Mary Edna González (born October 30, 1983) is an American politician who serves in the Texas House of Representatives from House District 75.[1] She is a member of the Democratic Party and was elected in November 2012 to represent an area that includes eastern El Paso County, parts of the city of El Paso and the towns of Socorro, Clint, Fabens, Horizon City, San Elizario and Tornillo.[2] She is also the first openly pansexual elected official in the United States.[3][4]
Mary Edna González | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 75th district | |
| Assumed office January 8, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Inocente "Chente" Quintanilla |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 30, 1983 Clint, Texas, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Residence(s) | Clint, Texas, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Texas at Austin, St. Edward's University |
| Committees | Appropriations, Agriculture & Livestock |
| Website | Campaign website |
Her primary platforms are to increase economic development, improve public schools, equality, and support agriculture in District 75.
Early life and education
editMary González was born and raised in Clint, Texas and graduated from Clint High School.[5] González received her bachelor's degree in History and Mexican American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) and her master's degree in Social Justice from St. Edward's University. In 2019, she received her doctoral degree in Curriculum and Instruction-Cultural Studies in Education from the University of Texas at Austin.[5]
Previous work
editEarly in her career, González worked for former Texas House Dean Paul Moreno and State Representative Richard Raymond.
Mary González has also worked at the National Hispanic Institute, UT Austin, and was the assistant dean for student multicultural affairs at Southwestern University.[5] She has also worked as a visiting instructor at Southwestern University, and a Graduate Research Assistant at UT Austin where she developed curriculum for the UT Outreach Centers in San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley. She also served as the Latino Outreach Coordinator for the Texas Democratic Party.
She served as national president for the Latina-based, service sorority Kappa Delta Chi, from 2013 to 2015.[6][7] González is also Co-Chair of the board of directors for ALLGO,[8] Texas' statewide Queer People of Color organization.
Political career
editTexas House of Representatives
editGonzález won the Democratic primary for House District 75 in May 2012. With no Republican opponent, she won in the general election unopposed, becoming the first woman to represent her district.
During the 85th legislative session, González served on the United States House Committee on Appropriations and was Vice Chair of the House Committee on Agriculture & Livestock.
During the 86th legislative session, González served on the House Committee on Appropriations, and is a member of the Subcommittee on Article III, which has a primary focus on education. She also served on the Public Education committee and was vice chair of the Local & Consent Calendars Committee.
She is currently serving her second term as vice chair of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, and second term as secretary of the House Border Caucus. González also serves as vice chair of the Board of Hispanic Caucus Chairs. Additionally, González was elected chair of the new Texas House LGBTQ Caucus, which was formed in January 2019. She was also elected to serve on the nonpartisan board of directors for the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Education Fund.[9]
Awards and recognition
editIn May 2013, González was named "Freshman of the Year" by Mexican American Legislative Caucus (MALC), the country's oldest and largest Latino legislative caucus.
González was also named a "Champion of Equality" and 2015's "Advocate of the Year" by Equality Texas.
In 2015, González became the youngest inductee to the El Paso Women's Hall of Fame.
González was named one of ten "Next Generation Latinas" by Latina Magazine for her leadership in education. She was also named one of 10 newly elected politicians to watch by NBC Latino.[citation needed]
Election history
edit2012 election
edit| Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hector Enriquez | 2,191 | 36.05% | ||
| ✓ | Mary E. González | 3,165 | 52.07% | |
| "Tony" San Roman | 722 | 11.87% | ||
| Turnout | 6,078 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Mary E. González | 19,789 | 100.00 | 0.00 | |
| Majority | 19,789 | 100.00 | 0.00 | ||
| Turnout | 19,789 | 100.00 | |||
| Democratic hold | |||||
2014 election
edit| Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ✓ | Mary E. González | 2,748 | 68.91% | |
| Rey "Coach" Sepulveda | 1,240 | 31.09% | ||
| Turnout | 3,988 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Mary E. González (I) | 8,453 | 100.00 | 0.00 | |
| Majority | 8,453 | 100.00 | 0.00 | ||
| Turnout | 8,453 | 100.00 | |||
| Democratic hold | |||||
2016 election
edit| Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ✓ | Mary E. González | 5,134 | 57.92% | |
| Chente Quintanilla | 3,730 | 42.08% | ||
| Turnout | 8,864 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Mary E. González (I) | 32,576 | 100.00 | 0.00 | |
| Majority | 32,576 | 100.00 | 0.00 | ||
| Turnout | 32,576 | 100.00 | |||
| Democratic hold | |||||
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ "Texas House District 75". house.texas.gov. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
- ^ Texas Legislative Council (2015-01-13). "House District 75 (TX, US) (map) 2015-2016" (PDF). Texas House of Representatives, Texas Legislature. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-05-29. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
- ^ Waugh, Anna (2012-08-10). "Mary Gonzalez comes out as pansexual". dallasvoice.com. Dallas, TX, US 75204: Voice Publishing Company, Inc. Archived from the original on 2013-12-17. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
Texas' only openly LGBT legislator will be nation's 1st out pansexual elected official, after saying she rejects both 'lesbian' and 'bisexual'
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ Signorile, Michelangelo (2015-05-29). "Mary Gonzalez, First Openly Pansexual Legislator, Explains How She Is Changing Minds In Texas". The Huffington Post. New York, US: HPMG News. Archived from the original on 2015-05-30. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
She first came out as pansexual – which is distinct from bisexual because it defines an individual who is attracted to various gender identities – in 2012 after first being elected... But it had been reported that she came out as lesbian first and then later came out as pansexual. But, she explained, 'lesbian' was never an identity that she claimed for herself.
- ^ a b c Gonzalez, Mary. "Meet Mary: About Mary". Mary Gonzalez Campaign. Archived from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
- ^ "Introducing KDChi President Mary Gonz[á]lez". Kappa Delta Chi. Archived from the original on 2013-09-23.
- ^ Flores, Adriana (2013-05-29). "Newly Elected KDChi Natl Officers!". Kappa Delta Chi. Archived from the original on 2015-05-30. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
Mary Gonz[á]lez: National President
- ^ "Board of Directors". Austin, TX, US: allgo.org. Archived from the original on 2014-05-13. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
- ^ "Texas House of Representatives".
- ^ "2012 [TX] Democratic Party Primary Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). 2012-05-29. Archived from the original on 2015-05-30. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
- ^ "2012 [TX] General Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). 2012-11-06. Archived from the original on 2015-02-17. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
- ^ a b "2014 [TX] Democratic Party Primary Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). 2014-03-04. Archived from the original on 2015-03-16. Retrieved 2015-05-30.
- ^ a b "2014 [TX] General Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). 2014-11-04. Archived from the original on 2015-02-02. Retrieved 2015-05-30.