‘This Race Is The Right Place To Be’: Former ACLU Lawyer Rochelle Garza Decides​ To Run For Attorney General

Democrat Rochelle Garza, a former lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union from the Rio Grande Valley, had been campaigning for the U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela’s, D-Brownsville seat for months, but after Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen recently announced he would seek reelection in Vela’s 34th Congressional District, Garza decided to run for attorney general.

“Given my background, my work, I believe that this race is the right place to be,” Garza said in an interview. “Obviously, I believe Congressman Gonzalez is going to continue to provide good representation to the people of South Texas,” Garza added, “but my fight is gonna be statewide and my fight is gonna be for the people of Texas.”

According to The Texas Tribune, Garza is launching her attorney general campaign with the support of both Gonzalez and Vela, who said in a statement, “We can trust Rochelle to never forget where she came from and never stop fighting for us.

Garza wants her campaign to prioritize a focus on civil rights and the “real burden” that Paxton’s decisions on the COVID-19 pandemic have created for Texans.

In 2017, Garza defended an undocumented teenager in an abortion case, where she demonstrated her commitment to fighting for all people in Texas, no matter how marginalized. 

Rochelle is also ready to take a stand against the “all-out assault on women’s rights and reproductive rights” that the new abortion bans (which Paxton defends) are waging.

“I don’t think running for office is an easy thing to do, period,” she said. “I really feel the urgency to do something and I know that I have the experience, I have the temperament and I have the drive to do this and fight for Texans,” she said defending her decision to switch races.