Tina Knowles Lawson giving star power to upstart Democratic Senate contender
Beyonce's mom is putting her support behind a Houston city council member to unseat the incumbent Republican in next year's Senate race
Tina Knowles Lawson is dipping into political waters by hosting a brunch fundraiser for a Texas U.S. Senate hopeful Amanda Edwards.
Perhaps following in her famous daughter’s footsteps, Beyonce’s mom is reportedly supporting the Houston city council member with a fundraiser on Saturday, an unnamed source told The New York Post.
Knowles Lawson is supporting Edwards, who just last month launched her campaign. She joins a small group of Democrats who are each hoping to unseat incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican, in the 2020 election.
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Tickets for the brunch fundraiser start at $150, which is the young professional rate, and go up to $2,800, which is the maximum amount donors can give to a candidate’s primary campaign.
Edwards, an attorney, is also the first Black woman candidate to run for a Texas Senate seat.
In 2008 and 2012, Lawson donated to Barack Obama’s campaigns, as well as the Democratic National Committee in 2012, according to OpenSecrets.org.
In July, when announcing her intention to run for the U.S. Senate, Edwards told The Houston Chronicle that she decided to run because her voice is needed.
“It’s not always about staying in places where you’re more comfortable. I think you have to go into the places and arenas that need you most,” Edwards, 37, told the newspaper. “My style and approach to leadership — my servant leadership — is exactly what Texans need at this time, exactly what they need.
“This is going to be a very pivotal moment in our country’s trajectory,” Edwards added. “This is going to be potentially the shift of the power paradigm of our nation, right here in Texas.”
Edwards announced her candidacy on Twitter, by posting a launch video and sharing her new campaign website.
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“This is not about politics. This is about people, and what matters most to us,” Edwards said in the video. “It’s about people like my parents, whose battles with cancer illustrate that for so many Americans and their families, access to health care is really a matter of life or death and isn’t just a chip in some political game.”
It’s also not the first time a member of the family got involved in politics, though. Last year, Queen Bey endorsed Democratic Senate candidate, Beto O’Rourke, according to CNN, although O’Rourke ended up narrowly losing to Ted Cruz.
