Austin, TX – A new candidate has entered the Texas Governor race and it’s a seasoned journalist. Joy Diaz announced she is running after 16 years on the air as a journalist for KUT, Austin’s NPR station and show “Texas Standard.”
“I recently left journalism to fulfill a mission — an unshakeable dream, a fire in my soul — to serve you as the next governor of the great state of Texas,” Diaz, 45, said in a video posted online.
The fire that sparked the decision was after she and her elementary school-aged son both contracted COVID-19 earlier this year.
“I remember the panic of not being able to breathe,” she said. “I also remember thinking that if I lived, because so many have died, that if I lived, I would live a life of public service.”
In her video announcement, Diaz also discussed her three issues for her campaign; border, public education and state preparedness.
“Our current leadership has forgotten that their mission is to serve us,” she said in her video announcement. “Yes, conventional wisdom may say that it’s unlikely for an average person — even a qualified one, even one with expertise, even one with a huge heart — to become the next governor of this great state, but Texans don’t solely rely on conventional wisdom. We believe in miracles.”
Diaz also spoke about her childhood crossing the border with her father who worked as a missionary in Mexico that also led to her decision.
“When we look at the border, you should know I’m not one of those people who conveniently parachutes themselves on the border on election season,” Diaz said.
If elected, she specifically said she would install an educator as the head of the Texas Education Agency.
“That could help improve our schools dramatically, and right now we don’t have that,” she said.
Diaz will run as a Democrat, facing off against frontrunner former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke and six other Democrats in the March 1, 2022 primary election.
