Veronica Escobar

Veronica Escobar
County Judge of El Paso County
In office
January 1, 2011 – October 10, 2017
Preceded by Anthony Cobos
Succeeded by Ruben Vogt
Personal details
Born 1969/1970 (age 48–49)[1]
El Paso, Texas, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Michael Pleters
Children 2
Education University of Texas, El Paso (BA)
New York University (MA)

Veronica Escobar is an American politician from El Paso, Texas. A member of the Democratic Party, Escobar has served as a County Commissioner and County Judge for El Paso County from 2010 to 2017 and is the Democratic Party's nominee for the United States House of Representatives for Texas's 16th congressional district in the 2018 elections.

Early life and education

Escobar is a native of El Paso, Texas. She grew up near her family’s dairy farm with her parents and four brothers.[2] Escobar attended Loretto Academy and Burges High School, before getting her bachelor's degree at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and her master's degree from New York University.[3]

Early political career

Escobar worked as a non-profit executive and worked for Raymond Caballero as communications director when he was mayor of El Paso. She also taught English and Chicano literature at UTEP and El Paso Community College. She was elected as a county commissioner for El Paso County in 2006 and as El Paso County Judge in 2010.[4]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

She resigned from office in August 2017 to run full-time in the 2018 election to succeed Beto O'Rourke in the United States House of Representatives for Texas's 16th congressional district.[5] As the district is "solidly blue" it was widely understood that whoever won the Democratic primary would be heavily favored in November.[2] She won the six-way Democratic primary with 61 percent of the vote.[6] If she wins as expected, she and Sylvia Garcia are poised to become the first Latina congresswomen from Texas.[4][7] Although the 16th has long since become a majority-Hispanic district, Escobar is poised to become the first woman and only the second Hispanic ever to win it, the first being O'Rourke's predecessor, Silvestre Reyes.

Personal life

Escobar's husband, Michael Pleters, is an immigration judge. They have two children.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Meet the Woman Who Could Be Texas’ First Latina in Congress
  2. 1 2 "Meet The Woman Who Could Be Texas' First Latina In Congress | HuffPost". Huffingtonpost.com. September 8, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  3. ↑ "County Judge Veronica Escobar | Q&A". elpasoinc.com. December 12, 2011. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 "Veronica Escobar is closer to making House history in Texas". Elpasotimes.com. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  5. ↑ "El Paso County Judge Veronica Escobar begins campaign for Congress". The Texas Tribune. August 25, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  6. ↑ https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=831352
  7. ↑ "Veronica Escobar on path to make Latina, Texas history after Congress primary victory". khou.com. March 12, 2018. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
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