about my own views on what’s wrong with agricultural policy and what needs to be changed. And that indicated to me that [they’re] serious about problem solving, if [they] make it to Congress.” Eichberger said.
The REGIS Initiative follows candidates from across the country that use their platform for agricultural sustainability and support for family farms. Campbell drew his eye immediately while Congressman Swalwell was also sought out. Neither he nor his campaign have returned contact, according to Eichberger.
Nico Peck, a communication studies lecturer at State, has observed Campbell’s tenacity for getting things done. They believe that Campbell would be a great value in their community, and applauds Campbell’s courage in putting themselves in a vulnerable position by running in a political race.
“I just don’t think that Sam is gonna stop and give up. I feel like they’re in it for the long haul even though they’re young.” Peck expressed about their student, “They’ve been doing this kind of work for a while and they’re committed to it. I think that they’re very willing to take a stand for things.”
Campbell is a relatively young candidate for congress. But the success of Congressional Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is putting the question of age to rest when it comes to leadership.
“When we’re coming up with solutions, with people from generations that aren’t currently being affected by the current problems of the education system and with the job market,” Campbell explained, “we see solutions that are a generation or two too late.”
However, Campbell isn’t running to be a career politician. They are focused on their community’s needs. Some of the children they work with live in fear of losing their parents to current immigration issues. If the race doesn’t go their way they said they’d continue to fight for social issues. Next semester they will teach a means, media, and misinformation course as well as an Indigenous resistance course at SFSU. With a well spoken demeanor and focused agenda Sam Campbell is one candidate to watch out for in 2020.
“It’s just one of those things that like after hearing the stories, there’s really no way to kind of go back to how things were before. You can’t unhear those stories and you can’t unsee the inequality that are in the community.” Campbell acknowledged, “So if I can give back in any way and work towards bettering at least parts of the community. That’s what I want to do.”
Editor’s Note: this article previously referred to the communication studies major as the communications major at SF State. Correction also issued 1/15, 7:53PM for stating that Campbell was the only candidate in the 15th district’s congressional race. This has since been edited to note other candidates that have entered the 15th district Congressional race in California.
