Ramsey Muniz

Ramiro Muñiz, known as Ramsey Muñiz (born December 13, 1942), is an incarcerated Hispanic political activist who ran for governor of Texas in 1972 and 1974, each time as the nominee of the Raza Unida Party. He lost both elections to the Democrat Dolph Briscoe, a wealthy banker and landowner from Uvalde, Texas.
Background
Muñiz was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, one of five children of Rudy G. Muniz and the former Hilda Longoria. To help his struggling family, he took many jobs while he was a boy. He writes:

During the summer my mother would be up by 3 a.m. preparing breakfast and lunch for us, as we would depart from the house at 5:00 and arrive at the cotton field by 6 a.m. She would pick cotton with us. I can still see her face sweating and pulling the 12-foot cotton sack. When it was time to eat lunch, we would all gather under the cotton trailer as she would distribute the food she had prepared. Thereafter, we had half an hour to rest or nap because by 1:00 PM we hit the field once more until 4:30. Even as I share these historical memories, I can envision her face, which is full of love, pride, strength, faith, and a 'never give up' attitude like no one else in this world. By the time I was fourteen years old, Bobby and I could pick 1,000 pounds a day. I would not even take the time to eat. I wanted my mother to be proud of me. That's how much love I have for my mother."
Education and career
Even in junior high school, Muñiz worked to procure equal representation for minorities on the student council at Miller High School in Corpus Christi.
While living in Waco, Muñiz spent years with his mentor and friend, William V. Dunnam, Jr., with whom he later worked as an attorney. Muñiz subsequently relocated to San Antonio, where he continued his law practice with Sandoval and Peña. He then worked with attorneys Albert Huerta and Albert Peña in Corpus Christi.
According to the Houston attorney Dick DeGuerin, Muñiz "changed the face of politics in Texas. He gave power of inclusion to Hispanic Americans. He particularly changed the face of political offices in South Texas. There has been a lot of resentment from the Establishment because of that. A lot of people would like to see him fall because of who he is and what he did."
Incarceration
In 1976, the U.S. government brought felony drug conspiracy charges against Muñiz. He pleaded guilty to one count and was given a 15-year sentence in the federal penitentiary. The move effectively killed the Raza Unida Party. Its 1978 gubernatorial candidate, Mario Cura Compean (born c. 1941, now of San Antonio), polled only 14,213 (barely one-half of 1 percent), as Republican Bill Clements became his state's first Republican governor since Coke unseated Davis 105 years earlier.<ref namelaraza/> Years later, Muñiz obtained his freedom and, having been disbarred, worked for a time as a legal assistant to several attorneys. He was again charged for crimes that he disavowed.<ref namemuniz/>
Ramsey Muñiz considers himself a political prisoner incarcerated on false charges. He is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole but maintains a website asking interested persons to petition U.S. President Barack H. Obama for his freedom.<ref name=muniz/>

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