Newly elected District 45 state Rep. Erin Zwiener, D-Driftwood, who will represent both Hays County and Blanco County, was sworn in Jan. 8 at the state Capitol on the first day of the 86th legislative session.
Zwiener, who campaigned while pregnant and was accompanied by her 6-month-old daughter at the ceremony, was elected in a year that saw exceptional success for women candidates at many levels of government, and one of the 12 Democrats who took a Texas House seat previously occupied by a Republican.
In a December interview with Community Impact Newspaper, Zwiener said the historical significance of the moment is not lost on her.
“When I was a kid growing up in Texas, Kay Bailey Hutchison was a senator; Ann Richards was the governor; Madeleine Albright was secretary of state,” she said. “I got to see multiple women in power. What I didn’t realize at the time was that I was the first generation of girls to see that. I now have a 6-month-old daughter. I want her to grow up as a part of the first generation of girls that actually sees equal representation.”
