Democrat flips Gonzales’s former House seat in Texas

Texas Democratic Senate candidate Katy Padilla Stout is projected to win the Lone Star State’s open seat for the 23rd Congressional District vacated by former Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), according to preliminary results from Decision Desk HQ.

Padilla Stout defeated YouTube personality Brandon Herrera (R), an outspoken firearms advocate with President Trump’s endorsement. She ran in a district that the election handicapper Cook Political Report predicted would be a likely win for Herrera.

She notched almost 52 percent while Herrera garnered about 44 percent, with 55 percent of the vote reported early Wednesday.

Gonzales departed the House in April following a reported affair with a staffer who later died by suicide. Facing growing calls for resignation or expulsion based on allegations of sexual misconduct, Gonzales said he would “file my retirement from office.”

Padilla Stout campaigned on improving the affordability of healthcare and called on Congress to take bipartisan action to keep the southern border secure, but also to allow for more “reasonable and humane immigration laws,” including fair methods to make the pathway to citizenship simple but reasonable, according to her campaign website.

The Texas Democrat previously worked as an attorney at a family legal practice representing foster children.

National Democratic Party operatives channeled more effort into the race following her win against three other Democrats during the primary, the San Antonio Express-News reported . The party funneled millions of dollars to back her campaign, with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stumping for Padilla Stout on the campaign trail.

Padilla Stout told The American Prospect that Democrats would need to earn voters’ trust, leading her to organize with other candidates across the state to canvass for support.

“We’ve allowed leaders on both sides of the aisle to not have to answer to their constituents,” she told the outlet. “The people are the boss … not the other way around.”