In The Community
Jessica Cisneros came riding in with the sunrise against Democratic incumbent House Rep. Henry Cuellar (TX-28), who has held his seat in the heavily gerrymandered district since 2005. Cisneros, a 28-year-old immigration attorney endorsed by progressive groups like Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Working Families Party and leaders including Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, certainly rocked the boat since she announced her bid for the seat back in 2019.
Though she didn’t win against the anti-abortion Cuellar in 2020, this year is a very different outcome with runoff elections scheduled to be held today, Tuesday May 24th, after the primary election back in March left the Latino-majority district with less than one thousand votes between the two candidates prompting a run-off.
Photo courtesy of Jessica Cisneros for Congress
Cueller losing his House seat could potentially mark a bigger turn of the tide towards electing more progressive Democrats, especially with the threat of Roe v. Wade being overturned by the Supreme Court looming over Texan women. Maintaining abortion access has been elevated as a priorty issue for pro-choice candidates running for public office - and it could be the one that hands progressives the win in Texas House District 28.
Nationally, candidates running on progressive platforms won more elections than their traditionally moderate counterparts.
Rochelle Garza’s bid for Texas Attorney General is based on the same progressive ideals - the 37-year old ACLU attorney successfully fought against the Trump administration’s attempt at blocking a teenager in ICE custody a right to an abortion in JD v. Azar, leading to the creation of the “Garza Notice” that informs teenagers held in immigration custody their right to an accessible abortion. Garza presents a real threat to Republican incumbent Ken Paxton, whose self proclaimed “Tea Party Conservative” identification has held reproductive rights for Texans hostage since his win in 2015 and is currently in his own Republican run-off.
Although the Attorney General candidate has never run for public office, Garza led the Democratic election primary held on March 1 with an impressive 43% of the vote while opponent Joe Jaworski received 19.7%. Despite the clear lead, at least 50% of the vote must be earned by one candidate to win the primary and avoid a run-off.
On this election Tuesday in Texas, it appears that Garza is the clear favorite to win among Democrats, who will then be tasked with running state-wide to potentially take on Republican incumbent Ken Paxton or his opponent, Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush. The slate will be set when polls close at 7:00pm.
Texas State Representative Celia Israel (TX-D-50) is also making history with her announcement for Austin city mayor. If she wins, she will become the first Latina Mayor of a major U.S. city. Israel has held her seat in the Texas House of Representatives since 2014, making her bid for Austin city mayor one rooted in expanding her effectiveness as a public official and an aggressive housing affordability platform.
As an openly LGBTQ+ candidate, her platform is focusing on increasing the quality of life for Austin residents through transportation, housing, and affordability. As a candidate in a city that has seen housing prices skyrocket along with a large population boom as big tech companies like Google, Tesla, and more build HQs there, her issues are not only relevant but needed at a time when too many residents are being priced out of their homes.
Israel is slated to potentially run against a variety of candidates, mostly notably former Austin mayor Kirk Watson. The filing deadline is August 22, 2022 and the general election is November 8th, 2022.
Photo courtesy of Celia for Austin
With so many excellent candidates, we can only hope the amount of Latinas we’re seeing run for office across the nation continues to grow. With 30 million + Latinas in the U.S., we are still woefully underrepresented, but these three Latinas are helping to forge the path ahead.
If you need help finding a polling location, click here. Remember that Texas Republicans have made voting incredibly difficult so take all your documentation that you have available. For example, for many who just moved to the state and are registered, but don’t have a Texas ID, a U.S. passport is usually one of the only acceptable documents left. These are the 7 acceptable forms of identification in Texas to vote:
Texas Driver License issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)
Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS
Texas Personal Identification Card issued by DPS
Texas Handgun License issued by DPS
United States Military Identification Card containing the person’s photograph
United States Citizenship Certificate containing the person’s photograph
United States Passport (book or card)
Polls close across the the state at 7:00pm.
