FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 6, 2020
AUSTIN – Texas Rising Action, the youth organizing arm of the Texas Freedom Network, today issued a simple message to voters in state Senate District 27: on March 3, Sen. Eddie Lucio needs to go.
“That politicians like Gov. Abbott and Lt. Gov. Patrick can count on Sen. Lucio’s vote on critical issues affecting young people in the Valley should tell you everything you need to know about the senator,” said Emerald Belmarez, a Texas Rising student leader at UTRGV Edinburg. “Sen. Lucio has become the one Democrat in the Texas Senate that Donald Trump would love. It really is time for the RGV to move on from Sen. Lucio.”
Rather than side with his constituents, Lucio often sides with Gov. Abbott and Lt. Gov. Patrick.
In 2013, Lucio was the only Democratic senator to vote for medically unnecessary regulations designed to restrict access to abortion. He has also been a key backer of a law requiring doctors to give medically inaccurate information to women about the procedure. And he voted for a law prohibiting local communities from partnering with Planned Parenthood to offer health care to women.
On the issue of LGBTQ rights, Lucio has become the pro-discrimination Democrat in the Senate. He was the only Democrat to support Lt. Gov. Patrick’s “bathroom bill,” and he also voted to allow taxpayer-funded child welfare agencies to reject potential adoptive parents simply because of their sexual orientation.
“Sen. Lucio represents the past,” said Rae Martinez, Texas Rising Director. “Young Texans believe in LGBTQ equality, reject politicians meddling in their personal medical decisions and want someone they can trust to represent them in Austin. Sen. Lucio stands in the way of progress. It is time for a change.”
Lucio, in office for almost 30 years, faces a primary challenge from two Democratic opponents and, rather than defend his record, his response has been to skip public forums and avoid meetings with constituents, including young people in his own district.
With members across the state and a presence on 20 college and university campuses, Texas Rising Action represents a rising generation of young Texans who support progress on issues like abortion, LGBTQ equality, humane immigration policies and taking action to address climate change.
In the Valley, Texas Rising has official chapters at the UTRGV campuses in Brownsville and Edinburg.
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Texas Rising Action is a project of the Texas Freedom Network that builds the power of a rising generation of young Texans, with an emphasis on communities of color, by advocating for change in the cities and towns where they live, and at the ballot box.
Political advertising paid for by the Texas Freedom Network
