A single Hispanic mother who runs an international non-profit that focuses on religious freedom proposed a challenge to Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA07) in 2020.1
This woman, Tina Ramirez, is the first GOP candidate to go after the nomination to the state’s 7th Congressional District. It’s her first attempt at elected office.
Tina, a Richmond resident, said, “I’m not a politician, I’m a doer,” in an interview on Sunday. “I like to unify people to get things done.”
In a two-minute YouTube video, Ramirez talks about herself as a single mom and former teacher who created a non-profit organization that has provided “freedom to persecuted communities worldwide.” She is shown working on jobs overseas and pushing her daughter on a swing.
“I will fight to defend the sanctity of every life, to defend religious freedoms and to create jobs and opportunities for hard-working Virginians,” she said in the video. “I will work to improve a broken education system, find sensible solutions to our health-care crisis and reform a failed system for our veterans. And I will support real immigration reform that includes securing our border.”
The typically Republican 7th Congressional district went to Spanberger in November, who won it by defeating Dave Brat. Dave Brat was a conservative economics professor with Tea Party backing. He won the seat in 2014 after defeating Majority Leader Eric I. Cantor, in the GOP primary.
Spanberger’s campaign drew national attention after redistricting cut a conservative portion out of the 7th District that was crucial to Brat’s victory in 2014.
With the district beginning to swing left, and millions in political donations pouring in from across the nation, Spanberger won the race by styling herself as a moderate Democrat.
However, Spanberger’s recent record of consistently voting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could spell trouble in the 2020 election, opening the door for challengers like Ramirez to swing the seat.
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In many ways, Ramirez is symbolic of the kind of candidate GOP leaders say are necessary to attract new voters in suburban Virginia; she is Hispanic, highly educated, and a woman. Her role as a single parent is thought of as something to highlight as part of her story.
She has worked in bureaucratic positions in D.C. including a role a in the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, as well as on a bipartisan House task force on this issue.
Her non-profit group, Hardwired, was started six years ago. It promotes religious freedom across the globe. Her work has taken her to thirty countries and every continent.
What remains to be seen is whether this is the type of candidate the GOP should turn to in their bid to take back the House in 2020.
What do you think?
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