A new sheriff may soon be in town in Texas, and she’s already making history.
Former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez narrowly defeated her opponent in the primary race for Texas governor Tuesday night. Her nomination alone is an achievement; Valdez is the first openly gay and Latina to win a major party nomination for governor in the state.
The state’s current governor, Republican Greg Abbott, is an anti-LGBT conservative. He opposes gay marriage.
Marriage was defined by God. No man can redefine it. We will defend our religious liberties. #tcot
Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 26, 2015
Last year Abbott signed a bill that would allow adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBT potential parents. House Bill 3859 gave faith-based adoption agencies the right to turn people away “under circumstances that conflict with the provider’s sincerely held religious beliefs.”
Valdez wants to bring Texas to the present.
“Tonight is a victory for all of us who are fighting for a stronger and fairer Texas. A tolerant and diverse Texas,” she said when she accepted her nomination. A Texas where the everyday person has a voice and a fair shot just as I had.”
Valdez, a former United States Army captain, acknowledged that she has a long journey ahead of her. But it’s nothing she can’t handle.
“I am constantly hearing this is an uphill battle. Please tell me when I didn’t have an uphill battle,” she said.
“I am getting darn good at uphill battles.”
Women particularly minority women have been owning their uphill battles in politics. Women also secured Democratic nominations in Kentucky and Georgia, where the first Black woman was nominated to run for governor for a major party.
Currently there are only six female governors across the country (as well as District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser).
And the LGBT community saw another victory in Texas. Gina Ortiz Jones secured the Democratic runoff for one of the state’s Congressional districts. She could make history in November too; if she defeats her opponent, Jones will be the first lesbian, Filipina American and Iraq War veteran serving Texas in Congress.
She too has an uphill battle against Will Hurd, her two-term incumbent opponent, who like Abbott in the race for governor has a lot of support and money.
