Teri Galvez Encourages D.C. to Vote Republican

Teri Galvez is running for Republican National Committeewoman for Washington, D.C., in a very important, very historical race where she believes conservatives, including herself, have the opportunity to make this city a focal point for the Republican Party.

With a mission to grow the conservative population in Washington by bringing young voters and minorities in, Galvez wants to erase the mindset that so many people carry that Republicans are bad and support candidates because they are the best candidate for the job, despite their political preference.

“We are about addition, not subtraction,” she said. “We want folks even if they don’t line up completely with our philosophy.”

Galvez was born and raised in California of Mexican parents, and said she can speak personally from her own experience growing up as a first-generation American as what persuaded her to become a Republican.

“For me, it was really just, you know, you really need to take charge of yourself and be responsible for yourself,” she said. “It was all about personal responsibility.”

While 51 percent of D.C is African-American and nine percent are Hispanic, just six and a half percent of D.C. voters are registered Republicans, Galvez said. “We can’t be complacent. We need to be reaching out to our constituents of color in the District. We are never going to get elected if we don’t.”

She believes her message will resonate with minorities because she knows what it is like to struggle. “My father was a mechanic. His company went on strike twice. We almost lost our house. We went on vacation once and came back, and our house had burned down.”

Despite it all, her parents came here because it is such a great country. “I’m so blessed that I can do anything I want here,” Galvez said. “If I lived in Mexico and my mother was a housekeeper, I’d probably be a housekeeper. In America, the occupation of your parents is not your occupation.”

Galvez also wants to address the importance of education among minorities. Her family was not able to pay for her schooling fully and was thankful for her involvement with the Miss America pageants which granted her scholarships to pay for college. “I would not be here today if it weren’t for the preparation I received from the program,” she said.

The Miss America pageants not only sent her to school but also taught her how to interview, how to speak into a microphone and not to be nervous in front of an audience. “People really misunderstand this aspect of my life,” Galvez said. “It’s a lot more than just the swimsuits and evening gowns seen on TV. It’s more like Candidate 101. I wasn’t really going to learn speaking skills and interview skills at home. You don’t really learn these in college, either. Miss America Program taught me speaking, advocacy and philanthropy.”

With all she learned in the program helping her throughout her campaign, she also credits several other aspects of her life to her qualifications for becoming the next Republican National Committeewoman of D.C. She’s bilingual, has been committed to conservatives for 30 years, has lived in D.C since 1985 and owns her own small business. She attends 4-5 events a day to meet voters and volunteers in several organizations including Miss D.C. Scholarship Organization, Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington and the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship.

“Everything you learn along the way is a benefit,” Galvez said. “You will use it all in some way.”

Click Here to read Michelle Kingston’s interview of Jill Homan