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Meet the Latina Giving the Good Old Boys Club a Run for Its Money

Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez hopes to unseat U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas)

Christine Bolaños
ZORA
Published in
6 min readSep 4, 2019

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Photography: Lizzie Chen

VVying for a Senate seat is a tall order for a longtime workers’ rights advocate who has never held political office before — much less joining a race with six other Democrats also throwing their hats in the ring for the party’s nomination. But Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez promises to run an unapologetically progressive campaign that calls for immediate and aggressive action on climate change, a “massive disinvestment” in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ample support of Medicare for All, and economic change that ensures fair-paying and safe jobs for all Texans.

Tzintzún Ramirez is, for all intents and purposes, the antithesis to Cornyn. She is a multiethnic millennial while Cornyn is a white, Texas-bred baby boomer. Cornyn has previously served as attorney general of Texas, associate justice of the Texas Supreme Court, and judge of the Texas 37th Judicial District Court. Meanwhile, Tzintzún Ramirez has pledged to run a grassroots campaign and does not plan to accept funding from political action committees.

On the other hand, Cornyn accepts support from PACs and gets funding from various industries, including securities and investment and oil and gas. If she defeats Cornyn, Tzintzún Ramirez would disrupt the status quo in one of the conservative state’s highest-elected offices. Her election would usher in a new era of politics in Texas that better represents the diversifying demographics of the state, while giving the Republican Party hard evidence that Texas may be transforming into a purple or blue state.

RRaised a proud Irish and Mexican American, Tzintzún Ramirez grew up as a part of two contrasting worlds in Ohio before moving to Texas. Her mother was the oldest of nine children and came from a farm-working family in southern Mexico. Her father was an entrepreneur in Ohio. This helped her recognize that despite varying looks, languages, and communities, all people want their families to be safe, healthy, and treated with respect.

Both her parents instilled in her a fierce pride in her Mexican roots and a strong progressive ideology.

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ZORA
ZORA

Published in ZORA

A publication from Medium that centers the stories, poetry, essays and thoughts of women of color.

Christine Bolaños
Christine Bolaños

Written by Christine Bolaños

Salvadoran American journalist focused on women’s rights & Latino issues from Texas. IWMF Fellow. Versed in editing, writing, research and translation.

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