Desiree Tims wins Democratic primary, will face off against longtime GOP Rep. Michael Turner

Desiree Tims, a local activist from Dayton, Ohio, has won the Democratic primary nomination for the state’s 10th Congressional District.

Tims, who previously served as an aide to Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), will face off against longtime Rep. Michael Turner (R) in November.

According to the Dayton Daily News, Tims was declared winner of the race after beating her primary opponent, Eric Moyer, with 70 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s nominating contest. 

{mosads}Now Tims, who is the first African American to be endorsed by the Montgomery County Democratic Party for Turner’s seat, is setting her sights on flipping her district’s congressional seat blue. The seat has never been held by a woman or an African American, her campaign confirmed. 

“I am so humbled by the support from voters in Montgomery, Greene, and Fayette Counties!” she tweeted on late Tuesday. “I accept the nomination and look forward to flipping this seat BLUE in November.”

I am so humbled by the support from voters in Montgomery, Greene, and Fayette Counties! I accept the nomination and look forward to flipping this seat BLUE in November. #OH10 #TeamTims pic.twitter.com/U9hv2x4BSe

— Desiree Tims for Congress (@TimsDesiree) April 28, 2020

Tims, 31, was born and raised in Dayton and graduated from Dunbar High School. She continued her studies at Xavier University and Georgetown University Law before interning at the White House under former President Obama and serving as an aide for Brown and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in the nation’s capital.

She first announced her candidacy for Turner’s seat back in August. At the time of her campaign launch, Tims called her bid for office a chance for voters to “come together to defeat penthouse politicians.”

“The fact is, our community deserves a representative who will fight for them every single day. Our community deserves a representative who understands their struggle,” she said then.

Some of the issues Tims will focus on during her campaign include pushing for affordable health care, protecting the Affordable Care Act, capping student loan interest rates and advocating for more federal college grants. 

Tims at the start of her campaign said that she will also advocate for gun reform legislation in a district where 9 people were killed and dozens more were injured in a mass shooting that devastated Dayton in early August of last year. 

According to the Dayton Daily News, Turner, who is currently serving his ninth term in the House, advanced through the Republican nominating contest on Tuesday after receiving 87 percent of the vote. He also handily won reelection in 2018 after notching 56 percent of the vote in the contest.