Texas Restaurant Association faces backlash over keynote speaker Gov. Greg Abbott

Victoria Elizondo, owner of Cochinita in Houston, had planned to feed 450 people at the Texas Restaurant Association's (TRA) Lone Star Bash in Dallas on July 10. But when she learned that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was the keynote speaker of the TRA's Restaurant Show this weekend, she canceled her participation in the event. Her Mexican restaurant, which is inside Kickin' Kombucha in the East End, and her product line keep her very busy, she says, so she wasn't aware how much the TRA donates to Republicans in Texas until now. According to Transparency USA, TRA's Political Action Committee has donated $52,500 to Gov. Abbott, $25,000 to Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick, $10,000 to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and $17,500 to Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan over the course of the 2018, 2020 and 2022 election cycles.

"The Texas Restaurant Association is a non-partisan organization that works with elected officials of all political parties to strengthen the food and beverage industry in Texas," said TRA CEO and President Emily Williams Knight, Ed. D. in a statement. "As in past years, we invited a diverse group of these elected officials—Republican and Democrat—to the Texas Restaurant Show to discuss the initiatives we championed together to help save restaurants over the past two-and-a-half years of the COVID-19 pandemic and what may lie ahead for our economy." It would have been the first TRA event Elizondo cooked for, but she says that as a woman, an immigrant, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient, and someone who supports abortion rights, she decided she could not participate. "Republicans just don't support immigrants and Dreamers," she said, upset that the TRA is aligning itself with Abbott. "It's a huge slap in the face for us because the restaurant industry is run by us," she said. Andrea Arana, the owner of soon-to-open Las Perras Cafe, was not surprised to learn that the governor is a keynote speaker at the TRA's Restaurant Show this weekend. "I've lived in Texas and worked in hospitality for the last 10 years and I've never really seen them do anything that's actually helped the average employee," Arana said, adding that the group instead helps restaurant owners continue to exploit and profit from their employees.