Cristina Tzintzún

Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez (born Cristina Costello; 1982) is an American labor organizer and writer. From August 12, 2019 until March 3, 2020, Tzintzún Ramirez was a potential challenger to incumbent United States Senator John Cornyn in the 2020 United States Senate election in Texas as part of a twelve-person Democratic primary, in which she placed third. is an American who came to live in Mexico in the 1960s and 1970s. The family business required that the Tzintzún family live and travel to Mexico throughout her early life. Her parents, both progressive, encouraged their children to participate in various causes, especially those involving the Latino immigrant community. In high school, Tzintzún began organizing and working with newly-arrived Mexican immigrants in Ohio. She graduated from University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) in 2006 with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Latin American studies.

Career Tzintzún began organizing with Latino immigrant workers in 2000 in Columbus, Ohio, and then moved to Texas, where she helped establish the Workers Defense Project (WDP), serving as its Executive Director from 2006 until 2016.

At the WDP, Tzintzún and co-founder Emily Timm led the organization to focus its efforts on the construction industry, the largest employer of undocumented labor in Texas.

In 2008, Tzintzún co-founded the Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition (AIRC), which brings together stakeholders across the city to advocate for the rights of immigrants.

Tzintzún created and developed the organization's Better Builder Program, which won construction workers living wages, higher safety standards, training and on-site enforcement by Better Builder monitors against some of the largest corporations in the world. A quarter of workers surveyed on Better Builder sites reported receiving a raise from their last job, 38% reported receiving safety training for the first-time and 30% reported receiving workers’ compensation coverage for the first time in their construction careers.

In 2017, Tzintzún founded Jolt, a civil rights organization that works to increase voter turnout among Latinos in Texas.

On August 12, 2019, Tzintzún announced her intention to challenge incumbent United States Senator John Cornyn in the 2020 United States Senate election in Texas as a progressive candidate. Texas representative Joaquin Castro, and actor Alec Baldwin, as well as by the PACs Blue America and Latino Victory Fund, labor unions UNITE HERE Local 23 and Communications Workers of America, 350 Action, the Working Families Party, and the University of Texas at Austin University Democrats. Tzintzún’s campaign was criticized for also accepting an endorsement from actress Susan Sarandon, who had supported Green Party candidate Jill Stein over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. She received additional criticism for her comments made in a speech, in which she said: Tzintzún is more Mexican than any Garcia or Lopez. We were the only indigenous group in Mexico that were not defeated by the Aztecs. So you know I come from good lineage and I’m ready to defeat John Cornyn. Ultimately, Tzintzún placed third in the March 3, 2020 Democratic primary with 13.2% of the vote. She and fellow former candidates Chris Bell and Michael Cooper then endorsed Royce West, who had advanced with MJ Hegar to the Democratic primary runoff.

Electoral history

Election box begin no change title = Democratic primary results The couple has a son, Santiago Tzintzún Ramirez, who was born in 2017. Tzintzún took her husband's surname, Ramirez, after they were married in 2015. The couple divorced in December 2019.

Boards She is a board member of Zev Shapiro's organization TurnUp.

Honors and awards Tribeza Magazine, People of the Year Award, 2018 Roddenberry Foundation, Fellowship, 2018 J.M. Kaplan, Innovation Award Winner, 2017 The Austin Chronicle, Best Working Class Hero, 2015 The Texas Observer, Change Maker, 2014 Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Capital of Texas Awards: Non-Profit Leader, 2014 Center for Public Policy Priorities, Future of Texas, 2014 Southern Living Magazine, Hero of the New South, 2013 Interfaith Worker Justice, Rising Star, 2013 Berger-Marks Foundation, Edna Award of Distinction, 2013 Engineering News-Record, Top 25 Industry Newsmakers, 2013 Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, National Trabajadora Community Leader Award, 2012

Selected works Tzintzún is also an author on issues of race, gender and immigration her work has appeared in The Huffington Post, The Dallas Morning News and Al Jazeera and in the following publications:

Presente! Latino Immigrant Voices in the Struggle for Racial Justice" Co-Editor, AK Press, 2014 "Build a Better Texas: Construction Working Conditions in the Lone Star State" , University of Texas at Austin, 2013 Co-Author "Building a Better Nation: A Case for Comprehensive Immigration Reform" University of Texas at Austin, 2013 "Building Austin Building Injustice: Working Conditions in Austin's Construction Industry" University of Texas at Austin, 2009 "Killing Misogyny: A Personal Story of Love, Violence and Strategies for Survival" in: "Yes Means Yes! Visions of Female Sexual Power & A World Without Rape. Seal Press, 2008 "Colonize This!" in: Colonize This!: Young Women of Color on Today's Feminism, Edited by Daisy Hernández and Bushra Rehman. New York. Seal Press, 2002 "Protecting Immigrant Workers" National Housing Institute: ShelterForce Sept. 1 2015