Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez, far right, rides in the 2016 Oak Cliff Mardi Gras parade. Photo by Danny Fulgencio

One of our neighbors is running for governor.

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Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez lives in Kings Highway with her girlfriend, chiropractor Lindsay Browning (Browning surprised Valdez with a new Tesla car in front of reporters last year).

Openly gay, Hispanic and female, Valdez beat out a Republican candidate with 30 years of experience in the sheriff’s office in 2005. She told NPR’s Story Corps what that was like in 2014.

Valdez, 70, was born in San Antonio, the eighth child of migrant farm workers. The Austin American-Statesman asked for proof of Valdez’s back story (she also worked her way through college doing farm work), and she provided these photos.

Valdez stood up to Gov. Greg Abbott (who was born a few miles down the road in Duncanville) earlier this year with her opposition to the “sanctuary cities” bill that he signed into law.

She spoke at the Democratic National Convention last year.

Dallas Morning News columnist James Ragland says Valdez “doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell” of beating Abbott, and he proposes that she could be doing it as a “trial run” for some other political office.

The Dallas Morning News editorial board says that Valdez, whom they endorsed for sheriff, has been “merely adequate” in her service to Dallas County. The board say they are alarmed that Valdez has been less than transparent regarding the county jail.

Just a year ago, we were stunned by her answer when we asked why the media is not made aware of escaped prisoners or deaths in custody, once deputies discover a problem. She responded that it often takes hours for deputies to notify her and implied that this wasn’t a problem because reporters will find out through unofficial sources.

The DMN editorial board also say they doubt Valdez can score a victory in a statewide race because of her lack of name recognition.