Mary E. González became the first openly pansexual elected official to serve in any capacity of the U.S. government when she won the seat of State Representative of House District 75 (El Paso County) in 2012, as well as the first woman to represent HD-75. The district includes east El Paso County, parts of the city of El Paso and the towns of Socorro, Clint, Fabens, Horizon City, San Elizario and Tornillo.
González graduated with a B.A. History and Mexican American Studies from University of Texas at Austin and a M.A. Social Justice from St. Edward’s University. She has since returned to her alma mater and is a PhD candidate pursuing a doctoral degree in Curriculum and Instruction-Cultural Studies in Education. She first started her political career by working for former Texas House Dean Paul Moreno and State Representative Richard Raymond. González later served as the Latino Outreach Coordinator for the Texas Democratic Party.
González fights valiantly for women’s rights- she aims to improve maternal healthcare in Texas and has been endorsed by Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, an advocacy branch of the mother organization. Recently, she launched the Positivity in Politics initiative, hoping to highlight positivity and strength in grassroots leadership. As State Representative, González serves as Vice Chair of the Texas Mexican American Legislative Caucus, Secretary of the Texas House Border Caucus, and is a member of the Women’s Health Caucus and Farm to Table Caucus. She previously served on the House Committee on Appropriations and was Vice Chair of the House Committee on Agriculture & Livestock.
On March 6th, 2018, González was re-elected on the platforms of increasing economic development, improving public schools and supporting agriculture, and will serve her 4th consecutive term as State Representative. She will focus on bringing the issue of Texas public-school funding to the House next session and will continue to fight for basic health care. Her victory is crucial in maintaining LGBTQ representation in the Texas legislature.
