Texas Democrat Kristian Carranza accused of changing her last name to appeal to Latino voters

Days after former president Donald Trump questioned Vice President Kamala Harris' background during an interview, the Texas GOP is adopting a page out of the nominee's playbook, accusing a Democratic candidate of co-opting a Hispanic last name to appeal to the electorate.

That is the case of Kristian Carranza, who is running in one of the most competitive state house races of the year, who is running to represent House District 118. Carranza has been known professionally by that last name for over a decade, although she didn't legally change her last name until January 2023.

Carranza will go head-to-head with Rep. John Lujan, a San Antonio Republican, for the state house seat.

Now, as the election nears, the Bexar County Republican Party in San Antonio, is accusing Carranza of purposefully changing her last name to appeal to the larger population, given that nearly two-thirds of the people living in House District 118 are Hispanic, The Texas Tribune reports.

"It wasn't until she moved into a proud Hispanic district to run for office that she suddenly changed her name to Carranza," Kris Coons, chair of the Bexar County Republican Party said. "The residents of this district should not be fooled but somewhat insulted by such an action."

Coons also said on Tuesday that party officials are reviewing a potential lawsuit against Carranza, but did not have an answer when asked about what law she violated. "It just seems, after 30 years, right before her race, that the name gets changed, that's all we're questioning," Coons said.

Carranza's opponent is also questioning the purposes of the name change, concluding that the action can be traced back to "political reasons."

"This situation involving a name change for political reasons is not acceptable, and it's important that all public figures remain accountable to the people they seek to represent," Lujan said. "While my opponent will need to address the issue directly with the voters, I want to reiterate my own commitment to transparency and effective representation as the State Representative for District 118."

On the other hand, the Democratic candidate is denouncing these allegations and said they were just another show of "disrespect for women" from Texas Republicans.

"It's disrespectful to women across San Antonio and our country who change their names all the time for so many reasons," she said in an interview with The Texas Tribune.

Instead, she said the Bexar County GOP was "taking a page" from former President Donald Trump, when he questioned last week whether Vice President Kamala Harris, who is of Jamaican and Indian descent, just recently decided to identify as Black to appeal to voters.

"This is an obvious attempt to undermine me and my story because they can clearly see that the voters of House District 118 are ready for change and ready for someone who's going to roll their sleeves and fight for them, not stand on the sidelines John Lujan has," Carranza said. "They just can't believe that that person is a young Latina."

Carranza was born on the Southside of San Antonio, and was given her biological father's surname "Thompson" at birth. But because she was raised by a single mother, without her father's support, the Democrat said she uses "Carranza" to honor her mother. She began the process to legally change her last name in 2022 and that process was completed in January 2023.

She has also used that last name in public for around a decade. She was going by Carranza in 2019 when she was Nevada state director for Julian Castro's presidential campaign, as well in a resume in 2016, when she identified herself as "Kristian Carranza Thompson."