TIME

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TIME, amongst other things, provide profiles of prominent American leaders.

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The Woman from Del Rio Blazes a Historic Trail | 2016 Democratic Nominee Xiomara de la Cruz

 

Texas - Four years ago, few pundits would have expected that the Democratic Party would nominate not only the first woman but also the first Latina as their nominee for President of the United States. Experts would have gawked at the assertion that, in 2016, the mayor of a major American city could defeat sitting United States Senators, foreign diplomats, and former Governors to serve as the standard bearer of the oldest active political party in the United States. What started as an upstart campaign in the heart of Houston has taken the Democratic Party by storm as Xiomara de la Cruz emerges as the 2016 Democratic Presidential Nominee.

 

The story of Xiomara de la Cruz is rooted in humble beginnings as the daughter of a Air Force technician and a public school teacher. Born in Del Rio, Texas on July 4, 1975, Xiomara de la Cruz grew up in the modestly-sized city of 25,000 with a family income supported by the large military presence that fuels economic development in the region. A daughter of a Mexican immigrant, de la Cruz grew up in Western Texas along the Southern Border of the United States and could often be seen playing with her friends on the outskirts of Laughlin Air Force Base. A close-knit majority Hispanic community with a deep connection to the predominant Roman Catholic Church, the people of Del Rio, Texas hold a series of strong values centered around family and supporting one another in times of strife. Xiomara de la Cruz would experience the American Dream in full through her mother as she became a full U.S. citizen during her childhood upbringing.

 

The young de la Cruz showed a passion for politics and global affairs early on in life as she was accepted to Texas A&M University as the result of a 18-page essay analyzing the strategic significance of the H.W. Bush Administration's decision not to negotiate Israel-Palestine with Saddam Hussein in exchange for his withdrawal from Kuwait prior to the Persian Gulf War. It was in college that de la Cruz would get her first chance at making a name for herself as she entered and successfully competed in the Miss Texas competition as a means for paying her way through college. Her articulate and passionate answers around the inner-workings of the Balkans and the need for international stability was a hit with judges in 1996 and de la Cruz used her time in the limelight to promote political engagement and public service for Texas women in the mold of strong Texas women like then-former Governor Ann Richards. The tireless dedication to a rigorous college course load would lead de la Cruz to a spot at Yale Law School in 1997 and as an editor to the prestigious Yale Law Journal.

 

Following in the footsteps of her father's public service, Xiomara de la Cruz turned down offers for private sector legal workin 2000 in favor of enrolling as a JAG officer specializing in international law within the U.S. Air Force. After completing the Commissioned Officer Training and Judge Advocate Staff Officer Courses at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama with high marks, de la Cruz received her first 6-month deployment at Andrews Air Force Base before being promoted to Captain and securing her first major commission at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. The 9/11 terrorist attack would expand the need for national security expertise, giving de la Cruz and her fellow JAG officers a busy portfolio at Langley with global impact. Xiomara de la Cruz would serve her final tour in Iraq after the JAG Corps were deployed as part of the Bush Administration's shifting strategy in 2007, known more commonly as the troop surge.

 

After being discharged from the Air Force following her retirement, de la Cruz left the military in 2008 and returned home to Texas. Leaning on her intelligence and legal expertise, de la Cruz landed a job at the Akin Gump in their Houston office. With her husband Antonio "Tony" de la Cruz, a former intelligence officer turned business executive, the couple planned for the arrival of their daughter, Micaela, within the same year. Inspired by the election of Barack Obama and a changing economic climate, de la Cruz began her foray into politics with a run for Harris County District Attorney. A powerful position within Houston and the surrounding area, the office had been marred in scandal after DA Chuck Rosenthal was forced to resign following a lawsuit petitioning his removal from office for various controversies, including racist e-mails with staff. 

