Lupe Valdez, a child of migrant farm workers and an openly gay Dallas County Sherrif, officially announced her candidacy for Texas’ 2018 governor’s race five days before the filing deadline ended. Prior to her entrance, few serious contenders were vying for the position.
Valdez offers a refreshing contrast to the current governor Greg Abbot, with whom she’s found herself at odds in the past in matters concerning immigration. She might just be the highest-profile challenger there is against Abbot.
“Like so many hardworking Texans, I know it’s tough deciding between buying food, finding a decent place to live, and setting aside money for college tuition,” Valdez states on her official website. “Opportunity in Texas ought to be as big as this great state, but it is out of reach for far too many. That’s why I’m running for Texas Governor. I’m a proud Texas Democrat. I believe good government can make people’s lives better, and I intend to do just that.”
What placed her at odds with Abbot took place in 2015, after proclaiming she would review immigration detention requests one by one and judge whether to detain them or not according to the specific case’s circumstances. Abbot openly criticized this form of action as a “serious danger to Texans,” to which Valdez replied in a letter asking Congress to “not burden local law enforcement on immigration.”
Valdez’s words might not match her actions, though, because, in 2016 alone, she honored all 2,500 federal immigration detainer requests, without exception. Deportation defense director of United We Dream, Carolina Canizales, said she’s disappointed with Valdez.
“It’s very disappointing that she’s a Latina, that she comes from an immigrant background, and she refuses to stand with the community,” Canizales said. “For us, she still has a lot of work to do.”
Texas has not had a Democrat in the governor’s office in more than twenty years. Even Valdez’s mixed message regarding immigration policies could fail to give her the edge against Abbott’s estimated $40 million dollars worth of campaigning.
After announcing her gubernatorial candidacy, Valdez immediately resigned her position as Dallas County Sheriff per Texas law. An interim is currently replacing her and will take her place until a new sheriff gets elected.
This article was inspired by SPLINTER // Dallas’ Openly Gay Latina Sheriff Is Running for Texas Governor