TX-Sen: NYT, “The Woman You Missed While You Were Paying Attention to Beto”
The New York Times has a great piece out from Mimi Swartz profiling Veteran, former Congressional candidate and current U.S. Senate candidate, MJ Hegar (D. TX). With Beto O’Rourke (D. TX) and Rep. Joaquin Castro (D. TX) passing on the chance to unseat U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R. TX), Hegar has taken up the challenge and Swartz’s piece makes a great case for Hegar’s candidacy:
Most people inside and outside of Texas in 2018 were too delirious with Betomania to pay much attention to Ms. Hegar’s candidacy for a congressional seat. What they missed was a woman — and a vet — who started as a complete unknown and then lost by only three points to John Carter, a Tea Partyer and incumbent since 2003, in a previously incontestably red area that runs north of Austin and includes Fort Hood.
Like Lizzie Fletcher, who defeated Forever Congressman John Culberson in the Houston area, Ms. Hegar managed to combine new and old ideas of Texas womanhood in her campaign. She is a long, long shot against Mr. Cornyn, but just by stepping up she looks more courageous than other, more established pols — Beto O’Rourke himself, Julián Castro — who seem to think it’s easier to get elected president than to defeat an incumbent senator.
Ms. Hegar is certainly no chicken. You may remember the viral video “Doors,” which recounted her childhood dream of becoming a pilot and her subsequent experience “opening, pushing and sometimes kicking through every door that was in my way.” Along with getting shot down and wounded, she waged a lawsuit against the Pentagon that ended the exclusion of women from ground combat. Ms. Hegar, who has taught at the University of Texas McCombs school of business and has been a consultant at Dell Computers, also has a campaign-ready bio called “Shoot Like a Girl.”
She will need every ounce of fight she has for this race. This isn’t Beto vs. the Beast — Mr. Cornyn, unlike Ted Cruz, isn’t a serial alienator in the Senate and beyond. He can point to success on Hurricane Harvey relief and stricter background checks for gun purchasers, even if it took the Sutherland Springs massacre to force his hand. It won’t matter to his base that he supports President Trump’s horrendous border policies and elimination of the Affordable Care Act and has a voting record on women’s health that is perfectly in sync with the Pleistocene age.
The whole piece is worth the read. Beto helped pushed Texas closer into the purple territory and Trump only won the Lone Star State by 8 points, much worse than McCain and Romney’s double-digit wins. If we want to win a Senate Majority, we have to put time and effort into winning this seat in Texas. I received this e-mail from Hegar’s campaign on how you can get involved with her campaign:
Y'all,
Texans deserve a senator who reflects our values of strength, courage, and independence — someone who will always do what’s right for our state and put Texas first. But with John Cornyn in the Senate, what we’ve been getting is a complete lack of leadership on every major issue.
- He voted against a measure to lower the cost of prescription drugs.
- He refused to defend access to health care.
- He voted to nullify financial protections that would benefit deployed service members.
- He has taken millions of dollars in corporate PAC money.
That doesn't line up with the needs of the Texas that we all know. Texas is a place of big ideas, bold solutions, and leaders who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty — and we need a change! That’s why MJ is running for Senate.
As we begin this campaign, we want to hear from you. Will you take our quick survey and let us know how you'll help MJ win?
Thanks, y'all. Now saddle up and let’s get to work for Texas!
— Team MJ
Click here to take the survey.
Click here if you want to get directly involved with Hegar's campaign.
