78 TIME March 1/March 8, 2021
Lina
Hidalgo
29 • A steady hand
in Texas
BY BETO O’ROURKE
Lina Hidalgo’s persistence,
tenacity and intelligence were
clear from the moment I met her
on the campaign trail in Texas
in 2017. At the time, she was
running for Harris County judge,
and I was running for the U.S.
Senate. I soon realized that she
also had an extraordinary level
of humility that is rare to fi nd in
somebody pursuing public offi ce.
At 27, Hidalgo was elected to
be the chief executive of a county
that has more people in it than
in the state of Nevada. Now 29,
she is doing an incredible job as
judge, as evidenced by her efforts
to quickly respond to COVID-19—
Harris County announced a mask
mandate in April 2020, but a
statewide policy didn’t follow
until July—as well as to expand
her constituents’ access to the
ballot box. Early-voting sites
offered by the county nearly
tripled last year.
It’s hard to imagine a tougher
set of circumstances to confront
in your fi rst term in offi ce, but she
has really distinguished herself
and makes us proud—not just as
Democrats but as Texans. That’s
what leadership looks like.
O’Rourke, a former Congressman
from Texas, was a 2020 Demo-
cratic presidential candidate
ARNONNAMPA36 • Calling for reformHe may have an unassuming
demeanor and a penchant for
dressing up like Harry Potter,
but human-rights lawyer Arnon
Nampa has his country’s estab-
lishment quaking. Thailand is
the United States’ oldest ally in
Asia and has served as a bul-
wark against more authoritar-
ian neighbors, but its democ-
racy has eroded as ties with
China blossom. Arnon has ener-
gized young Thais with his de-
mands to strip political power
from the historically sacro-
sanct royal family and shred the
military- drafted constitution. As
a result, he has been arrested
three times in recent months
and charged with sedition. But
as COVID-19 continues to im-
pact Thailand’s tourism- reliant
economy, more young people
are joining demonstrations that
are already the biggest since
the 2014 coup d’état—which
experts say is pressuring the
military- led government into
a corner. “People are sick and
tired of living under a repres-
sive regime,” he told TIME late
last year. —Charlie Campbell100 next
VladimirTenev34 • SHAKING UP
THE STOCK MARKETWhile COVID-19 triggered
an unprecedented U.S.
unemployment crisis, stock
markets have skyrocketed—the
S&P 500 has risen nearly 70%
since cratering in March of last
year. But that only benefi ts people
who own stock; in the U.S.,
that’s just 55% of the population.
Robinhood, a no-commission
stock platform led by Bulgarian-
born CEO and co-founder Vladimir
Tenev, wants to change that by
making it easier to invest. That
approach has earned it more
than 13 million users and an
$11.7 billion valuation, but critics
say the app’s game-like design
incentivizes newbie investors to
take big risks.
Case in point: this year’s Game-
Stop roller coaster, which was trig-
gered by tech-savvy speculators—
many using Robinhood. While
some GameStop traders won big
as the stock rose by over $300
in a week, others suffered losses
when shares later fell. Many Robin-
hood fans turned on the company
after it blocked users from buying
more GameStop shares without
immediately explaining that high
trading volume left it without
enough money to meet regulatory
requirements. (Tenev blamed
“an unintended by-product of the
antiquated settlement process,” in
a Feb. 2 blog post.) Despite these
issues, Robinhood is reportedly
planning to go public later this year.
—Alex Fitzpatrick