Latina Elected Official Highlight: Flor Alvidrez

Councilwoman Flor Alvidrez is a newly elected member of the Denver City Council, representing her hometown of District 7. She is a lifelong Southwest Denver resident, business owner, mother, and community leader. She credits Southwest Denver with shaping her into the person she is today.

Councilwoman Alvidrez describes her childhood as full of adventures around the district, including visits to Huston Lake Park, Washington Park, and Athmar Park Library. District 7 is where she learned the value of community, hard work, and service. In fact, her first leadership role was being on the student council at Valverde Elementary School! 

She was mobilized to take action in 2020 after a shooting took place in her community. She brought her neighbors together to talk about community safety issues and helped provide a space for healing and advocacy.

On July 17, 2023, Councilwoman Alvidrez was sworn in as a member of the Denver City Council, joining a historic number of Latinas on the council! She sat down with Latinas Represent to talk about her experience running for office and what representing her hometown means to her below. 

 

NOTE: This interview has been edited and condensed for length, clarity, and formatting.

 

What specifically inspired you to take the leap to run for office? 

I talked to a few mentors and former elected Latinas to get their advice, and everyone was like, “Do it! We need that representation.” And it’s funny because they say a woman needs to be asked many more times [than a man], so I did get asked a few times, and also no one told me “No, [don’t run].” But I wonder if someone would’ve said, “No, don’t do it. You’re not the right fit”, if I would have backed down? So, for those who hear a “no,” don’t let that stop you. 

I feel like I was very lucky that I had so much support and people who believed in me around me to help me to get to this point because it was a team effort. 

 

Why did you decide to run for this specific office versus another office (e.g. state or federal)?

I’ve always known who my council member is; when I needed something, that’s the person I reached out to. So, that level of government is the one I personally interacted with most. Now that I’m in office, I have built relationships at the state level, but before, the state policies and the state legislature never felt reachable. I didn’t know who my representative was. I never shook their hand. I never saw them in the community, so for me, [the state legislature] was a crazy other level and federal even more! 

Now that I am in office, I realize it’s not that big of a deal, so I would encourage people to run for and look at those higher offices. For me, I really wanted to make an impact in the city that I grew up in, and I really believe in fate. It did feel that way. It felt like fate.

 

After you decided to run, what were some of the first things you did to prepare for your campaign?

One of the first things that I did that I would recommend is to look into the local laws for that election and meet with the election’s office. I know election offices are different around the country, but in my city, they are very accessible. 

The clerk’s office in our city is very accessible to explain the rules around “How do I run? How do I maximize donations? How do I report donations? When do I report donations?”. Because if someone is going to attack you, they will go there. So you need to dot your i’s, cross your t’s, and do all of that work ahead of time. 

My first hire was a compliance company–people who specifically had experience in compliance. Then, the second thing I did was start fundraising to pay for everything else. I didn’t know that half of campaigning is fundraising, but that is the reality of running a campaign. 

If you want to run a successful campaign, you need to talk to all the tíos and tías. It’s like when you were going to have a quinceañera, and you were looking for madrinas and padrinos. That’s practice for running for office! 

 

Is there anything you would have done differently when you first launched your campaign? 

I think the thing that I was least prepared for was working and campaigning. Looking back, I would have put together a schedule that would have allowed me to still work on my actual job because my income suffered significantly, and that added a lot of stress towards the end of the campaign. So make sure your personal finances are in order. 

Look at your [personal] finances and see where you can cut your budget. Be prepared to cut back, but also know where not to cut. I’ll tell you where I didn’t cut, and that was my mental health, my therapist. You have to have your non-negotiables as well. 

 

How did you announce your campaign? Who were your biggest supporters?

I announced my campaign at a local nightclub called Blue Ice in my district. My biggest supporters were my mentors, family, and closest friends, who have always been my champions. 

It was a lot of fun, and I didn’t think too much about it. I just thought, “Where do I know a space? [Blue Ice] is a place that I know. Who do I ask for support? I don’t know, but I know these are my people, so I will ask them first!” 

And they were all about it.  

 

What is the makeup of your district? 

We did some geographic research, which I recommend everyone do. Something that was very surprising was that we are only 8% Latino in my district, but having knocked on doors, I don’t believe that is true. I do believe there is a lot of underreporting of the Latino population in my district.  

In my area, there is a lot of low-income, government housing compared to the older parts of Denver, where there are more Victorian homes, grocery stores, and parks and paths. My area is more industrial, and there are not very many grocery stores and things of that nature. These are typical concerns that I am sure anybody across the country who is running for office can see in their cities. 

 

What were some of the issues that came up when you spoke with constituents during your campaign? 

Our number one issue in Denver is housing. That is the number one issue that would come up all the time. 

Second to that is safety. And the thing that is very interesting about having that conversation around safety during your campaign is that safety means different things to different people. When you talk about safety to some people, they will ask, “Why do we not have sidewalks? Why don’t I feel safe walking up the street?” 

So, being able to really understand that, yes, maybe we don’t feel safe from A to Z, but what does that look like, and what does addressing safety look like for different communities? 

 

What was the most difficult part of running for office? 

The most difficult part of running for office was the imposter syndrome. That was the hardest part, but also not just that. It was also the fact that I started the campaign trying to be a different version of myself, but I ended the campaign, finding my way back to being me.

For my first debate, I went out, bought a gray suit, and wore pearl earrings. I looked good and felt good about it [then], but by the end of the campaign, I was wearing Ana Marina’s [artisanal] earrings, a green outfit I owned before I ran for office– just things that I would genuinely wear. 

Feeling comfortable in front of a very white, wealthy audience and not knowing if they would accept me was a journey. I finally got to the point where I didn’t need them to accept me. I was myself, and if they chose to vote for somebody like me, that was their choice. 

It was very good for my mental health to get to that point. It was very liberating. 

 

What was the best part? 

Letting go of the need to win and embracing giving people an opportunity to vote for somebody like me. I thought about giving people the opportunity to choose a different kind of leadership, and they overwhelmingly did. 

 

What is one lesson you learned during your campaign that you think is important for others to know? 

One lesson that I learned was to elevate our elders. Don’t forget about our elders because they paved this path for us. And [running for office] would be much harder if the path was not already paved. Involve them in the campaign because they are powerful, too. They have the knowledge, tools, and history we need to succeed. 

What advice do you have for Latinas who are thinking about running for office? 

My advice for Latinas thinking about running for office would be to be yourself because if you focus on being true to yourself and who you are, your opponent can’t compete with that. 

You are the only person that has experienced your life, so really deep dive into who you are and what makes you who you are.