María Lilly del Carmen Téllez García[3] (born 14 November 1967),[4] professionally known as Lilly Téllez, is a Mexican politician and journalist. She has served as a senator from Sonora since 2018, initially representing Morena before joining the National Action Party in 2020. She previously worked as a journalist for television broadcaster TV Azteca.[5]
Lilly Téllez | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Senator By Proportional Representation | |
| Assumed office 1 September 2024 | |
| Senator for Sonora | |
| In office 1 September 2018 – 31 August 2021 Serving with A. Durazo and S. Beltrones | |
| Preceded by | Anabel Acosta Islas |
| Personal details | |
| Born | María Lilly del Carmen Téllez García 14 November 1967 Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico |
| Political party | National Action Party (2020–present) National Regeneration Movement (representing; 2018–2020)[1][2] |
| Occupation | Journalist |
Career
editAs a journalist
editTéllez was born in Hermosillo but spent her childhood in Ensenada, Baja California.[6] From 1984 to 1994, she worked at Canal 6 in Hermosillo, where she received the State Journalism Award in 1992.[7] In 1994, she was hired to host the morning edition of TV Azteca's main news program, Hechos, and to be an investigative journalist. In 1999, she became a full-time investigative journalist.[6]
On June 22, 2000, her car was shot by a group of unknown men, but she was unharmed.[8] She attributed this attack to a recent airing of an investigation related to the Arellano Félix family of drug dealers; the case was closed with no suspects found.[9] In 2005, she began a new investigative program for Azteca Trece, Mitos y Hechos (Myths and Facts), broadcast twice a month. The program came to an end when TV Azteca, evidently ceding to government pressure, did not air the third part of a report on the sale of Grupo Financiero Banamex to Citigroup and the controversy surrounding the winding down of the Fobaproa bank contingency fund.[10]
In 2007, Téllez received the Premio Antena award from the National Chamber of the Radio and Television Industry (CIRT) for her broadcasting career.[7] In 2010, she debuted the program Diagnóstico reservado (Diagnosis Reserved) on Proyecto 40.[10] Téllez later left TV Azteca to write columns and make video content for the digital news site SDP Noticias.[9]
Election as senator
editIn November 2017, Andrés Manuel López Obrador contacted Téllez and offered to run her as a Senate candidate from his National Regeneration Movement (Morena) party from the state of Sonora.[11] Two months later, Téllez announced in an interview with Ciro Gómez Leyva on Radio Fórmula that she would take up the offer, though she would not become a Morena party member.[12] She would run alongside Alfonso Durazo Montaño, a longtime politician and public official in the state, as the Juntos Haremos Historia coalition candidates for Senate from Sonora.[9] The ticket obtained 200,000 more votes than the PRI ticket, putting it in first place and securing seats for Téllez and Durazo in the Senate.[13]
In August 2018, Téllez announced she would file an injunction against several constitutional reforms approved in the Sonora state government that reduce the power of the state legislature. Opposition to these reforms, which Téllez described as a "dictatorial smackdown by Governor Claudia Pavlovich Arellano", has been particularly vociferous within Morena, as the party won 20 of the 21 district seats in the Sonoran state legislature in the 2018 midterm elections.[14]
On December 16, 2019, the Comisión de Justicia (Justice Commission) of Morena demanded the expulsion of Lilly Téllez from her position as a member of the party's Senate caucus, primarily due to her opposition to the legalization of abortion.[15] On 3 June 2020, Téllez joined the National Action Party.[16]
Téllez García is seeking re-election as one of Sonora's senators in the 2024 Senate election, occupying the second place on the Fuerza y Corazón por México coalition's two-name formula.[17]
Personal life
editTéllez was married in 2003 to businessman Guillermo Calderón Villalobos in Mexico City, who she then divorced.[18]
References
edit- ^ León, Mariana (16 December 2019). "Morena pide correr a Lilly Téllez de su bancada en el Senado". Expansón (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 June 2022.
- ^ "Lilly Tellez será candidata de Morena al Senado por Sonora". Etcétera (in Spanish). 18 January 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
- ^ "Senadora María Lilly del Carmen Téllez García". National Action Party (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 January 2022.
- ^ "Conoce a Lilly Téllez" Archived 2015-10-12 at the Wayback Machine, Azteca Trece (accessed 6 December 2015) (in Spanish).
- ^ Contreras, Guadalupe (7 July 2010). "Las chicas sólo quieren informar". El Universal (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 August 2018.
- ^ a b "Meterte con el narco te puede matar: Lily Téllez regresa a la televisión con un programa que pondrá en evidencia la corrupción". La Razón (in Spanish). 22 February 2010. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
- ^ a b García, Odilón (2 October 2015). "Voy a investigar yo sola quién me mandó matar: Lilly Tellez". Diario Tijuana (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
- ^ Associated Press (24 June 2000). "Mexico Probes Effort to Kill News Anchor". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
- ^ a b c Cárdenas, Priscila (2 April 2018). "El político y la periodista: Alfonso Durazo y Lilly Téllez, en fórmula al Senado por Sonora de la coalición "Juntos Haremos Historia"". Proyecto Puente. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
- ^ a b Madrigal, Álex (5 March 2010). "Lilly Téllez vuelve con Diagnóstico reservado". El Universal (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 August 2018.
- ^ Arreola, Federico (12 December 2017). "AMLO invita a Lilly Téllez a ser candidata a senadora por Sonora, ¿debe aceptar o no?". SDP Noticias (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 August 2018.
- ^ "Voy con Morena para Senado pero no me afiliaré: Lilly Téllez". Milenio (in Spanish). 11 January 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
- ^ Escobar, Amalia (8 July 2018). "Entregan constancia de candidates electos al Senado a Lilly Téllez y Alfonso Durazo". El Universal (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 August 2018.
- ^ Escobar, Amalia (9 August 2018). "Lilly Téllez impugnará reformas hechas a la Constitución de Sonora". El Universal (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 August 2018.
- ^ "La Comisión de Justicia de Morena ordena la expulsión de Lilly Téllez de su bancada en el Senado" [The Morena Justice Commission orders the expulsion of Lilly Téllez from it caucus in the Senate], Proceso (in Spanish), Dec 16, 2019
- ^ "Tras dejar Morena, Lily Téllez se incorpora al PAN". Forbes (in Spanish). 3 June 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
- ^ "Elecciones 2024: Candidatas y candidatos". Instituto Nacional Electoral. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
- ^ "Lilly Téllez da el sí". El Siglo de Torreón (in Spanish). 2 November 2003. Retrieved 12 August 2018.