Meet the woman who hopes to become the first Latina from Texas in congress

*Dolly Elizondo has the momentum leading to Super Tuesday and the Democratic primary in Texas. Emily’s List, Wendy Davis, Kirsten Gillibrand have all endorsed her. VL

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By Cristina Arreola, Latina (5.3 minute read)

Dolly Elizondo has the chance to accomplish something incredible this year: if successful in her campaign, she will become the first Latina from Texas in Congress.

Elizondo, a native of The Rio Grande Valley who still lives in Mission, Texas,  never intended to run for political office. At 19, she married and settled into her life as a wife and mother. Ten years later, she had two daughters, no college degree and a dream of going back to school. She eventually graduated from the University of Texas-Pan American, and took a job teaching. She began selling real-estate on the side to pick up some extra cash, and made the decision to pursue real estate and land development as a full-time career. She quickly became the first woman south of San Antonio to become a certified investment manager.

But her leap into politics came by surprise — even to her. Along with several friends, she founded the Hidalgo Country Democratic Women after becoming frustrated by the inattention paid to women’s voices and concerns in her country. She became the organization’s first president, and two years later, she defeated an incumbant candidate to become Hidalgo County’s Democratic Party Chair.

Click HERE to reaed the full story.

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[Photo courtesy of Latina]

Suggested reading

Chicano! The History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement is the most comprehensive account of the arduous struggle by Mexican Americans to secure and protect their civil rights. It is also a companion volume to the critically acclaimed, four-part documentary series of the same title. This volume is a testament to the Mexican American community’s hard-fought battle for social and legal equality as well as political and cultural identity.

Since the United States-Mexico War in 1846-1848, Mexican Americans have striven to achieve full rights as citizens. From peaceful resistance and violent demonstrations, when their rights were ignored or abused, to the establishment of support organizations to carry on the struggle and the formation of labor unions to provide a united voice, the movement grew in strength and numbers. However, it was during the 1960s and 1970s that the campaign exploded into a nationwide groundswell of Mexican Americans laying claim, once and for all, to their civil rights and asserting their cultural heritage. They took a name that had been used disparagingly against them for years—Chicano—and fashioned it into a battle cry, a term of pride, affirmation and struggle.

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