 

The de la Cruz campaign for Harris County District Attorney was a people-powered movement against a deeply entrenched political machine. Major Houston Democratic leaders endorsed long-time Houston Police Chief Brad Bradford, with many deferring to the police head as his time to serve as DA. Despite ultimately losing to Brad Bradford, de la Cruz had made significant inroads within minority communities throughout Houston and Harris County as a community-oriented leader. This wave of energy would be critical in de la Cruz's subsequent victory in the Houston mayoral election in 2009 against leading Houston politicians like Annise Parker and Gene Locke. The de la Cruz campaign tapped into Hispanic and union voters, posting large vote totals in majority-Hispanic areas of the city. Through her DA race, de la Cruz made inroads with African American and working class communities against better-known Houston politicians. Her commanding victory in the subsequent runoff election, credited in part to the surprising decision of the Houston Chronicle to endorse de la Cruz over rival Gene Locke, was evidence of the people of Houston embracing change.

 

Xiomara de la Cruz's tenure as Mayor of Houston made her the first Latina to hold the office. She steered the passage and implementation of Rebuild Houston, a pay-as-you-go comprehensive street and drainage improvement program designed to increase job growth. After a strong appeal to the public, Houston voter approved a $410 million public improvement bond program that has benefitted the city. Her time as Mayor has led to the creation of an independent organization to oversee the City’s crime lab operations, a sobering center for public intoxication cases, the adoption of a long-term financial plan that ensures the stability of Houston's water department and reorganization of City departments to achieve cost savings and more efficient operations. Mayor de la Cruz created a new department focused on neighborhood relations and the Office of Business Opportunity to help minority and women-owned small business enterprises compete for city contracts. Mayor de la Cruz also won city council approval of a historic preservation ordinance that, for the first time, provides protection for historic properties in city-designated historic districts.

 

Mayor de la Cruz's decision to put forward to the city council a vote in 2015 on a measure to protect the rights of the lesbian, gay and transgender community in public and private places, which included a provision that would allow people to use the restroom that best fits their gender identity, proved to be controversial. Social conservatives called it “the bathroom bill.” The provision regarding public restrooms was amended out before the measure passed. Following the ordinance being put to a city-wide vote, Houston voters resoundingly rejected the anti-discrimination ordinance after conservative voters rallied around bathroom issues. 

 

The decision for de la Cruz to launch a campaign for President is historic in its own right. Not once in the entire history of the United States has an incumbent mayor ever won the White House. Despite the odds stacked against her given her standing against sitting U.S. Senators like Doug Murphy of Wisconsin, Diego Everhart of Indiana, John Carlsen of Indiana, Camilo deSonido of California, and former Ambassador to Kenya Julius Tuck of Indiana, de la cruz would emerge from the crowded field as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Key victories in states like Nevada, California, and Texas propelled de la Cruz to the nomination despite a spirited campaign by runner-up Doug Murphy. Building a coalition of Hispanic voters, women voters, working class voters, suburban voters, and minority voters, de la Cruz has brought historic levels of Hispanic engagement with the Democratic Party in particular, becoming the first Latina to win a Democratic primary with her commanding victory in the Nevada Caucus.

 

Political experts have pointed to the consolidation of moderate elements of the Democratic Party around de la Cruz as instrumental in her primary victory. The decision of John Carlsen of Indiana and Andrew Clarke of Missouri to back de la Cruz was critical to mobilizing moderate and centrist Democrats. Credibility with other wings of the party helped de la Cruz build a coalition beyond the core constituencies of the moderate wing with support from leaders like Senator Alex Fakhouri of Michigan and Senator Heather James of Washington. A strong union and Hispanic presence on the campaign was a critical component to victories and close-seconds in primaries across the country. 

 

Xiomara de la Cruz now stands on the cusp of becoming the first woman and first Hispanic American to serve as President of the United States. With a moderate platform centered on bipartisan economic development, expansion of the ACA, protection of reproductive and LGBT rights, strong union support, protecting entitlements, a strategic foreign policy centered on global peace and national security, immigration and criminal justice reform, and environmental investment, de la Cruz will face South Carolina Senator Katherine McCord in the upcoming 2016 Presidential Election.

