On The Record: Ruby Jensen

For this episode of On The Record, we speak with Ruby Jensen, the Secretary for the Texas Democratic Party and Vice President for Communications Workers of America Local 6222 in Houston.

How did you get started in politics? Did you come to it in your youth or later on?

I was in 12th grade in 1961, and I had a civics teacher that was active in the Democratic Party. We were given the option to get involved in an election instead of taking the final.

My parents were Democrats. JFK was running for President, but I couldn’t vote because the voting age at the time was 21. I worked for the campaign and I have voted in every single election. Unless I was sick and dying, I was up working for campaigns and voting.

What would you say are the primary issues concerning Houston?

Traffic is an issue. We need to get the light rail going and reaching out like other major cities. It needs to go out to Angleton, Galveston and Katy, for example. We need to get traffic off the streets.

Education is also a concern for our area. We are not taking care of the teachers and the schools, and there are children with no insurance and more have just been taken off CHIP.

Who are some of your political heroes?

J.F.K., Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, Gene Green, Al Green, and Bill Clinton are all political heroes of mine.

I am excited about the quality of candidates we have running for President. I am sitting back and waiting for whichever candidate pulls away, and I’ll support them. We’re not settling for just any candidate with the potential we have in these candidates.

I am delighted we have a minority candidate, a female candidate, and Christopher Dodd and Joe Biden are great men. New Mexico Governor Richardson is excellent as well.

We have great choices, and I will support the candidate that pulls away.

What has been the most valuable lesson you’ve learned in politics?

You have to vote and get involved. Pick a candidate and get involved in their campaign. Work to make a difference. Once they’re elected, let them know about the job they’re doing. Tell them when they’re wrong and when you support them. They need to hear positive feedback as well.

Tell us a little bit about the CWA, and what roles you feel like you fulfill in that group, official or otherwise.

I am the elected Vice President of the local Houston C.W.A., and I represent several different departments: Cingular, AT&T, IT, Yellow Pages, operator services, coin, special services and video services.

I am also the officer in charge of the Organizing Committee and the Legislative Committee. I am in charge of bringing in new members and monitoring the elected officials representing our issues. We represent working men and women of Texas, and children and the elderly.

In addition to those positions, I am also on the National Executive Board of the Coalition of Labor Unions (CLU), delegate to the Harris County Labor Council, Executive Board Member of the state AFL-CIO, and Secretary to the Texas Democratic Party.

What one thing would you say a political organization never has enough of?

Volunteers are very important to a political organization. Organizations also need money to accomplish their goals, but I have seen elections won with very good, dedicated volunteers.

Do you have any ambition for higher office? Do you have plans to run for any other party office, or possibly even public office?

No, I’m happy doing what I do. I joke that I’d rather be a king- or queen-maker rather than the king or queen.

We need more youth. There are a lot of issues that will affect their lives, like college tuition, but they don’t know it yet. These issues will get worse with the wrong people in office.

Youth don’t understand when their issues come up and nobody listens to them, it’s because they don’t vote. The issues of other demographics, like the elderly, are addressed because the elderly will vote. In order for the youth to be heard, the youth must vote.