AUSTIN, TEXAS — District 2 Austin City Council member Delia Garza has been elected as the first Latina mayor pro tem in city history, officials said Monday.

The milestone is hardly the first for Garza, having become the first Latina elected to Austin City Council when elected in 2014 as part of the first 10-1 council makeup. Garza represents constituents largely in southeast Austin encompassing District 2. After the council vote on Monday evening naming her mayor pro tem, Garza expressed the premium she places on inspiring other Latinas in the community reach their goals: "I want young Latinas in Austin to look at our leadership and see themselves and know that they can serve in this capacity or achieve whatever goals they set their minds to," Garza said. "I'm proud to be the first Latina elected to this council, but I'm also saddened that it's taken us this long to have a Latina on council."

Garza's new mayor pro tem role garnered unanimous support from her colleagues on the dais, who voiced their support for the milestone appointment. "Delia's passion and caring for the people of Austin has moved the council forward," council member Ann Kitchen of District 5 said. "I look forward to her leadership as mayor pro tem as we take on the difficult challenges facing the city." District 4 council member Greg Casar also voiced his support of Garza's council tenure: "Since before we were on council, I have known council member Garza as a progressive leader who never forgets who she is or where she came from," he said. "As our city's first ever Latina mayor pro tem, I am confident that she will continue her advocacy and leadership for those who need it most across our city."

Prior to running for public office, Garza served as a firefighter with the Austin Fire Department. After earning her law degree, she served as an assistant attorney general in the Child Support Division of the Office of the Attorney General. She distinguished herself by advocating for the change to the 10-1 council system as a way to ensure better representation of areas of Austin that had often gone overlooked under the at-large council. Hispanic community leaders were quick to laud the milestone, including former Austin ISD board member Paul Saldaña who noted not only Garza's reaching the milestone as the first Latina mayor pro tem, but as only the seventh woman to achieve the role in city history.

The pro tempore designation gives the council member securing the post the power to act as mayor in that leader's absence.

