Dolores Huerta, who spoke Monday on a panel, is greeted by Mariana Salazar during the LBJ Library’s Summit on Race on April 9, 2019, in Austin, Texas. “She’s an inspiration for all of us young people trying to change the world,” Salazar said about Huerta. Salazar is a candidate for the Austin City Council. [ANA RAMIREZ/AMERICAN-STATESMAN]
Austin American-Statesman
Austin-area elected officials remembered Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association, who worked alongside farm-worker rights advocate Cesar Chavez. Huerta died Wednesday at 96.
U.S. Rep. Greg Casar (D-Austin) said he was “heartbroken” by the news, commending Huerta for decades of fighting to “make the world a better place for workers, women, and immigrants.”
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“At 95 years old, Dolores would get on a red-eye flight on a moment’s notice to make it for a protest at the Capitol, or a meeting with brave Texas workers,” Casar said in a written statement. “She was inspiring us until the very end.”
I’m heartbroken. For decades, Dolores Huerta fought to make the world a better place for workers, women, and immigrants.
At 95 years old, Dolores would get on a red-eye flight on a moment’s notice to make it for a protest at the Capitol, or a meeting with brave Texas workers. She was inspiring us until the very end.
Que en paz descanse, Dolores.
— Congressman Greg Casar (@RepCasar) October 28, 2026
“Que en paz descanse, Dolores,” Casar added. Casar’s remarks in Spanish roughly translate to, “May you rest in peace.”
Austin City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes described Huerta as having made a “huge impression” on her life.
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“There aren’t that many Latina figures for us to look up to,” Fuentes said. “Her comments were always about keeping up the fight. It was motivating to hear what it was like for her to do that for so long.”
Fuentes is one of only two Latina women to serve on the Austin City Council in the 10-1 era that began in 2014. She said she met with Huerta several times and noted that the workers’ rights leader encouraged her to keep going.
Montserrat Garibay, Democratic nominee for Texas House District 49 — an Austin area seat — shared photos of her and Huerta on social media, writing that her “heart is heavy” amid the news of Huerta’s death. She described Huerta as an “icon whose courage and deep commitment to organizing changed countless lives.”
“She reminded us that there is always work to do & always a reason to keep going,” Garibay wrote. ” We will honor you by continuing the work.”
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Garibay closed her message with the phrase that Huerta, herself, has been reported to have coined, “¡Sí se puede!” which roughly translates to “We can do it,” or “Yes, we can do it.”
My heart is heavy with the passing of Dolores Huerta, an icon whose courage & deep commitment to organizing changed countless lives. She reminded us that there is always work to do & always a reason to keep going.
We will honor you by continuing the work. ¡Sí se puede! https://t.co/PU3hQWe3cZ
— Montserrat Garibay for Texas House District 49 (@MontserratforTX) October 28, 2026
Dolores Huerta at the Delano Strike in 1966. Contributed by Jon Lewis-Courtesy of LeRoy Chatfield-PBS Distribution
Austin American-Statesman
Bobby Pulido, the Democratic nominee for Texas’ 15th Congressional District in South Texas, remembered Huerta who “dedicated her life to giving a voice to the unheard.”
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“Her legacy lives on in every worker fighting for fair wages, every family seeking a better future, and every community that refuses to give up,” Pulido wrote on social media. “My deepest condolences. Que descanse en paz.”
Texas Democratic Party Chairman Kendall Scudder recalled hosting Huerta at the party’s state convention in June, where she called on Texas Democrats to organize and participate in elections.
“Huerta dedicated her life to reminding us that our voices matter, that our rights are worth fighting for, and that real change happens when people come together and refuse to endure injustices in silence,” Scudder said in a written statement.
He added that the party would honor her by continuing its work and echoing her words, “Every moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world.”
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A sign calling for the renaming of East Cesar Chavez Street, featuring the United Farm Workers logo, is posted along the roadway in Austin on Monday, April 13, 2026. Calls to rename the street followed a New York Times investigation reporting allegations that Cesar Chavez sexually assaulted young women and girls, including civil rights leader Dolores Huerta.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
Huerta’s name was floated in May as a contender to rename Austin’s Cesar Chavez Street after a March investigation by The New York Times reported newly disclosed evidence alleging that Chavez had groomed and sexually abused girls, some as young as 12. In this report, Huerta revealed her own experience in 1966, when she said Chavez raped her, an incident she had not publicly discussed or reported to the police because of their hostility toward the movement, Huerta told The Times, and out of a fear that no one in the union would believe her.
During these discussions, Council Member Mike Siegel pointed out that the Dolores Huerta Foundation, an organization she founded and led as president, opposed renaming the street after her. A spokesperson for Huerta told the San Francisco Standard in March that streets, schools, and buildings should instead be named after other individuals associated with the United Farm Workers movement.
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In 2012, then-President Barack Obama awarded Huerta the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor. She collected numerous awards for her organizing work, including 15 honorary degrees. She stepped down from serving as a union officer in 1999 after 37 years, according to The Times, and continued her work through her foundation, helping communities organize health, environmental, educational and economic projects.