If I’m being honest, my first reaction when I saw this Instagram meme was: Where the hell is Puerto-Rican Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), who is a social media queen! She represents the 14th Congressional District in New York, which I’m proud to say is my district. She has 4.6 million Instagram followers. For comparison, the highest-ranking woman in government, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has just 1.1 million followers. Emily’s List failure to include a single Latina when AOC exists is just baffling to me.
What’s worse, Emily’s List could have selected some of the Latinas they’ve endorsed in the past, like Veronica Escobar, who made history by being the first Latina to represent Texas in the House of Representatives.
photo credit: escobar.house.gov
It may seem like just a simple Instagram meme, but In 2020, at a time when we knowthe Latinx community should not be taken for granted, not including Latinas feels like erasure. Latinos make up 18 percent of the United States population–the biggest ethnic/racial block in the U.S.
Latinx political power isn’t a new discovery – it’s been touted for more than one election cycle. Mayra Macias, of the Latino Victory Fund, recently said, “there is no path to victory without speaking holistically to [Latinos].”
I took the time to review Emily List’s history, and they share how they have been helping elect women of color to different levels of government, most recently supporting Susana Mendoza, for Illinois state comptroller. Was overlooking Latinas in this graphic simply a mistake? Or perhaps it’s indicative of a larger issue about the barriers that continue to make it difficult for Latinas to run for office like when institutions like Emily’s list don’t see us.
While the Latinx community makes up close to 20 percent of the population, Latinas are still underrepresented in elected office. The nonpartisan group Gender Watch 2018 reports that Latinas represent less than 2 percent of the total elected officials across Congress, statewide elected executive offices, and state legislatures.
While the representation of Latinas is dismal, overall representation of women in politics isn’t great with the United States ranking 75th place in the world when it comes to women in office. When women run for office, they are judged more harshly on everything: how they look, how they speak, how “emotional” they are, how likeable they are. Alicia Menendez gives illuminating examples in her book “The Likeability Trap,” of the challenges women candidates face. She writes “There is a bias against women who seek power, women who think they have what it takes to lead, and women who take credit for their success.” In short, in running for political office, women have a lot more hurdles, even though most women run not because they are trying to take credit or grab power, but because they want to improve their communities.
Traditionally, in order to run for office, you also need a well-connected network, you need to be able to fundraise, you need time to campaign, talk to people and learn about the issues. Groups like Emily’s List exist to help women build their networks, provide fundraising support, and training. But, many of these organizations only recently started focusing on the compounded challenges that women of color face when it comes to running.
Running for office can be really hard for Latinas, who may not have access to resources or social networks as “traditional” (i.e. white male) candidates do. Latinas face a tremendous wealth gap, earning just 54 cents for every dollar a white man earns, and they are the ones providing care to children or an aging adult, or both.
photo credit: Andy Katz
Jessica Ramos, a Colombiana who is currently a Senator in the New York State Senate, says the biggest barriers to running for office are childcare and income, as running for office is a full-time job. Ramos says the only reason she was able to run was because her mother stepped up big time. Campaigning, as The Atlantic put it, “isn’t very family-friendly.” With these obstacles, it’s no surprise that women may face self doubt and need to be intentionally recruited to run for office.
Despite these challenges, we can draw hope from candidates like Ocasio-Cortez who won against an incumbent Democrat through many small donations and without the injection of large sums of money from corporations or political action committees. If you live in a place like New York City, where the Matching Funds Program matches donations 8 to 1 (so, for $100 raised, you get $800 more), you’re lucky. Strides are being made to help mothers run for office as well, now that you can use your campaign funds to pay for childcare, thanks to one mom who ran for office in Long Island.
When we see Latina candidates and recognize the barriers they face, we can all take steps to support them. We can support these candidates in a multitude of ways: canvassing, donating, phone or text banking from the comfort and safety of your own home, and/or hosting a virtual party to introduce the candidate to others in your community.
We’ve heard this time and time again: you can’t be what you can’t see, and this is why so many Latinas reacted to Emily’s List’s meme’s erasure of Latinas. We must keep demanding to be included, visible and represented.
