Los Angeles, CA – Latina Cristina Tzintzún, 37, is one of the leading Democratic candidates to face Republican Senator John Cornyn in the November elections with the goal of filling one of the two National Senate positions representing the state from Texas.
From a Mexican mother and an American Irish father, she grew up seeing how people treated them differently because of their physical appearance and accent; some episodes that motivated him to fight for the rights of the working class and migrants from an early age.
Thus, she became a union organizer and activist and founded several organizations: The Workers Defense Project (WDP), the Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition (AIRC) and Jolt, a group that mobilizes the vote among young Latinos.
Now, and after the express request of the Beto O’Rourke campaign team, which was about to unseat also Republican Senator Ted Cruz in 2018, he has appeared at this year’s elections to become a United States Senator.
Question: Why is she the best candidate to fill the position of US Senator? What is your message to the voters?
Answer: I will be the next senator for Texas because I am a person who fights for the interests of Texas families, something I have done for the past 15 years. I have led initiatives to improve the conditions of construction workers and to make university access more accessible, for example. I know how to motivate voters and now it’s time to bring a new generation to the polls.
SKIN COLOR DISCRIMINATION
Q: Tell us your personal story. What motivated you to fight for the rights of migrants?
A: I am the daughter of immigrants. My mother is the youngest of nine children born in Michoacán (Mexico) in a family of very humble origin, very poor peasants. Growing up between Texas and Ohio, many times I could see how my mother, a woman with dark skin and an accent, was treated very differently from my father. That seemed an injustice to me since I was a child and it motivated me to dedicate myself to the immigrant community.
In addition, I have a son in common with my ex-husband, who was a “dreamer” (undocumented youth protected by the Deferred Action program -DACA-) and has now been able to legalize his situation. I also experienced the difficulties my own family has faced with the immigration system we have.
Q: Is it possible to defeat John Cornyn?
A: He has won all these years (he is a federal senator since 2002) with a minority of participation, but that is changing. I don’t think I can win in 2020 because there’s Trump too. Neither he nor Trump are popular in our state. (…) We are the state with the lowest percentage of people with health insurance and with higher levels of child poverty. In addition, Cornyn has partnered with Trump, who has attacked and discriminated against the majority of the population of Texas: Latinos, African Americans and Asians.
“THERE ARE GREAT OPPORTUNITIES WITH YOUNG VOTERS”
Q: What teaching is taken from Beto O’Rourke’s campaign against Ted Cruz? He was very close, but in the end he didn’t win.
A: We get excellent things from Beto, but we are learning about how we can improve. There are great opportunities with young voters, low-income people, the working class. With that coalition we can defeat Cornyn.
Q: The Democratic primary in Texas is next March 3 and faces eleven other possible candidates. Who are the strongest candidates?
A: I see a very likely second round, but I think I will ultimately win because I am focusing on the needs of the people, of the working class that politicians forget. In the last survey, I came out number one and you could see the diversity of the people who support me.
My immigration proposals, with a modern system that legally allows migrants to take up “empty” jobs, while protecting the rights of Americans, and my ideas against the climate crisis will be important.
If I win, not only will Texas change, but the whole country.
