Today’s read is from Alexis Martinez Johnson, an environmental engineer. She’s the Republican nominee for Congress in New Mexico’s 3rd District, lives in Santa Fe with her husband, Christopher, and their four children. Here’s an excerpt:

I’m not alone among my fellow Latinos in moving from a Democratic past to a Republican present.

In June, Republican Mayra Flores became the first woman born in Mexico to win a seat in the U.S. Congress when she was elected in a historically Democratic district in South Texas.

Flores’ election may well be an early sign of things to come among Latino voters in November.

My abuelos were staunch Democrats. They believed in the values of hard work, family and self-determination. That’s how I was raised. But the current Democratic Party has left those values that are so important to our community. I adopted the values my abuelos treasured so deeply. While the Democratic Party has left these values, the Republican Party continues to embody them.

Read her entire column here.