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April 21, 2006 > Lifestyles > Mhair Dekmezian: Texas House candidate

Mhair Dekmezian: Texas House candidate

By Sarah Taylor | Thresher staff

Brown College sophomore and Houston native Mhair Dekmezian could represent a large percentage of the Rice undergraduate population: He loves caffeine. He is also a pre-med, has a love-hate relationship with computers, plays the organ for his church and is a biochemistry major.

But this fall, Dekmezian will attempt to represent a much larger population — he is the Libertarian candidate running for state representative in District 134.

On November 7, Dekmezian’s name will appear on the ballot in the district including West University, River Oaks and parts of Montrose and the Texas Medical Center. He is running against incumbent Republican Martha Wong and Democrat Ellen Cohen.

Be careful when you ask him about his platform: His answers will include a full-scale assault on certain aspects of American culture. His opinions range from a dislike of music copyright laws to an aversion to property taxes, and most of his beliefs stem from the Libertarian principle that government control erodes civil liberties.

Dekmezian’s convictions on such issues played a large role in his decision to run, but he does not consider himself a politician. He said a major reason for his campaign is simply to offer District 134 voters a Libertarian candidate.

“I want to provide a third choice to people who are dissatisfied with the two-party system,” Dekmezian said.

Hanszen College sophomore Carl Onak, who has been Dekmezian’s friend since kindergarten, said Dekmezian’s views are too idealistic for the pragmatic world of professional politics.

“Mhair has lots to learn about the world of politics,” Onak said. “But he’s not wasting his time. College is the place for that kind of idealism.”

It was not the efforts of the Libertarian party that convinced Dekmezian to join their ranks, but rather the failure of the other two parties.

“Around the last presidential election, I looked at both major candidates, and I was thinking, ‘There’s something wrong,’” he said. “Neither of them were any good. I had been thinking along the lines of Libertarian ideals for a while, but it took [the 2004] presidential election to really push me.”

This stocky, Armenian-American Rice student is anything but the usual Texas politician. He parties at Bacchanalia and procrastinates by debating the benefits and repercussions of growing a beard — pirates have beards and make excellent representatives, but growing one would risk alienating the ninja community. However, these differences are what make Dekmezian such an interesting candidate, especially to other students.

Sid Richardson College sophomore Andrew Sinclair, who has known Dekmezian since eighth grade, said Dekmezian does not operate like a professional politician — and that is why Sinclair would vote for him.

“I’d want Mhair to win because he actually thinks about things,” Sinclair said. “He’s reasonable.”

Dekmezian said practicing politics does not interest him as much as raising awareness of personal-liberty issues.

“Even if people don’t agree with my political ideas, I’d like to be a catalyst to inspire others to take action,” he said.

Although his beliefs are idealistic, Dekmezian is still realistic about his chances of winning.

“I think that I’m being reasonable to assume that I’m not going to have much influence on a big scale, because I don’t have the time or full funding,” he said. “I don’t have campaign contributors or full-time staff covering the city with stickers or signs.”

While he will not be able to run a traditional, funded campaign, Dekmezian is keeping a continuing, finance-free open dialogue by reading and commenting on various Internet resources such as www.slashdot.org. He is also appealing to other non-monetary campaign methods.

“I am going to try to get the endorsement of several groups and try to engage in debates if my opponents agree to,” he said. “I won’t do traditional campaigning in terms of plastering the city with junk, but more of getting my ideas out there.”

Dekmezian decided to run in December, when he then started to fill out the necessary paperwork. He says the entire process has opened his eyes to the legal landscape of Texas.

“I had to fill out 25-page long forms, and I had no clue what [some of them] meant,” Dekmezian said. “It seems like the two major political parties try to keep third parties out.”

Based on the amount of time it took him to fill out the forms, Dekmezian realized he would not be able to fill out the forms necessary to campaign on a large scale — or any financially significant scale at all.

“Campaign finances open up a whole new level of paperwork that I’m not sure I can deal with,” he said. “I can’t even spend money out of my own pocket without knowing how to report it.”

For now, Dekmezian is preparing to run simply by trying to stay on top of current issues.

“I read multiple news sources a day, and I feel like I have a solid grasp on what’s happening,” he said. “But it’s still frustrating to try to keep up with everything that’s going on.”

Dekmezian said if he does win, he will drop out of Rice for his term as state representative and return to school after serving in office. But until then, being a full-time student remains his top priority. And his parents support his decision, as long as running for office does not hurt his studies.

“My dad thinks it’s nice what I’m doing, even though he doesn’t agree with all my politics,” Dekmezian said.

But while he may not end up having a big impact in the Texas House of Representatives, Dekmezian’s political aspirations are at least making waves at Rice.

“Some think it’s cool, some are amused and some are offended,” Dekmezian said. “It’s kind of frustrating that some take offense, but it reinforces my beliefs at the same time.”

As for Sinclair, he’s glad to see the candidate acting on his beliefs.

“I’ve listened to him complain long enough,” says Sinclair. “It’s time he did something.

End of article

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