Iraq War vet wins Texas Dem runoff

Gina Ortiz Jones on Tuesday won the Democratic primary for the House seat in Texas’s 23rd Congressional District, bringing her closer to becoming the first-ever lesbian and Iraq War veteran to represent the state in Congress.

Ortiz Jones defeated Democrat Rick Trevino in a runoff on Tuesday, after the two were the finalists among five candidates running in a March primary. The Associated Press called the race for her with a 68 to 32 percent margin.

Ortiz Jones, who would also be the first-ever Filipina-American to represent Texas, will take on incumbent Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) in November.

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White the district currently leans Republican, control of the seat has flipped between the parties over the past two decades. Hurd has held onto the seat since defeating then-Rep. Pete Gallego (D-Texas) in 2014.

Ortiz Jones told HuffPost earlier this year that she decided to run for the seat to oppose President Trump and his policies.

“The type of people that were brought in to be public servants were interested in neither the public nor the service,” she told the publication. “That, to me, was a sign that I’m going to have to serve in a different way.”