Averie Bishop is a social activist who is the first Asian American woman to be crowned Miss Texas. Her work focuses on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and she co-founded a nonprofit supporting educational access for underserved communities. She was the second-runner up at Miss America 2023, and ran as the Democratic Party's candidate for Texas's 112th House of Representatives district in the 2024 elections.
Averie Bishop | |
|---|---|
 Bishop in 2024 | |
| Born | McKinney, Texas, U.S. |
| Education | Southern Methodist University (BA, JD) |
| Title | Miss Texas (2022) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Website | Official website |
Early life and education
editBishop was born in McKinney, Texas.[1] Her mother, a Filipina immigrant from Banga, South Cotabato, Mindanao,[2] worked as a maid and her father was a white and Cherokee[3] bus driver.[4] She attended schools in the Prosper Independent School District.[1] Since 2015, Bishop and her mother have run the Tulong Foundation, a nonprofit supporting education and accessibility to drinking water in impoverished communities in her mother's hometown of Banga, South Cotabato.[1][2] By 2022, the foundation was sponsoring over 45 children.[2]
Bishop studied musical theater.[1] She completed her bachelor's degree and J.D. at Southern Methodist University.[1] While in law school, Bishop interned at a law firm in New York and for U.S. representative Sheila Jackson Lee.[4] In 2020, she began using TikTok during her first semester of law school.[2]
Career
editShe began competing in beauty pageants to earn scholarship money for school.[4] In 2019, she won first competition, Miss Lufkin.[2] She subsequently won Miss Dallas in 2020 and Miss Carrollton in 2021.[2] In her third attempt, Bishop won the 2022 Miss Texas competition.[1] She is the first Asian to win Miss Texas.[4] At Miss America 2023, she was the second-runner up after Grace Stanke of Wisconsin and Taryn Delanie Smith of New York.[5] She won US$20,000 (equivalent to $20,823 in 2023).[5] She started a consulting business in January 2022.[2]
Traditionally an apolitical position, during her year term as Miss Texas, Bishop's platform "Y’all Means All"[2] advocated for diversity and inclusion and the need for comprehensive sex education in schools.[4] She has also pushed for affordable health and reproductive care.[4] She opposed the overturning of Roe v. Wade.[4] Bishop lobbied Texas Republicans to consider the benefits of college diversity and inclusion programs before the Texas Legislature ultimately passed a ban.[4] She supports student loan forgiveness.[4] Bishop is a member of the Dallas Anti-Hate Advisory Council.[2] In 2022, Bishop appeared in Miss Saigon alongside Lou Diamond Phillips at Casa Mañana.[4]
On August 22, 2023, Bishop announced that she would run for Texas's 112th House of Representatives district in the 2024 elections.[6] She won the Democratic primary unopposed on March 5, 2024, and faced incumbent Republican representative Angie Chen Button in the general election.[7] Bishop received 46% of the vote, losing against Button's 54%.[8]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f Rogers, Tim (October 13, 2022). "Miss Texas Is an SMU Law Grad". D Magazine. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Morrison, Arianna (November 27, 2022). "Miss Texas breaks barriers, becoming the first Asian-American woman to represent the Lone Star State in the Miss America competition". Star Local Media. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
- ^ Bishop, Averie (July 8, 2023). "Opinion | The simple reason I became the first Asian American Miss Texas in state history". MSNBC.com. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Hennessy-Fiske, Molly (June 30, 2023). "An unlikely provocateur, Miss Texas, takes on the state's GOP leaders". Washington Post. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
- ^ a b Tamanaha, Akemi (December 19, 2022). "Miss Texas second-runner-up at Miss America competition". AsAmNews. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
- ^ Svitek, Patrick (August 22, 2023). "Averie Bishop, outspoken as Miss Texas 2022, announces run for state Legislature". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
- ^ Yu, Isaac (August 20, 2024). "In a North Texas House race, two Asian candidates campaign on their version of the American Dream". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
- ^ Wagner, Bayliss (November 6, 2024). "Republicans flip two Texas House seats, tilting GOP-controlled chamber further right". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
