Presidential candidates gathered at the annual African American Mayors Association Conference in Houston last week to speak to black mayors from around the country about what they seek to accomplish in the White House. Many presidential candidates such as Kamala Harris, Julian Castro, Bernie Sanders, and Cory Booker were in attendance.

This introduction to the presidential candidates gave the black mayors a chance to assess the needs of their communities and get answers from them about how they will bring solutions if elected.

There were over 500 mayors in attendance. From gun violence to environmental justice, black mayors brought up their hopes and hesitations about the candidates that spoke before them. Many of the candidates answered with policies while others referenced past wins. Here is what these presidential candidates had to say:

Kamala Harris

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Kamala Harris discussed funding historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and sourced her experience as a Howard graduate to define how she saw the world. Harris said the funding of HBCUs are a necessity for physical infrastructure and the various debts the colleges have due to sustaining professions for black people post-grad.

Harris also stated the current economy in the United States was not for working people. She proposed as president to reform the tax code to uplift working and middle-class families.

“For families that make less than $100,000 a year, they will receive up to a $6,000 tax credit, that they will receive up to $500 a month,” Harris said, promising to pay for this tax credit by repealing Trump's tax bill on her first day in office.

Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders also targeted Trump and his current administration.

“Bottom line is … we have a president today that is a pathological liar,” Sanders told the crowd of black mayors.

Sanders called for a change to the current political atmosphere through legislative solutions.

“We have to change our national priorities and invest in the American people; invest in our kids, invest in our cities,” Sanders said.

He announced he was working on a piece of legislation that would increase funding for community health centers.

Cory Booker

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Cory Booker spoke to Blavity about his plans for healthcare services in lower-income communities. He acknowledged clinics serving lower-income women of color such as Planned Parenthood need to be funded.

“There’s an urgency not just to stop the attacks on Planned Parenthood, but to make sure as a guy who ran a city that worked to open up more health clinics … we need to begin to expand these services,” Booker told Blavity. “This is the kind of care, preventative care, early detection, early intervention, that actually lowers overall healthcare services for society, and elevates human life and human dignity.”

When asked about Flint’s water crisis, Booker told Blavity:

“This is an issue, in my opinion, of the kind of distant impact we see in policies that often have minority communities being subject to different treatment than other communities that are more in the majority and wealthier. Already in the Senate, I was the one who introduced the Environmental Justice Bill. It would’ve given more tools in the toolbox for folks in Flint to fight back,” Booker said.

One of the things he proposed to do if elected president is to introduce a massive infrastructure bill to focus on the water quality of the nation, citing that Flint isn’t the only city that has problems with getting access to clean water.

Julian Castro

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Julian Castro also spoke to Blavity regarding the crisis happening at the US/Mexico border. He stood in support of abolishing ICE as a solution.

“In my People First Immigration Plan, I propose breaking up ICE and separating the Homeland Security Investigations from the enforcement activity, putting the enforcement mechanism mostly in the Department of Justice and revisiting everything — from the training to the way their job performance is measured. That department needs a radical change,” Castro said.

In his speech to the black mayors, Castro advocated for universal pre-kindergarten for four-year-olds and reached for tuition-free higher education in public colleges and universities. Castro also noted the need for a different healthcare system as he told the story of meeting a woman whose grandmother was diagnosed with diabetes, and how she couldn’t get proper treatment.

He pledged to strengthen Medicare for everyone if elected in office. Castro emphasized, during his speech, all of these issues are connected to one another.

“An investment in infrastructure with somebody’s health, safety, and the quality of life of the neighborhood; we need to ensure that we connect all of these dots,” Castro said.

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