2020 Election
Latina organizer Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez enters Democratic primary to challenge Republican John Cornyn
August 12, 2019 7:30AM ET
Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez Image via Christina for Texas
Tzintzún Ramirez, who helped found the Workers Defense Project and Jolt Texas, is the latest Democrat to announce a bid to deny Cornyn a fourth term.
Leading Latina organizer Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez is launching a campaign for U.S. Senate, entering a Democratic primary to oust Republican John Cornyn that has steadily grown throughout the summer.
The daughter of an immigrant mother, co-founder of the Workers Defense Project and founder of the progressive Latino youth group Jolt Texas, Tzintzún Ramirez argues she has the best story, experience and ideas to harness the energy of Texas' ascendant voters, particularly young people of color. To do so, she will have the help of some of the top organizers from Beto O'Rourke's 2018 U.S. Senate campaign, a potentially pivotal asset as the crowded field vies to build on O'Rourke's closer-than-expected loss to GOP U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.
"I don't think we have a reflection of those in power that represent the Texas we are today. I think I represent those ideals and the diversity of the state, and I want Texas to be a national leader in solving the major problems that our country faces," Tzintzún Ramirez said in an interview, citing health care, immigration and climate change as major issues the state should be at the forefront of tackling.
Tzintzún Ramirez made her candidacy official in a video Monday morning.
The longtime organizer joins a primary lineup that is approaching a double-digit tally. Among the better-known contenders are former U.S. Rep. Chris Bell of Houston, Houston City Councilwoman Amanda Edwards, 2018 U.S. House candidate MJ Hegar, state Sen. Royce West of Dallas and Sema Hernandez, who was the runner-up to O'Rourke in the 2018 Senate primary.
Tzintzún Ramirez welcomed a competitive nominating contest as healthy for Democrats, saying the candidates in the Senate race are "all essentially at the same starting place," unknown to most voters statewide and thus forced to run on the merits of their platforms. Asked how she plans to distinguish herself, she pointed to her forthrightness on the issues and her record of mobilizing the kind of voters often overlooked by politicians.
"I know how to speak to the diversity of this state," Tzintzún Ramirez said.
Tzintzún Ramirez could add a more progressive and confrontational voice to the primary. In the interview, she voiced support for Medicare for All, the single-payer health care proposal championed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the two-time Democratic presidential candidate. At the same time, she said she would be pleased to start with a public option that would give people the choice of signing up for government-run health care.
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