The stances they endorsed included multilingual instruction in school, farm subsidies, regulation of utilities, community-based organization of politics, and an impartial tax system.

They endorsed an improved allocation of funds in public education, a revision and development of new methods of transportation, and a system that provided quality medical care.

RUP also believed in the prosecution of industrial polluters, the conservation of “human and natural resources,” and the creation of resolutions to concerns exclusive to urban communities.

[13] The Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO) was begun by five young men studying at St. Mary's University in 1967: Jose Angel Gutierrez, Mario Compean, Willie Velasquez, Ignacio Perez, and Juan Patlan.

While he elaborated to say that by gringo he meant "a person or institution that has a certain policy or program, or attitudes that reflect bigotry, racism, discord, prejudice, and violence", the damage was done.

The most widely known and accepted story is that the La Raza Unida Party was established on January 17, 1970, at a meeting of some 300 Mexican-Americans in Crystal City, Texas by José Ángel Gutiérrez and Mario Compean, who had also helped in the foundation of the Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO) in 1967.

Previously in December 1969, at the only national MAYO meeting, Chicano activists decided to form that third party, Raza Unida.

[15] After the victory of the RUP in municipal elections in Crystal City and Cotulla, the party grew and expanded to other states, especially California and Colorado.

The Party leaders believed that change could only occur by appealing to the cultural and familial values shared by Mexican Americans.

[9] Mario Compean, past spokesperson for La Raza Unida, said "Ours was a message of liberation from […] a corrupt political system anchored on the twin pillars of racism and discrimination, on the one hand, and social subordination imposed by capitalism on the other".

Muñiz ran an aggressive campaign, "everywhere he went he hammered away at both parties, although the Democrats, who controlled the state legislature and the governor's mansion, received the brunt of the criticism".

Raza Unida offers the people an alternative and the days of being led to the polls to vote straight ticket for these two other parties are over… if it is not done this year, it will come next year or the next… as long as there are Mexican Americans there will be persons to replace people like me"[14]Muñiz ran on a campaign devoted to improving education in Texas, developing multilingual and multicultural curriculums, equal funding for all school districts, for local school boards to proportionately reflect their communities, free early childhood education, and a number of other services.

Despite obstacles, Muñiz campaigned tirelessly both in the state and outside – targeting areas with high numbers of migrant workers from Texas.

[4] Similar to campaigns run previously in Crystal City, La Raza Unida distributed massive amounts of buttons, stickers, and posters along with holding huge vote drives on election day in the barrios.

While it lost the gubernatorial election, RUP won 15 local offices in several borderland counties: La Salle, Dimmit, Zavala, and Hidalgo.

However, Mexican American support for RUP was uneven across Texas and reflected differing levels of economic attainment and incorporation.

At that time, half the men broke off of Raza Unida, and they said they didn’t want to be a part of it if women were gonna be involved.

[19][20] After the formation of Mujeres Por La Raza, some factions of LRUP did focus on challenging machismo and patriarchal practices within the party and society.

Alma Canales, a member of the organization, received the endorsement from the Texas Women's Political Caucus (TWPC) on her 1972 campaign for lieutenant governor.

Angel Noe Gonzalez, the former Crystal City Independent School District superintendent who later worked in the United States Department of Education in Washington, D.C., upon his indictment retained the San Antonio lawyer and later mayor, Phil Hardberger.

John Luke Hill, the 1978 Democratic gubernatorial nominee, had sought to weaken RUP so that he would not lose general election votes to a third-party candidate.

[12] Some members of RUP were able to train as “election clerks, voter registrars, poll watchers, candidates, precinct chairs, and organizers.”[21] The Raza Unida Party also allowed for over 2 million Latinos to register vote in the next 20 years.

In that same time span, there would approximately be “5000 Latino elected officials in the United States.”[12] The Raza Unida Party allowed for the affirmation of Chicano rights throughout the 1970s.

[21] Some historians argue that RUP's creation in the 1970s was at the “right moment in Mexican-American history.”[13] A reunion conference commemorating the 40th anniversary of the party was held from July 6 to 7, 2012, in the capital city of Austin.