Lupe Valdez, a lesbian Dallas County Sheriff, has won the democratic nomination to be the governor of Texas. She now faces the incumbent Republican Governor Greg Abbott. Valdez is the first openly gay Latina candidate to win a nomination for governor from any party in Texas.
Valdez had already served four terms as a sheriff in Dallas County and is a part of the larger blue wave that is sweeping through primarily red states. Others include Ortiz Jones and Beto O’Rourke, Ted Cruz’s opponent, as politicians who could change the state’s political landscape.
Valdez’s campaign platform includes issues such as improving healthcare and increasing the living wage. She also offers a much more subtle approach to the Texas’s immigration issues compared to her rival’s more strict approach.
She’s also fought with Abbott before, regarding a case of detaining undocumented immigrants. Abbott also opposes sanctuary cities and restricted elected officials like Valdez from having a say about the treatment of undocumented officials.
Yet, as unlikely as her election seems she’s faced difficult challenges before as her first election for sheriff was in the 2000’s at the height of Republican leadership.
However, Abbott has been on the controversial side lately as in the wake of the Santa Fe high school shooting, his re-election campaign originally wanted to have a free shotgun giveaway. They’ve since changed it to a $250 gift card.