Lupe Valdez: Democrat, Hispanic, Female, Openly Gay and Sheriff of Dallas County

We were incredibly impressed with Sheriff Lupe Valdez, who was a speaker at several events held during DemocracyFest, the DFA-related event hosted by Democracy for Texas that we attended in Austin last month.

She's interviewed in the summer issue of Equality, the magazine of the Human Rights Campaign. This link has excerpts, but the entire interview is well worth a read. You can get a copy by joining HRC.

Lupe is a Democrat and the first Hispanic to serve as Sheriff in Dallas County. Also the first woman. And undoubtedly the first lesbian. How did Sheriff Valdez win in DALLAS County, TX of all places? By going directly to the people, looking them in the eyes and convincing them she was for THEM instead of the special interests of monied contributors. That she had integrity. That she would change the scandal-ridden, business as usual, good ol' boy network that was in control of the post for several decades. She reached out to people who hadn't been approached for their votes in decades. She brought thousands of people back into the process and reaped the benefits of their votes. How refreshing. And successful.

Here's a profile of Sheriff Valdez from the Washington Post. My favorite quote:

"What have we come to when we can't say 'elected official' in the same sentence as 'interest of the people' or 'honesty' or 'trust'?" Valdez asked.