Gonzalez Poised to Make History

All the local coverage is focused on the 16^thCongressional District in El Paso. It makes sense, its the largest and most hotly-contested race the county has seen in many years – possibly ever.

But I think the biggest story is being missed by most people. The biggest story in El Paso is going to be the race for Texas House District 75.

Why?

Simple.

Because despite the fact that we are more than a decade in to the 21^st century, there has never been a woman elected to a major seat in the Lower Valley.

Mary Gonzalez is poised to do just that. She is poised to shatter the biggest glass ceiling in the county.

Her opponent has tried to highlight her sexuality as an issue and her election would also be historic for the LGBT community.

But I think its more of a story about women. The valley is almost entirely Latino. Women hold a special place in Latino families. They are the glue that binds the family. They are the first leaders in a family. And yet, there has never been a woman elected to a major seat in the valley.

Women make up a slightly larger portion of the electorate in the valley than men.

But the story of Gonzalez is significant, should she pull out a victory on Tuesday night, because she didn't run on being a woman or being part of the LGBT community.

She ran on issues. Other than Vince Perez, she took the biggest pay-cut of any of the candidates in the field to pursue office.

Current County Commissioner Tania Chozet represents the area on Commissioner's Court, but she wasn't elected by the people. Dora Oaxaca is pursuing the office of County Commissioner Precict 3, also a valley office, but a Oaxaca victory is a long-shot given the fact that there are four candidates in the race.

By contrast, Oaxaca did run on being a woman. She really tried hard to connect with voters on that level. She sent out a women-oriented piece of mail thanking women for being “woman strong” and the piece was pink. Her logo was ordained with stylish line designs that gave it the feel of a Scentsy candle ad rather than a political piece.

At the polling places she would tell women voters, “Dora Oaxaca tu servidora, arriba las mujeres.”

She pushed the fact that she is a single mother.

Tomorrow night the media is going to be talking about the Congressional race. But they are going to miss the real story.

The night that a glass ceiling was finally shattered in the lower valley.