By Juliana Vasquez | News Writer, Jacob Stowers | Broadcast Reporter
Attendees of the Baylor College Republicans’ Q&A with Rep. Pete Sessions didn’t expect to leave with a box of pizza and a photo with the congressman, but that’s how most of them exited the Draper classroom Monday evening.
During the Q&A, the District-17 U.S. representative gave some background on his 24 years as a congressman, family insights and motivation to continue civil discourse among students and citizens.
Sessions said he got his start in politics through God’s intervention. After working at AT&T for several years, he was asked to move to St. Louis for work. However, he and his wife had just had a son with Down syndrome and were cautious to leave the support system they had built in Dallas.
“I said, ‘I’m going to run.’ [Republicans] wanted to turn Congress into a majority … and they said, ‘We want new, young, deciding people. We want people to come up who will work, go and move us in the majority, because it’s hard work,'” Sessions said. “It requires a lot of ideas [and] a lot of effort to go out and meet people. So I ran, and I lost. Then, I won.”
Sessions said he draws on his family for support and inspiration in his pursuit of politics. He looks towards his father, a former FBI director and Federal District judge.
“He deeply believed … very much in the Constitution and rule of law and rights and responsibilities,” Sessions said. “That’s what I believe also, and I would like to pass it on to you. It produced the greatest nation in the world.”
Sessions reminded students that it’s always important to have a clear goal and a means of achieving that goal. For Sessions, that means putting his plans in writing.
“You don’t get to be a member of Congress for 28 years, [and] you don’t win elections 15 times unless you can effectively understand where you’re going, how you’re going there and be able to express that to other people,” Sessions said.
College Station junior and Baylor College Republicans President Lindsay Flanigan said it was no easy task getting Sessions to speak at Baylor.
“Hosting Congressman Pete Sessions was a bit of work, but it was also very rewarding. It involved coordinating with their office … [and] coordinating with student activities,” Flanigan said. “It was all moving parts, but they all came together quite nicely.”
McAllen junior Victoria Leidwinger is the Baylor College Republicans treasurer. Leidwinger said events like this one encourage students to speak up about what’s on their minds, politically and otherwise.
“It’s a very judgmental time in our culture … I think things like this [show] the importance of us speaking about [politics] and being outward with it and being proud of what we voted for and what we believe in,” Leidwinger said. “I hope that this gives people the confidence to come out and speak their minds and tell the world what they believe.”
Flanigan echoed Leidwinger’s response, encouraging students to discuss their opinions and depolarize the political sphere.
“People need to engage with different ideas and find out what they truly believe. I think discussion is going to become increasingly important, especially as politics become more polarized,” Flanigan said. “It’s really important to create an environment where both sides can discuss their ideas and then bounce their ideas off the other side, because we all have more common ground than we think.”
Sessions reminded students of their civic responsibility to engage in politics and vote, especially as America nears midterm elections in 2026.
“We have rights and we have responsibilities and many times, I think that gets lost in the politics of responsibilities,” Sessions said. “Republicans grow and learn that we have a responsibility, not just to God and not just to our country or other people, but to ourselves.”
