Gay Latina Lupe Valdez Wins Nomination For Texas Governor

Lupe Valdez scored a huge victory last night in Texas. The former Sheriff of Dallas County — and openly gay U.S. veteran — beat Andrew White in the Democratic runoff and now is officially running to be Texas governor. In the November election, Valdez will face Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. If she wins, not only will she be the first Latina governor, but also the first democratic governor in the state of Texas in 30 years. So does she have a chance?

Thank you, @randrewwhite and your entire team for running an incredible campaign with such passion and spirit.

I look forward to working with you all to to achieve our shared goal of giving everyday Texans a voice in Austin and beating Greg Abbott in November. https://t.co/u4c1NPQHAG

— Lupe Valdez (@LupeValdez) May 23, 2018

“I am constantly hearing this is going to be such an uphill battle,” Valdez told supporters in Dallas last night. “Please, tell me when I didn’t have an uphill battle,” she said. Valdez goes on to say that as a kid she had to take a city bus from home to school, which was on the other side of town. She said she also faced an uphill battle when held “two to three jobs to get to go to college. I am getting darned good at uphill battles.”

One huge battle that awaits Valdez is what her strategy will be to take on Abbott. Various news outlets report that his campaign funds for the November race is a whopping $41 million. Some might think that money shouldn’t play a factor when it comes to an election, but campaign funds are everything. Without proper marketing, Valdez could get lost in the mix. People, however, remain optimistic. If she came this far, who knows how far she can take it.

“He may have all that money, but we’ve got the grassroots,” Valdez told the Texas Tribune. “For sure, no one is going to buy this election.”

Last night Valdez reiterated that she has what it takes to win the race in November because she represents the people of Texas.

“I am the candidate of the average, everyday Texan,” she said in her victory speech. “And I will never, never, never stop working for you.”