First Mexican American Delegate From Tennessee Is Newly Minted Citizen

By Victor Landa, NewsTaco

Ivan Serna is  an unlikely delegate to the Democratic National Convention, but he doesn’t see it that way. He’s the first Mexican-American delegate from the state of Tennessee. To the rest of the U.S. Latino community the fact that there is a politically engaged Latino in a southeastern state is extraordinary in itself, not that Latinos in the southeast are not engaged, it’s just that there was never a critical mass of Latinos large enough there to support their politics – apparently until now.

I heard about Serna in random conversation with a couple of Tennessee delegates in a completely unrelated context. They mentioned the first Mexican-American delegate from their state and I immediately knew I had to meet him. It took a few text exchanges, a bit of a keystone cops routine on the convention floor to connect, but I finally met up with him. And we sat for a quick chat. I won’t say more because I want his story to come from him. But I will tell you that I found him energetic, engaged, dapper in a pin-striped suit and he talks with a great southern accent that seems fitting, given the story.