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The Pride of Greenville Enters Stage Left | 2016 Republican Nominee Katherine McCord

 

South Carolina - The rise of Katherine McCord as the 2016 Republican presidential nominee marks the culmination of a long-standing career in public service that can be traced all the way back to her roots in the Palmetto State. Seen by many at the federal level as a rising star within the GOP, Senator McCord's path to the Republican nomination was one of bridge building and coalition growing, two things she has been an expert at throughout her career. Faced with eight years out of power following the election and subsequent reelection of Barack Obama, Katherine McCord looks now to wrestle back control of the White House and the last lever of power needed by Republicans to hold a trifecta.

 

Katherine McCord was born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina. A consistent GOP stronghold since 1960, Greenville would prove to be fertile ground for now-Senator McCord's future political career. With an astute mind and strong credentials, McCord would go on to earn a bachelor's degree from Columbia International University in Business Administration and a minor in Communications. Both of these skills would be critical in subsequent decades throughout McCord's professional career.

 

Joining the United States Air Force in 1994, McCord would attend the United States Air Force Academy and earn a double major in Military & Strategic Studies and Management. As a member of the 10th Intelligence Support Squadron, McCord and her fellow soldiers would be critical to the Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia as a key pillar of nation's intelligence support. Senator McCord would eventually attain the rank of Major within the U.S. Air Force before retiring from active duty in 2004. 

 

Shifting to the private sector, McCord would work as Executive Director of Global Business Development & Strategy for Lockheed Martin. It was in this role that her past experience with military intelligence and business would come together to prove useful to the aerospace and defense company that saw record growth throughout the 2000s. The job also allowed McCord to gain connections with various power brokers in South Carolina and nationally through her engagement with Congress and the federal government. McCord's husband, Andrew Purchase, and their two children Marie and Clayton would stand by her side throughout her entire career.

 

Eventually, McCord would make her foray into elected politics at the urging of friends and family to run for South Carolina's 4th Congressional District in 2008. The retirement of moderate incumbent Republican Bob Inglis left an opening for the Greenville-area seat that McCord would go on to win with over 60% of the vote. Following a successful reelection during the Tea Party wave of 2010, McCord would set her sights on the U.S. Senate.

 

Following the retirement of incumbent Senator Jim DeMint, Republicans across South Carolina were looking towards who the next possible replacement could be. With the backing of key political figures like Governor Nikki Haley and Congressman Tim Scott, Katherine McCord would secure her place as the next U.S. Senator from South Carolina. Always a supporter of the party, McCord would serve as Campaign Co-Chair for the Republican National Committee Campaign in South Carolina during the 2014 cycle that saw Republicans win decisive victories across the state.

 

The center-right coalition at the heart of McCord's previous electoral victories would be the crux of her presidential campaign as she sought the Republican nomination in 2016. Seeing shifting tides within the Republican Party, McCord angled herself as the candidate that could best unify traditional conservatives with the growing populist wing. Despite a devastating, albeit narrow, loss in the South Carolina GOP Primary to her future running mate, former General Charles Walker of California, McCord would win a decisive victory in the Nevada primary that maintained her competitiveness, while also making similar history to her Democratic Presidential counterpart as the first Republican woman to win a presidential state primary.

 

The decision of Charles Walker to suspend his campaign and endorse McCord in the primary proved to be the decisive moment of the campaign. Following a bitterly-fought campaign against Nebraska Senator David Rollins and Colorado Senator George Kuykendall, Katherine McCord would emerge as the 2016 Republican Presidential nominee with a narrow majority.

 

If elected, McCord would become the first woman to serve as President of the United States. With a Republican Party more unified than any time in the last eight years, Senator McCord could finally take back the White House for the GOP following years in the wilderness. A campaign of traditional Republicans, populist conservatives, fiscal conservatives, religious voters, white working-class voters, and strong overtures to Cuban and conservative Hispanic Americans and even some inroads with African Americans, Senator McCord is building a coalition that could become the future base of the Republican Party in a post-Obama America.