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Rick Perry casts doubt on win of first openly gay student president at Texas A&M

US Energy Secretary Rick Perry, a Texas A&M alum, says the student body election was 'stolen,' prompting the university and others to push back against the former state governor. 

First Look

Earlier this month, Texas A&M student Bobby Brooks was elected student body president, making him the first openly gay student to hold the position. At a school that has historically been聽 in the nation, Mr. Brooks鈥檚 election .

The campaign hadn't ended on a high note, however. One of Brooks's rivals, Robert McIntosh, had the lead when the votes were first counted. But then, the student-run Judicial Court disqualified him for聽. That decision was overturned, but Mr. McIntosh : not providing receipts for glow sticks featured in a campaign video.

Then, in an even stranger twist, US Energy Secretary Rick Perry put both candidates into the national spotlight. , the former Texas governor and proud A&M alum argued, 鈥淎pparently, glow sticks merit the same punishment as voter intimidation.鈥�

鈥淓very Aggie ought to ask themselves: How would they act and feel if the victim was different? What if McIntosh had been a minority student instead of a white male? What if Brooks had been the candidate disqualified?鈥� he wrote.聽

Now, the university is pushing back against what it considers Mr. Perry鈥檚 implication that Brooks鈥檚 sexuality affected the court鈥檚 decision 鈥� and outside observers are questioning the secretary鈥檚 motives for getting involved in student politics.

鈥淭o suggest that the same decision of disqualification would not have been made if the roles were reversed,鈥� , 鈥渋s to deny the Texas A&M of today where accountability applies to all.鈥�

According to聽, a 鈥渓ack of receipts or Fair Market Value Form鈥� for campaign items 鈥� such as the glow sticks waved in McIntosh鈥檚 campaign video 鈥� can serve as grounds for disqualification.

Both candidates , according to a list of reported violations. But in Brooks鈥檚 case, the student court found that only one 鈥� leaving a banner unattended 鈥� came with enough evidence to levy a minor sanction against him ($10 to the school's Election Commission).

But as the dust settles from the election, a bigger question is emerging: Why would the energy secretary delve into a university election in the first place?

In his op-ed, Perry voiced deep affection for his alma mater, saying that McIntosh鈥檚 alleged mistreatment 鈥渋s precisely opposite from the values that I learned as an A&M cadet.鈥�

But聽indicated Perry has loose connections to the disqualified candidate.聽

鈥淢cIntosh, a senior, is the son of Dallas-based Republican fundraiser Alison McIntosh, who worked on Jeb Bush's 2016 campaign and Mitt Romney's 2012 run for president. Perry, twice a presidential hopeful himself, is featured in photographs with McIntosh's other children on Facebook," wrote the newspaper's Lauren McGaughy.聽

Whatever Perry's motives, some observers think that he should focus less on his alma mater and more on the federal agency he has been tasked with leading 鈥� a department that plays a crucial role in maintaining America鈥檚 energy supply and nuclear arsenal, but that faces next year.

As Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, , 鈥渢he extraordinary part is that [Perry] took the time to do this when he should have so many bigger fish to fry in his current job."