Guadalupe Valdez (born October 11, 1947) is an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
law enforcement official who served as
Sheriff of
Dallas County,
Texas, from 2005 to 2017, and was the
Democratic nominee for
Governor of Texas in the
2018 gubernatorial election. She lost to the
incumbent
The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-el ...
,
Greg Abbott.
Early life
Valdez was born and raised in
San Antonio, as the youngest of eight children of
Mexican-American
Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...
migrant farm worker
A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work.
Migrant workers who work outsi ...
parents.
[
]
She started life by working in the fields but paid her way through college. She earned a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six y ...
in
Business Administration
Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...
from
Southern Nazarene University in
Bethany, Oklahoma
Bethany is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. The community was founded in 1909 by followers of the Church of the Nazarene from Oklahoma City.
History
Bethany was founded July 2 ...
, and later a
master's degree in
criminology
Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and ...
and
criminal justice
Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing othe ...
from the
University of Texas at Arlington.
Early career
Prior to entering law enforcement, Lupe Valdez was an officer in the
United States Army Reserve, where she attained the rank of
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
.
Her law enforcement career began as a jailer, first in a
county jail
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correcti ...
and then in a
federal prison. She then moved on to investigative roles as an agent of the
General Services Administration, the
U.S. Department of Agriculture and, finally, the
U.S. Customs Service
The United States Customs Service was the very first federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected border security duties, as well as conducted c ...
. With the creation of the
Department of Homeland Security in 2002, she was made a Senior Agent, serving in that role until her retirement. In January 2004, Valdez retired to run for the office of Dallas County Sheriff. In 2009, Valdez complete
Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Governmentprogram for Senior Executives in State and Local Government as
David BohnettLGBTQ Victory Institute
Leadership Fellow.
Political career
Elections and terms as sheriff
On January 2, 2004, Lupe Valdez announced her candidacy for the
Democratic nomination for Dallas County Sheriff. During the primary election, she faced three opponents, and finished as the highest vote-getter with 13,867 votes. She subsequently won a run-off election against future Dallas
County Judge
The term county judge is applied as a descriptor, sometimes as a title, for a person who presides over a county court. In most cases, such as in Northern Ireland and the Victorian County Courts, a county judge is a judicial officer with civil ...
Jim Foster. Valdez won 73 percent of the vote in the run-off.
As she entered the general campaign, Valdez was widely considered the underdog in her general election race against
Republican Danny Chandler. Chandler, a 30-year veteran of the Sheriff's Department, had defeated incumbent Sheriff Jim Bowles in the Republican primary. Bowles, who was tainted by corruption allegations, had held the office for 20 years. As an openly lesbian candidate for public office, Valdez's campaign won the backing of the
Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund
The LGBTQ Victory Fund (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund), commonly shortened to Victory Fund, is an American political action committee dedicated to increasing the number of openly LGBTQ public officials in the United States. Victory F ...
. The general election saw Valdez beat Chandler by 51.3% to 48.7%, a margin of some 18,000 votes.
She was sworn in on January 1, 2005. Upon taking office as Dallas County Sheriff, Valdez faced a department that was wracked by poor morale, tainted by allegations of corruption and marred by the fact that the Dallas County Jail had begun failing state and federal inspections prior to her election. The jail had failed inspections because of poor sanitation conditions which endanger prisoners, many of whom have not ultimately been found to be guilty of any crime and are merely being held pending being formally charged or, released; a failing smoke evacuation system, unacceptable medical care, and a lack of sufficient guards to meet the legally required guard-to-inmate ratio.
[
Although the Dallas County Jail had begun failing state and federal inspections prior to Valdez being elected to office, the jail continued to fail inspections every year thereafter until 2010, when the jail passed certification by the State of Texas for the first time since 2003.]
Valdez formally filed for re-election to a second term on December 3, 2007. Valdez won the 2008 primary, narrowly avoiding a runoff by winning 50.85% in a four-candidate field on March 4, 2008. On November 4, 2008, Lupe Valdez was re-elected Sheriff of Dallas County with 388,327 votes to Lowell Cannaday's 322,808 votes, a margin of roughly 65,500. Valdez received over 99,000 more votes than the "Straight Democratic" option. She won in precincts across Dallas County, including formerly Republican areas including Valley Ranch in Irving and Mesquite. She began her second four-year term on January 1, 2009.
In 2010, the Dallas County Jails passed inspection by the State of Texas for the first time since 2003. Completion of a new jail facility in 2009 and continued investment from Dallas County were cited as steps towards re-certification of the Dallas County jail system, which passed inspection once again in 2011. Also in 2010, Sheriff Valdez was elected to the Democratic National Committee and was appointed by President Barack Obama to a committee regarding immigration reform.
In November 2012, Valdez won a third term, defeating Republican challenger Kirk Launius. In 2015, Valdez "changed policies on holding immigrants in the Dallas County jail for federal officials once the person is past his or her release date. People who committed minor offenses aren’t held for up to an additional 48 hours for agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE." This brought a warning from Governor Greg Abbott to "back down from a policy change on federal immigration detention requests."
In November 2016, Valdez won a fourth term with 58 percent of the vote, again defeating Republican Kirk Launius.
2018 Texas gubernatorial election
In December 2017, Valdez announced her candidacy for Governor of Texas in the 2018 gubernatorial election against incumbent Republican Governor Greg Abbott. In the March 6, 2018 Primary she got more votes than any other Democrat, leading her closest competitor, Andrew White, son of former governor Mark White, by 16 percent. However, she only received 43% of the vote, forcing a run-off against White. The run-off occurred on May 22, 2018, resulting in Valdez's victory and making her the first Latina and first openly gay person nominated for governor by a major party in the state. Abbott won the election.
References
External links
Election homepage
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Valdez, Lupe
1947 births
American women police officers
American politicians of Mexican descent
Hispanic and Latino American women in politics
Lesbian politicians
LGBT Christians
LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people
LGBT law enforcement workers
LGBT people from Texas
American LGBT politicians
American lesbians
Living people
People from Dallas County, Texas
People from San Antonio
Texas sheriffs
United States Customs Service personnel
University of Texas at Arlington alumni
Women in Texas politics
Women sheriffs
Candidates in the 2018 United States elections
21st-century American women